Bedlington Academy is working to support disadvantaged students in all areas of their education from the moment they arrive at school. Our aim is that every disadvantaged student will achieve at least as well as their peers and have every opportunity to excel.
How the pupil premium was spent in 2019/20 allocation £272,085
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Strategies
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Rationale
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Cost Allocation
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Small groups in core subjects in KS3/4
Additional classes in KS4 English, mathematics & science.
1 to 1 tutoring and provision of revision resources for all GCSE subjects.
Employment of a maths intervention teacher to address specific weaknesses in attainment / progress in maths
Provision of paper-based resources and other support during lockdown.
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- Aim to maintain class sizes of 25 in core subjects.
- Analysis of data at KS4 shows additional and specific support is needed to ensure pupils in year 10/11 reach their target grades (which will in turn close gaps and significantly raise attainment).
- Additional lessons after school and during lunchtimes, together with one to one tuition provides significant support to students. Provision of dedicated revision lessons also provides additional impact.
- Ensures Pupil Premium students still have access to the curriculum.
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£62,000
£19,068
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Attendance
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- Attendance of pupils lower than peers. Train member of admin staff to become EWO for school. EWO from Easington Academy to take responsibility for training 1 day per week.
- Attendance planning meetings with parents and appropriate support put in place to bring about improvements.
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£28,932
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Assessment and intervention
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- Assessment data is used to drive additional intervention work that is needed at an individual level.
- Directors of Learning (DoLs) provide mentoring and support for disadvantaged students so that they achieve their potential each academic year. Each will have bespoke plans for their academic development and identify where additional support is needed. The plans are regularly amended to ensure that they are fit for purpose.
- Subject leaders feed into the process above so that actions taken carefully support individuals.
- Additional KS3 leads appointed in core subjects to ensure greater leadership focus on addressing gaps at KS3.
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£15,576
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Learning support assistants
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- Learning support assistants will be deployed appropriately to support students so that they can fully engage with lessons and make outstanding progress.
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£269,459
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SENCO
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- The SENCO has a specific focus on ensuring that pupils with SEN who also qualify for the pupil premium, make excellent progress and have access to a wide variety of personalised opportunities at an appropriate level. This personalisation is key as the range of our pupil premium students is extensive. Some require additional learning support for a variety of factors, others, a significant stretch and challenge and work on raising personal aspirations.
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£11,916
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Additional literacy and numeracy, and a coherent approach to literacy
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- A small group of Year 7 and 8 will be provided with small group support in literacy (oracy) and numeracy to help them make more rapid progress.
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£7,824
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Equipment and resources
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- Provision of needed equipment and resources so that pupils are able to attend lessons and complete homework with the resources they need. This includes peripatetic music, ingredients for food lessons and revision guides.
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£7,098
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Transport and Enrichment
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- Provision of transport costs and access to enrichment events that take place beyond the normal school day.
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£6,502
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| Careers information, advice and guidance |
- Trust lead deployed 1 day per week to support with CEIAG in school.
- Additional member of staff with TLR to lead CEIAG programme in school.
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£20,907
£2,391
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Total
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£272,085
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Impact of expenditure
Based the results (Centre Assessed Grades) for Year 11 in 2020, the following is evident:
The attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils (A8 45.27, P8 +0.08) was improved from 2019 (A8 34.92, P8 -0.77). This shows that the interventions outlined above had a positive impact on these pupils.
Evaluation of specific interventions has shown that the following had the greatest impact on the progress of disadvantaged pupils:
- additional intervention classes
- careers, information advice and guidance programme.
- additional literacy and numeracy
- equipment and resources
These interventions will therefore be continued in 2020/21.
For other interventions, it is harder to isolate the specific impact of that intervention.
The attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils in 2020 remains lower than that of their non-disadvantaged peers in school (A8 53.51, P8 0.21). There are no national figures for comparison in 2020 due to performance tables not being published for the academic year.
Disadvantaged pupils with high prior attainment made less progress than disadvantaged pupils with lower or middle prior attainment. Disadvantaged pupils made slightly better progress in English than they did in maths, and significantly better progress in EBacc and Open bucket subjects; this is a similar pattern to that for non-disadvantaged pupils.
