This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils.
Detail | Data |
School name | The King Edward VI School |
Number of pupils in school | 1368 (Y9-13) / 983 (Y9-11) |
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | 14.8% (Y9-11) |
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended) | 2024/2025 to 2027/2028 |
Date this statement was published | December 2024 |
Date on which it will be reviewed | December 2027 in addition to annual reviews |
Statement authorised by | Clare Savage, Headteacher |
Pupil premium lead | Andy Clark, Deputy Headteacher |
Governor / Trustee lead | Linda Templey, Chair of governing body |
Funding overview
Detail | Amount |
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year | £182,711 |
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year | £0 |
Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable) | £0 |
Total budget for this academic year If your school is an academy in a trust that pools this funding, state the amount available to your school this academic year | £182,711 |
Our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve high attainment across the curriculum. Furthermore, we want them to be accomplished citizens who are well set for life beyond school, so that they make a positive contribution to the community in which they live. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve these goals. We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not. Disadvantaged students are supported financially and pastorally to access a wide variety of enriching activities that extend beyond the curriculum. Our school is inclusive and the School Council is representative of the whole school population; all students have a voice within The King Edward VI School. High-quality inclusive teaching is at the heart of our approach, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support. This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers. Our approach is responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective we will:
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This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
Challenge number | Detail of challenge |
1 | Our attendance data indicates that attendance among disadvantaged pupils last year was 4.8% lower than for non-disadvantaged pupils. Too many disadvantaged pupils have been ‘persistently absent’ during that period and there is a significant gap in PA rates between disadvantaged and non - disadvantaged pupils. Our assessments and observations indicate that absenteeism is negatively impacting disadvantaged pupils’ progress. |
2 | Our Safeguarding provision identifies social and emotional issues for a significant minority of pupils. These issues include anxiety, depression (diagnosed by medical professionals) and low self-esteem. This is partly driven by concern about catching up lost learning (due to absence from school) and exams/future prospects. These challenges particularly affect disadvantaged pupils. In recent years, referrals for our in school counselling support markedly increased. In the last academic year, just under 15% of our cohort received counselling from our school based team. |
3 | The exclusion rate of both permanent exclusions and suspensions at The King Edward VI School is extremely low. However, analysis shows that disadvantaged pupils are excluded more frequently than non disadvantaged pupils. For example in 2023 / 2024, 40% of pupils who were excluded were pupil premium, whilst 34% of those placed in Bridging (our internal exclusion area) were disadvantaged. |
4 | The GCSE outcomes of disadvantaged pupils is below that of their non - disadvantaged peers. In 2024, 45% of pupil premium pupils achieved a grade 4 or higher in English and maths compared to 74.1% of all pupils. The attainment 8 score of disadvantaged pupils was 35 compared to 55.1 for all pupils. 16% of pupil premium pupils achieved grade 4 or better in all of the EBACC subjects, compared to 28% achieved by all pupils. |
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
Intended outcome | Success criteria |
1. To achieve and sustain improved attendance for all pupils, particularly our disadvantaged pupils. | Sustained high attendance from 2027/28 demonstrated by:
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2. To achieve and sustain improved wellbeing for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged. | Sustained high levels of wellbeing from 2027/28 demonstrated by:
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3. To achieve and sustain improved engagement of disadvantaged pupils | Sustained high engagement from 2027/28 demonstrated by:
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4. To improve attainment among disadvantaged pupils across the curriculum at the end of KS4, with a focus on EBacc subjects. | By the end of our current plan in 2027/28, 15% more disadvantaged pupils enter the English Baccalaureate 2027/28 KS4 outcomes demonstrate that disadvantaged pupils achieve an average Attainment 8 score of 45, with 40% of disadvantaged pupils achieving a grade 4 or better in all EBACC subjects |
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
Budgeted cost: £71,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
High quality CPL provision across the school results in expert teaching being demonstrated consistently as identified in QA processes. Ensure CPL Plan and Priorities are aligned with the whole school approach to Disadvantaged pupils. Teacher expertise is developed through a teacher growth model where CPL, QA, coaching and Appraisal are interwoven. Teachers engage in bespoke, subject specific CPL as well as whole school pedagogical approaches. Learning walk cycles then allow opportunities for teachers to receive feedback on their practice in a low stakes, developmental manner promoting teacher reflection. In addition all teachers now engage in a reciprocal lesson visit model with other staff to share best pedagogical practice. Significant focus on SEND practice promotes teacher knowledge of individual student needs, teaching staff are upskilled in how to utilise this to support disadvantaged pupils also. Knowledge gaps (from attendance issues) addressed through regular high quality use of review and recap. Expert use of retrieval develops student mental models and this creates the environment where students can ‘remember more’ when it comes to assessments and exams. Exam performance is supported through embedding retrieval practice as a regular feature of lesson planning and delivery. Maximising student engagement in lessons is central to the success of our disadvantaged pupils. Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction have been used as a research base to support classroom practice. Pedagogical focus areas of Checking for Understanding, Modelling and Guidance Fading are all used to increase participation ratios - teachers have received explicit, high quality training in these areas. Accessibility of content carefully considered and resources skillfully crafted through sharing best practice around dual coding. Devices provided for those who need them to support and promote independent study as well as preview of lesson material. Devices also support pupils with attendance concerns through access to Google Classroom resources. Ongoing curriculum review (which formally takes place on an annual basis led by DHT in collaboration with SLT & MLs) provides the opportunity for a thorough review of our school curriculum to ensure the needs of all pupils are met through an inclusive, creative, broad and balanced curriculum offer. We always aspire to offer both an ambitious and inclusive curriculum for all of our pupils to ensure that we do not limit any future pathways. When pupils embark on their options process, they receive 1:1 guidance interviews with SLT who will be aware of disadvantaged pupils and additional measures will be put in place to ensure attendance and communication with these meetings. | EEF Effective Characteristics of Effective Teacher Development EEF Effective professional development EEF Special Educational Needs in mainstream schools EEF Metacognition and Self Regulated Learning Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction Allan Paivio: Dual Coding Theory EEF Using Digital Technology to improve learning Evidence Review | 1,2,3,4 |
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £30,711
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Year 11 During term 1 all students have one intervention session per week in either Maths or English. For a small number, where appropriate, this is a study skills / post 16 progression session led by specialist mentors. In term 2 this will expand to two intervention sessions per week. All departments will deliver either face to face ( or online) revision sessions for Y11. These sessions will be open to all pupils and will run either during lunchtime or after school. | The EEF Guide to Pupil Premium - section Targeted Intervention | 1,2,3,4 |
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing) ANC
Budgeted cost: £81,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Continued pastoral and attendance support for pupils in all lower school year groups. | Based on our experiences and those of similar schools to ours, we provide immediate pastoral support for all lower school pupils. Employment of some of the principles laid out in the DfE Working Together to Improve School Attendance paper and EEF: Improved behaviour in schools documents. | 1.3,4 |
Mental Health support - Increased pastoral support including a counselling service. This includes training for school staff and collaboration with our local support services. | EIF’s report on adolescent mental health found good evidence that Therapy interventions support young people’s social and emotional skills and can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression: | 2,4 |
Contingency fund for acute issues - including uniform allowance for all PP pupils. | Based on our experiences and those of similar schools to ours, we have identified a need to set funding aside to respond quickly to needs that have not yet been identified. | All |
Total budgeted cost: £182,711
This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
Pupil Premium attendance in 2023/2024 was 87.5%, higher than it has been in previous academic years and 3.76% higher than in 2021/2022. The gap between pupil premium attendance and non pupil premium attendance decreased to 4.8%, when at the beginning of this strategy, it was over 10%. We recognise that further improvement is needed. Our assessments demonstrated that pupil wellbeing and mental health continued to be significantly impacted last year. The impact was particularly acute for disadvantaged pupils. We used pupil premium funding to provide wellbeing support for all pupils, and targeted interventions where required. We are building on that approach in this plan. Across the school, suspensions remain low for a school of our size. In the 2023/2024 academic year, there were 36 instances of suspension involving 30 students, with 12 (40%) of these involving pupil premium students. This is a significant improvement from the start of the strategy when it was 66%. In conclusion, it can be seen that pupil premium students are attending school more regularly than in previous years and engaging more positively through improved standards of behaviour. However, we acknowledge that there is still some way to go before they achieve as well as their more advantaged peers, but can see real improvement and a narrowing of the gap in the majority of attainment measures. |
Programme | Provider |
Dallaglio Rugby Works - Inclusion intervention | Dallaglio Rugby Works |
Additional activity Our pupil premium strategy will be supplemented by additional activity that is not being funded by pupil premium or recovery premium. That will include:
Planning, implementation, and evaluation In planning our new pupil premium strategy, we evaluated why activity undertaken in previous years had not had the degree of impact that we had expected. We triangulated evidence from multiple sources of data including assessments, quality assurance of teaching and learning, conversations with parents, pupils and teachers in order to identify the challenges faced by disadvantaged pupils. We are part of the Local Authority working group on Pupil Premium strategy and work closely with schools in the county to assess and analyse best practice. We looked at a number of reports and studies about effective use of pupil premium, the impact of disadvantage on education outcomes and how to address challenges to learning presented by socio-economic disadvantage. We also looked at a number of studies about the impact of the pandemic on disadvantaged pupils. We used the EEF’s implementation guidance to help us develop our strategy and will continue to use it through the implementation of our activities. We have put a robust evaluation framework in place for the duration of our three-year approach and will adjust our plan over time to secure better outcomes for pupils both inside and outside of the classroom. |