The Pupil Premium Grant was introduced in 2011 in recognition of the fact that, nationally, children who come from low income families (for example, those who are eligible for free school meals), children who are in the care of the local authority, or those who have parents serving in the Armed Services, do less well by the end of Year 11.

Heart of England School’s goal is ‘Creating Futures’ for all our students. We aim, as detailed in our Curriculum Offer, to offer a ‘greenhouse rather than a hot-house so that our students can flourish, feel successful and achieve highly’.  We use the Pupil Premium funding we receive to specifically help students who qualify for this funding to make the best possible progress and to remove as many potential barriers to learning as is in our power to do so.

Use of the Pupil Premium Grant at Heart of England School

Regular analysis of student attainment and progress enables us to identify students for whom we have a progress concern and to implement support or intervention as necessary in response to this data.  Some students will require classroom intervention or support for a short period of time or, in some instances, additional intervention will be needed either as part of a small group or 1:1.

We are equally aware that some of our students will require additional pastoral support, either in response to a particular challenge or difficulty, or perhaps in ensuring that they have the self-care and self-regulating skills they need to face the demands of examinations. We also provide funding to ensure Pupil Premium students are ready for learning and to take full advantage of enrichment opportunities.

As part of our approach (further details of which can be found in the school’s Pupil Premium Action Plan), we have identified five areas of focus that we believe will best help meet the needs of our Pupil Premium students and remove any potential barriers, this includes preparation and response for uncertainty around COVID.  Examples of the type of support we use our Pupil Premium Grant to address are included under the four headings below:

Raising Aspiration	Support and Wellbeing	Student Progress	COVID	Impact and Evaluation
Careers Advice Peripatetic music lessons Personalised Curriculum (where necessary) Curricular and Extra-Curricular Enrichment Opportunities	Wellbeing Practitioner Pastoral Support Transport Uniform / PE kit Parental Information Evenings Equipment Revision Materials Subscription support Transition	Creation of Pastoral Inclusion Manager Contribution towards staffing in English and Maths Online Learning Platforms (such as MathsWatch, Doddle) Progress Analysis and tracking (SISRA) Revision Guides Literacy / Numeracy Intervention Y7 resources bundle PP setting scrutiny	Additional resource capacity (Technology) Additional Resource Capacity (Transport)	Data Analysis following assessments SISRA Analytics

Pupil Premium Numbers by Year Group 2020-21

2019-20	Total Number of students	No. PP students	Non PP	PP % Cohort
Year 7	234	37	197	16%
Year 8	211	33	178	16%
Year 9	219	30	189	14%
Year 10	210	27	183	13%
Year 11	197	24	173	12%
Total	1,071	151	920	14%

Achievement 2020

2020 Results	PP Students (22 students)	Non PP Students (179 students)
% Achieving Grade 5+ English and maths	33.3%	63.5%
2019 Results	31.8%	50.0%
2018 Results	20%	51%
% Achieving Grade 4+ English and maths	50.0%	84.9%
2019 Results	45.5%	77.5%
2018 Results	37.5%	77%
% Achieving Grade 4+ English	72.2%	91.8%
2019 Results	59.1%	87.6%
2018 Results	63%	88%
% Achieving Grade 4+ Maths	55.6%	86.8%
2019 Results	59.1%	81.5%
2018 Results	41%	81%
% Achieving Grade 5+ English	52.5%	79.9%
2019 Results	45.5%	77%
2018 Results	47%	75%
% Achieving Grade 5+ Maths	41.7%	67.9%
2019 Results	40.9%	54.5%
2018 Results	19%	45%
Progress 8 average Score*
2019 Results	-0.43	0.08
2018 Results	-0.59	0.05
Attainment 8 average score	42.97	55.01
2019 Results	42.78	51.14
2018 Results	35.16	52.71
% Achieving EBACC Grade 5 incl English and maths	11.1%	22.6%
2019 Results	13.6%	21.9%
2018 Results	3%	24%

* The DFE announced in April 2020 that in light of COVID they would not be publishing any accountability measures.  Progress 8 is compiled using national data and as such it is not possible to share what any Progress 8 score might be for 2020.