How the Pupil Premium will be spent in 2020/21
Strategies to Raise the Attainment of Pupils supported by the Pupil Premium Funding
2020/21 Pupil Premium Allocation: £248,532
Bedlington Academy has a Pupil Premium Grant allocation of £248,532 for the academic year 2020-21. This funding is given with a specific remit of diminishing any differences between disadvantaged students and those who are not disadvantaged. Bedlington Academy is working to support disadvantaged students in all areas of their education from the moment that they arrive in school. Our aim is that every disadvantaged student will achieve at least as well as their peers and have every opportunity to excel.
Some disadvantaged students face many and complex barriers in during their education which make effective learning very difficult. Other students have very specific needs, and still others have few barriers at all. Below are some of the main difficulties faced, although it must also be said that the difficulties encountered are not unique to those who are disadvantaged.
The main barriers faced by eligible students in 2020-21 are:
- Some struggle to attend regularly and of these some are persistently absent.
- Some students struggle to manage their behaviour.
- Some students need extensive pastoral support for a variety of reasons.
- Some students struggle with the increased complexity of organization with a secondary environment and increased demands for independent work.
- Some students face significant challenges in their lives and have social, emotional and mental health needs that prevent them from learning.
- Some students need additional adult support to help to enable them to fully achieve their potential both during the school day and after school with managing homework.
- Some students need individual tuition and/or teaching in small groups to enable them to achieve.
- Some students have little aspiration for the future and are in need of additional adult support and additional careers guidance so that they do not limit their own potential.
- Some students have low levels of literacy and numeracy which impedes their learning and their confidence.
- Some students lack access to the internet and the use of computers to support their studies.
- Some students lack space to study with adult support.
- Some students need to experience a wealth of enrichment experiences in-order to widen their horizons and unlock future opportunities.
- School uniform can cause significant challenges for some families, as can transport.
- Some students do not have access to a healthy diet which impacts on their general well-being. Some do not participate regularly in sports and need proactive, individual support in order to overcome barriers.
- All pupils need the highest quality of teaching in every classroom.
Pupil Premium strategic plan for expenditure received 2020-21.
In light of the above data and understanding of barriers to learning, the total allocation to support pupils for 2020-21 will be spent as follows:
The list below of overall spending categories is not exhaustive. Exact details of pupil premium spending may be so specific to one student’s needs, that this cannot be published here. For this reason, a summary of overall spending in different areas is provided.
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Cost Area
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Estimated cost
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The Student Progress Area (SPA) (Areas 1,2,3,4,5,6,11)
The SPA is a place of safety, support and challenge. The purpose of the Hub is to enable pupils to gain confidence and to access learning. There is a clear focus on increasing the resilience of pupils, building their self-esteem and also enabling them to develop those skills that will enable them to learn effectively in the classroom environment.
The SENCo and SPA Hub Manager lead a team of trained staff in the support of pupils with special educational needs and social and emotional needs. They work individually with pupils and design intervention to support their needs and build resilience and self-esteem.
Three Assistant Learning Mentors work in the SPA Hub, providing a bespoke support programme which includes 1-1 & small group support and professional development for staff. A specialist nurse also supports the work of the hub for one day per week (pro rata).
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£60,000
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Attendance (Area 1)
The specialist attendance officer works closely as part of the support services team and with the Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral) and Directors of Learning in supporting families to ensure their children attend well.
The ‘Truancy Call’ system allows swift communication with parents regarding absence. A range of rewards are in place to encourage good attendance.
An addition driver has been employed to facilitate the attendance bus service, which supports vulnerable/disadvantaged students to get to school.
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£35,000
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Behaviour Management – (Area 2)
For a whole range of reasons some pupils struggle to accept boundaries and manage their own behavior. Extensive support is provided by multi-disciplinary teams led by the Associate Assistant Headteacher (Pastoral). The AHT does not have a teaching timetable, in recognition of the significant amount of time which is required to support effective behaviour systems in school.
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£60,000
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Curriculum Programmes – (Areas 6, 7, 9)
Mentoring by senior staff and Directors of Learning is provided for pupils who need this additional guidance on a regular basis in order to engage effectively with learning.
