Research School Network: Making the difference Phil Stock uncovers how we improved outcomes for our disadvantaged pupils.

It is unwise to place too much emphasis on the outcomes of any one cohort, as we know that results can often fluctuate regardless of what schools do. That is why it is probably more sensible to look at trends over time.

At Greenshaw we have had a steady increase in our exam results over recent years. This overall upwards trajectory has been mirrored by the rising progress of our disadvantaged pupils, where it looks like this year we may have met and perhaps even exceeded the strategic goals of our current pupil premium (PP) strategy.

While there is obviously still a long way to go and this work is never ​‘done’, I thought it might be helpful at this stage to share some of the reasons we think are responsible for our improved results, particularly for our disadvantaged cohort.

At the heart of our approach has been developing a whole school understanding of the challenges of educational disadvantage, and creating a shared ownership of the school’s overall strategy and an individual responsibility for the elements within it.

There have been three distinct phases to this work:

• understanding the challenges
• creating a shared responsibility
• mobilising the strategy.

1. Understanding the challenge

Our first step was to define disadvantage as educational disadvantage, a term which better foregrounds the possible impact of a pupil’s social and economic circumstances on their education over time. This subtle shift has helped our teachers understand the limitations of the pupil premium label as an identifier of need.

A lot of time and energy can be spent attempting to identify all the disadvantaged pupils in the school, when in most cases that effort would be better placed in focusing on identifying the specific needs of the pupils in the class, who may or may not come attached with a label.

We helped staff understand the typical challenges faced by our pupils, using a combination of hard and soft data.

Particularly powerful was sharing the survey results about the reading habits of our pupils. That approximately one-third of our pupils only read books in school was a powerful means of highlighting how improving literacy levels was a key priority for our strategy.

2. Creating a shared responsibility

Understanding the challenges faced by disadvantaged pupils is a necessary but not sufficient step towards addressing disadvantage. To truly make a difference, every member of the teaching and support staff needs to accept their individual and collective responsibility. This often involves engaging with deeply-held values and beliefs.

Probably the most impactful approach that we took in creating this shared responsibility was to involve staff in the process of writing the school’s Pupil Premium strategy.

A draft of the strategy was shared in small group sessions with opportunities for staff to reflect, ask questions and offer feedback, much of which was acted on in the final version.

The strategy itself was designed to be clear and concise, with an emphasis on developing a coherent strategy of intentional activities for the period ahead, rather than an exhaustive list of everything that was already happening anyway.

In the next group session, there was time for teachers to read the strategy in its entirety before signing the statement of intent – a symbolic signifier of their commitment to our shared vision. It proved to be a powerful gesture towards collective responsibility.

3. Mobilising the strategy

I have already written about an approach we call The Focus Five, a way of thinking about learning through the eyes of specific pupils. Teachers use PP and SEN data as a starting point but then zoom into the needs of up to five pupils in each of their classes, identifying appropriate strategies that they will use with those pupils to meet their needs.

The power of this approach lies in the way it gives teachers agency over determining which pupils should benefit from a targeted approach.

All five pupils might have a PP label, an SEN label or both, or only some might. Teachers were guided towards the most vulnerable, but used their expertise to see if they were at risk in their subject.

Focus Five also helps teachers to shrink what can sometimes feel like an insurmountable problem.

Thinking that you, as an individual class teacher, have to mitigate against the challenges of vast social and economic factors beyond your control can feel overwhelming, whereas simply being encouraged to be a little more intentional in your planning and delivery with 4 – 5 pupils feels doable and realistic.

But it’s not just the identification of need that matters, it’s the matching of that need with an appropriate response. As a school we have identified a few teaching approaches, such as live marking, show me and scaffolding, that done as part of normal classroom practice will be good for all pupils, but particularly for those with additional needs.

To ensure the everyday busyness of school life doesn’t distract us from our focus, we use every opportunity to communicate our commitment to addressing educational disadvantage. 

Our Through the lens metaphor (below) is a helpful way of conveying our desire to zoom in on the needs of our most vulnerable. It has become a symbol of our culture.

There is a great deal for us to do simply to maintain the outcomes that we have achieved with our disadvantaged pupils, let alone to raise their attainment and close the gap between their non-disadvantaged peers. This will be something we write about further over the coming months and years.

If you are interested in learning more about how you might improve the way you design and mobilise your pupil premium strategy, there is still time to sign up for our forthcoming programme From the page to the classroom – making your pupil premium strategy come alive.

Thanks for reading.