Research School Network: Reviewing and refining your Pupil Premium strategy – three sets of helpful resources Signposting to helpful resource to support reviewing of Pupil Premium strategy documents
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Reviewing and refining your Pupil Premium strategy – three sets of helpful resources
Signposting to helpful resource to support reviewing of Pupil Premium strategy documents
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by Unity Research School
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The Education Policy Institute (EPI) annual report looks at the state of education in England, with a focus on the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. This year it reveals the enduring and, in some areas, worsening disparities faced by disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils. It presents clear evidence of a set of complex challenges where poverty, ethnicity, place and gender all interact to compromise the life chances of some of the country’s most vulnerable children.
Alarmingly, the report demonstrates that little progress is being made in closing the gap between vulnerable groups of pupils and their peers, and worryingly, there is a widening gap in the early years particularly for economically disadvantaged young children and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Previous EPI research has shown that 40 per cent of the gap at age 16 has already emerged by age 5 and so this is a crucial opportunity to tackle later life inequalities. Without urgent action, we will have a generation of young people at risk of leaving education without the skills and qualifications they need to thrive.
These concerning headlines underline the importance of the work of school leaders this term in reviewing and updating the Pupil Premium strategy document before 31st December deadline.
However, as Chris Paterson, Co-CEO of the Education Endowment Foundation wrote last month, “In the whirlwind of school life, updating and evaluating this strategy can easily fall down the list.”
With this in mind, three helpful sets of evidence-informed resources support leaders can call upon to support this vital work include:
1. The EEF’s updated Guide to the Pupil Premium
At the start of the autumn term, the EEF updated its Guide to the Pupil Premium and made it an online, digital resource.
Designed to help school leaders save time, make stronger decisions, and maximise impact, the guide comprises a clear five step framework to build or refine your strategy, and a selection of trusted, evidence-based insights on what works, including a collection of new ‘talking head’ videos with real examples from schools.
uniting colleagues on why it matters, what is involved, and reinforcing how it is a collective endeavour, with a shared language around efforts for supporting disadvantaged learners, not just something for the Pupil Premium Lead
engaging people throughout the school community in reviewing impact, diagnosing need through accurate assessment, not assumption, and enacting the strategy day in, day out
reflecting on pupil needs, current practices in terms of what is/is not having impact and what evidence can be drawn upon to ensure we are dispassionate in our evaluation Next steps to consider
Check out the updated Guide to the Pupil Premium, honing in on chapter 5‘Evaluate and sustain your strategy’
Reflecting on Part A of your Pupil Premium strategy plan: how concise and precise is statement of intent? How accurate are the challenges? How tangible are the intended outcomes? How focussed and informed by evidence within the tiered menu of approaches is activity?
Reflecting on Part B of your strategy plan: how well is school data and observation used to assess wider issues impacting disadvantaged pupils’ performance, including attendance, belonging, behaviour and wellbeing? What does national assessment/qualification data show? How is this comparing to previous performance, local and national averages for non-disadvantaged pupils?
Consider to what extent the Pupil Premium strategy is being made/lived as everyone’s responsibility? How well do all members of the school’s staff understand and know their contribution to the Pupil Premium strategy? Is everyone on the same page?
How might you evidence how invested new and existing staff are in the strategy? How is the leadership of Pupil Premium revisiting and adapting implementation plans, refreshing professional development, and celebrating improved outcomes with the school community?