Intervention in all subjects is provided, often in a small group setting and sometimes on a 1:1 basis. For some pupils this is planned on a regular basis and for others, it is managed by each department according to needs as they arise during the year.
Breakfast revision sessions are in place prior to major external and internal exam series. A nutritious breakfast is provided along with revision.
English and maths teachers provide small group support for literacy and numeracy from Year 7 to 11 students.
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£35,000
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High Quality Teaching and Learning - (Areas 9, 15)
This is essential for every student and especially for those who are disadvantaged. To this end, the school invests significant time in developing staff through individual coaching and whole staff training. All teachers and departments have plans for development which specifically identify the needs of individual pupils (supported by the pupil premium). They use strategies where there is a firm research base of positive impact (e.g. EEF -Education Endowment Foundation - Teachers Toolkit). This is supported by our links with Shotton Hall Research School.
All teachers focus on language and literacy development. Word banks are commonly used and new language carefully introduced. Enriching and extending the wealth of language used by students is a key focus for staff, understanding that this will provide a route to access learning and a wider range of future career options.
Drama lessons & RE lessons to enhance development and use of the English language and use of expressive language.
Food lessons within the Technology curriculum at Key Stage 3 and optional at Key Stage 4, to improve understanding of healthy eating.
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£20,000
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Careers, Information, Advice and Guidance - (Area 8)
1:1 careers advisors to target all disadvantaged students, including those with high prior attainment, to support with raising aspirations.
For some pupils, careers visits are planned into their learning programs so that they are able to experience, first-hand, the wide range of opportunities available to them. This also develops and understanding of the requirements to enter different career routes.
The specific work above is complemented by a wide range of careers development that takes place from Year 7.
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£24,000
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Homework and Study Support - (Areas 6, 10, 11)
A staffed area is available every day at lunchtime and after school for students to complete homework, access the internet and also access class text books.
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£4,000 (estimate)
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Enrichment Programmes – beyond the curriculum - (Area 12,14)
School Trips / Theatre Visits / Outward Bounds / Duke of Edinburgh / Citizenship Programmes – financial support is provided to enable pupils to participate. These will have a focus on raising aspirations and widening experience.
Financial support is available for students who wish to take up musical instrument tuition.
Sport: access to enrichment through sport with financial support to provide access and equipment.
The school will provide financial assistance so that pupils can engage with these activities. They are seen as essential and sometimes life changing. Cost is a very real reason why some cannot access these activities.
Funding to support trips abroad is limited due to the high cost and contributions will only be made to purely educational visits, for example, the Belgium Battlefields visit & European language visits
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£6,000 (estimate)
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Family & Community Programme - (Areas 13, 14)
School uniform support with cost where required.
Support for transport costs for disadvantaged pupils.
Re-introduction of cooking into the curriculum in year 7/8.
Breakfast Club – free breakfast each morning with staff support to help address social/emotional issues and encourage good punctuality to school.
Provision of break-time snacks – to promote healthy eating and to ensure that students are receptive to learning.
Good nutrition is crucial to students focus and concentration. Year 7 & 8 will experience Food lessons. The need to eat healthily is also taught through the PSHE programme.
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£5,000 (estimate)
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Estimated total expenditure
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£249,000
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Reviews of Impact
The impact of our actions above are reviewed termly and in every meeting with the Local Academy Council. Some of the impact is qualitative (eg. the impact of theatre trips) but some is quantitative (eg. numbers of behavioural incidents, achievement data, attendance figures). This data is gathered during regular meetings with senior staff and the Intervention Hub staff and through analysing the data at key data input points.
Individual students are monitored daily where needed, to ensure actions to support them are taken swiftly.
Clearly the over-arching impact of this work is to raise the standards reached by disadvantaged students and prepare them for the next stage of their education/employment or training.
We adapt our support and our plans for further work in the light of this evaluation.
Ultimately, the impact of our actions over time are seen as pupils reach the end of Key Stage 4. The impact for each child at an individual level is monitored carefully during each academic year as they progress towards their external examinations.
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