How we spend our Pupil Premium Grant
Schools can choose how to spend their pupil premium grant money, as they are best placed to identify what would be of greatest benefit to the pupils who are eligible. Our aim is to ensure the best achievement for all students. This means we carefully consider where some individuals and groups of students are not making the progress they are capable of, and as a result implement specific strategies to close this gap.
The document below details how Paulet uses its pupil premium grant. Rigorous analysis of performance gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers enabled the identification of three priorities:
- Improving the attendance of our disadvantaged students
- Improving the outcomes of our disadvantaged students
- Raise aspirations of our disadvantaged students and families
- Improving the behaviour and emotional wellbeing of our disadvantaged students
There is no single strategy that makes an overall positive difference to the progress and life chances of disadvantaged students. It is the coherence of the school’s approach that enables us to narrow the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and others, although this remains a focus as part of the school’s development plan. Senior leaders set aspirational targets for disadvantaged pupils and do not accept disadvantage as a reason for poor performance – a message consistently communicated to all stakeholders within the community.
All teachers are aware of who the PPG eligible students within their classes are, and they personalise their planning for these pupils by using specific teaching and learning strategies to maximise progress within lessons. These strategies are outlined within each teachers personalised learning plans. For some students, one-to-one or smaller group academic interventions are more effective, and therefore implemented to ensure academic gaps are bridged.
Our inclusion and pastoral team prioritises and targets our vulnerable and disadvantaged students for emotional support and puts significant emphasis on resilience, motivation and good mental health. The school counsellor is supported through PPG funds as well as initiatives such as academic mentoring and the listening ear project.
The effectiveness of the pupil premium grant spending is measured through our school development plan through analysis of termly key performance indicators.
Victoria Deer (Deputy Headteacher) working closely with Ahsan Ashraf (Progress and Achievement Coordinator ) are  responsible for the Paulet pupil premium strategy, and reviews the document annually and reports this to governors. Mike Gater (Vice Chair of Governing Board) holds members of the senior leadership team to account for the PPG spend.