Progress 8 Disadvantaged Students 2017-2019
2017	2018	2019
-0.8	-0.6	-0.26

Narrowing the Gap

Heart of England school believes that it created a thorough, robust and authentic set of data when compiling its Centre Assessed Grades (CAGs).  Results 2020 reasonably reflect an ongoing trend of improving outcomes, reflected in the school’s trend data over the past three years (evidence of which can be found here: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/136909/heart-of-england-school/secondary/results-over-time?accordionstate=1)

The performance of our disadvantaged learners continues to improve, evidence of such improvement includes:

• An increase in the number of Pupil Premium students achieving a strong pass in English and maths (Grade 5+)
• An increase in the number of Pupil Premium students achieving a standard pass in English and maths (Grade 4+)
• An increase in the number of Pupil Premium students achieving a strong pass in maths
• An increase in the number of Pupil Premium students achieving a strong and standard pass in English

Heart of England has long recognised that the attendance of our disadvantaged learners is not as great as non-disadvantaged learners.  At the time of compulsory school closures owing to COVID the attendance of Pupil Premium students was 89.8%. At the end of the academic year 2018-19 Pupil Premium attendance was 90% showing similar attendance.  We recognise that continuing to improve attendance of Pupil Premium students remains a priority and this will be reflected in the school’s recovery plan.

The national closure of schools makes reporting upon the progress of learners ta KS3 much more difficult than in previous years owing to the structure of the assessment calendar and our model.  Reflecting the difficulties of assessment following school closures, the data captures below teacher assessment in terms of student progress

ALL	English	Maths	Science	All Core	EBacc*
7	70%	76%	56%	48%	32%
8	67%	73%	54%	43%	30%
9	67%	70%	54%	44%	20%**

 

PP	English	Maths	Science	All Core	EBacc*
7	42%	45%	32%	21%	13%
8	43%	51%	19%	8%	3%
9	32%	39%	16%	16%	16%

 

Staff and governors at Heart of England are aware that we need to do more to improve the progress of our pupil premium students in relation to non-pupil premium students.  Strategies and approaches that we have used to narrow this gap include (but are not limited to):

• Creating the role of Pastoral Inclusion Manager who focuses upon the attainment and progress of Pupil Premium students across the school, as well as liaising with parents / carers as necessary.
• Funding of additional experienced, subject specialists in English and maths to create an additional set in Key Stage 4 with the view to improving teacher/student ratio and improving progress and attainment
• Prior to the forced closure of schools, 44% of the Thinking Reading Intervention were Pupil Premium students. Up until March, the average gain in reading age made by students was 4.4 years.
• Staffing costs associated with Pastoral Support, ensuring that we have a team who know all their students including their Pupil Premium Students so that they can support and challenge students to reach their potential
• Contribution towards the salary of a wellbeing practitioner who can respond to aspects of our students’ mental health, ensuring resilience and enabling a focus upon learning
• Increased visibility and knowledge of students through the use of more readily accessible data in the form of SISRA; providing context sheets to staff to increase awareness of their students and enabling class teachers to look at patterns of attainment and progress
• Contributions to students participating in a variety of enrichment opportunities such as school visits and trips, participation in foreign exchange trips, peripatetic music lessons
• Contribution to the cost of uniform, cooking ingredients, text books and computer equipment to ensure Pupil premium students are ‘ready to learn’ and able to access curriculum
• Funding used to support the employment of a Home-School liaison officer who can work to increase the attendance of Pupil Premium students
• Purchase of revision guides and resources
• Providing all Year 7 PP students with basic equipment and resources such calculators, MFL dictionary, English SPAG (Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar) dictionary

Our Proposed Expenditure 2020-21 takes into account the uncertainty ahead in terms of possible school closures and cohorts having to work from home

2019-20 Pupil Premium Grant: £133, 700

Focus: Raising Aspirations
Expense	PP Allocation
Careers	£2,000
Enrichment / Peripatetic Music Tuition	£5,000
Home School Liaison Officer	£15,000
Duke of Edinburgh subscription / participation costs	£700
Total	£22,700

 

Focus: Support and Wellbeing
Expense	PP Allocation
Wellbeing Practitioner	£12,000
Pastoral Staffing contribution (Pastoral Managers and Admin Support costs)	£20,000
Pastoral Inclusion Manager	£11,250
Uniform / PE	£1,250
Revision Resources	£2,500
Total	£47,750

 

Focus: Student Progress
Expense	PP Allocation
50% Contribution to UPS1 English and Maths Teacher Salary	£40,000
Literacy and Numeracy Support	£2,000
Professional Development	£5,000
Total	£47,000

 

Focus: COVID
Expense	PP Allocation
Transport Contingency	£10,000
Resource Capacity	£5,000
Total	£15,000

 

Focus: IMPACT AND EVALUATION
Expense	PP Allocation
SISRA subscription	£2,000
Total	£2,000