Research School Network: How Tyneview Primary School is Closing the Disadvantage Gap Vashti Sergison shares how adopting an evidence informed approach is transforming their Pupil Premium strategy.
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How Tyneview Primary School is Closing the Disadvantage Gap
Vashti Sergison shares how adopting an evidence informed approach is transforming their Pupil Premium strategy.
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by Newcastle Research School
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Vashti Sergison, Headteacher at Tyneview Primary School.
The challenge of the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers is significant, starting early and widening throughout a child’s school career. The most recent data from the Education Policy Institute shows the gap starts in Early Years at 4.7 months growing to 10 months by the end of KS2 and 19.1 months by the time pupils leave KS4.
For schools like Tyneview Primary, part of NEAT Academy Trust who serve communities in areas of high deprivation, using our Pupil Premium funding to make a tangible difference is paramount. Currently, our data puts us well above national for both our phonics screening and our combined results in Y6. This is, in no small part, down to the commitment we have to ensuring that all out students thrive in our school.
To ensure our strategy was not based around our own beliefs and assumptions, we turned to the Education Endowment Foundation’s Guide to the Pupil Premium. Specifically, we focused on Step 2: Use reliable research evidence to support your strategy. This step is vital, as effective strategies must be supported by the best available evidence to select approaches likely to work in our specific context.
The EEF’s three-tiered model, as seen below, proposes that the majority of the Pupil Premium spend is on High-Quality Teaching.
EEF's tiered model
Tyneview Primary allocated 46% of their Pupil Premium budget to this tier, recognising it as the bedrock for closing the attainment gap.
Diagnosing the Core Challenge
Before spending, we diagnosed a clear and specific barrier and identified our first challenge: many disadvantaged pupils enter school with low starting points in Early Reading and foundational phonics skills. This highlights a deficit in phonological awareness and pre-phonics skills which, if unaddressed, makes accessing the curriculum difficult.
Step 2 in Practice: Moving Beyond…
To address our challenge, we focused our efforts on evidence-informed PD for all teaching and support staff, aligning their practice directly with EEF guidance.
Tyneview invested in PD in phonological awareness and a phonics programme.
This choice was driven by evidence explicitly cited in the EEF guidance report: Preparing for Literacy: Improving Communication, Language and Literacy in the Early Years Recommendation Two.
Crucially, we also embedded the ‘ShREC Approach, four evidence-informed strategies to promote high-quality interactions with young children.
The aim here was to ensure a language-rich environment and strong communication skills from the earliest stage.
The ShREC Approach
Embedding Evidence
By making this an approach adopted by all teachers, we directly addressed the core challenge of low on-entry skills for our disadvantaged learners.
We also ensured the CPD was not just about reading, but included a Reading Spine from Pre-school to Year 6, enhancing both reading instruction and our personal development curriculum.
Furthermore, investment in CPD for all staff on attendance policies and SEND systems (including relational approaches) ensured that non-academic barriers were also systematically addressed through consistent, high-quality staff knowledge and practice.
The power of Step 2 is that it encourages school leaders to select “best bets” approaches that have worked well in other settings before tailoring them to our unique school context. This stops us from simply relying on ‘what we’ve always done’.
For Tyneview, an evidence-based strategy is not an administrative task; it’s a non-negotiable tool for driving effective change and helping our disadvantaged pupils to enjoy school and achieve their full potential.
Reflection Questions
Have you precisely diagnosed the single biggest academic barrier facing your disadvantaged pupils, using school-specific data (not just national trends)?
Does your current Pupil Premium strategy clearly link the majority of your spend (Tier 1: High-Quality Teaching) directly to evidence from reports like the EEF’s to combat this specific, core challenge?
Is your professional development (PD) model truly whole-school and deeply aligned with your evidence-informed Pupil Premium strategy?
How do you ensure that every adult interacting with pupils, from Early Years to Year 6, consistently uses the same high-leverage, evidence-based practices to support disadvantaged pupils?
Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) (2018) Preparing for Literacy: Improving Communication, Language and Literacy in the Early Years. London: Education Endowment Foundation.
