Research School Network: Serving the underserved- funding research informed practice By Clare Greene, ELE – PP & Inclusion, Executive Headteacher

Clare Greene is an Executive Headteacher of a Junior School in Bath and a 2‑form entry Primary School with Nursery in Somerset. Both are in areas of high deprivation with much higher-than-average numbers of pupils eligible for pupil premium and those with identified SEND.

Many leaders are drawn to schools in challenging circumstances- Ofsted categories or those in areas of high deprivation (usually both!). I’m definitely one and currently Executive Headteacher of 2 schools both with higher-than-average numbers of pupils in receipt of the pupil premium grant (PPG), specifically those who are those eligible for free school meals or eligible in the past 6 years (71% and 49%). They both also have higher than national average numbers of pupils with SEND. 

Most of you reading this will be used to and regularly use the term ​‘disadvantaged’ but we must be careful about its use as a label and the dangers of self-fulfilling prophecy, particularly for children. One of the charities I work with is championing the use of the term underserved because they have faced inequity and as a result, experienced unequal opportunity.

It is by working with this charity and a number of other platforms and organisations that we have been able to implement more research informed practice than ever before. School budgets are tight, while PPG is welcome, it isn’t enough for many schools, particularly those with fewer children eligible, or for schools who have pupils eligible for service pupil premium (SSP) which carries a lesser amount. In my first headship, over a third of pupils were SPP as well as higher than average FSM. We were able to use the fund to implement whole school approaches such as those recommended in the EEF’s Social and Emotional Learning Guidance Report for low costs but for the benefit of all pupils. We addressed the challenges we saw rather than focusing on complaining about the impact of them.

With energy increases and unfunded pay rises alone, budgets are already extremely tight and some leaders say they cannot cut any more. A good way to ​‘save’ money for evidence informed practices is to bring more in. This can help ensure PPG can be prioritised, particularly where there are many challenges. Whole school approaches can often be funded by a combination of funding and they can be cheaper to implement however additional income is always welcome. 

Platforms such as Let’s Localise are free and can reach businesses and individuals who want to support schools with resources (whole school set of recorders once and a number of devices), time (clearing a forest school area) and funding. We also use grant service which provides weekly notifications of possible funding streams. These are forwarded to relevant staff to apply for. Other organisations such as Neighbourly provide surplus items such as food, wallpaper, paint and plants as well as grants e,g to provide a warm space. This helps support our families who are underserved without additional cost to the school and helping to address inequity that is usually out of schools’ control. It also helps to strengthen school/​home relationships.

We are part of a 10 year long term charity project. All of the approaches that are funded either directly or as part of partnerships are evidence based. Some are whole school and some are targeted. Each uses either an EEF guidance report or are otherwise evidence informed, existing as an extension of the PPG strategy. 

A tiered approach to reading using the menu of approaches and recommendations from the EEF’s SEL Guidance Report addressed the particular problems explored by the senior leadership team. This was supported by additional funding for a phonics approach CPD, books, reading assistants and even a Librarian. This complimented the long-term strategic goals around oracy and parental empowerment in order that the main challenges and barriers that we as a school could impact upon were implemented. The EEF implementation guidance was instrumental in supporting us to prepare, deliver and sustain over a longer period of time not just thinking about separate academic years.

If we are truly going to serve our underserved pupils and families and support them to create happy, healthy futures then we need to think about how we can implement more research informed practices, even where funding is limited and the challenges are many.