Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2022 to 2023 academic year) funding to help improve the attainment of our students that are in receipt of the pupil premium.

It outlines our pupil premium strategy, how we intend to spend the funding in this academic year and the effect that last year’s spending of pupil premium had within our school.

School overview

Detail

Data

School name

Cressex Community School

Number of pupils in school

760

Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils

30%

Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)

3

Date this statement was published

30 November 2022

Date on which it will be reviewed

30 November 2023

Statement authorised by

Governing Board

Pupil premium lead

Headteacher

Governor/Trustee lead

Mrs C Tran-Doan

 

Funding overview

Detail

Amount

Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year

£ 217,685

Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year

£  64,090

Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable)

£            0

Total budget for this academic year

If your school is an academy in a trust that pools this funding, state the amount available to your school this academic year

£ 281,775

 

Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan

Statement of Intent

Our key intentions are that students in receipt of the pupil premium should:

  1. achieve outcomes in line with those achieved by non-pupil premium students, in terms of academic achievement (attainment and progress), attendance, behaviour and progression;
  2. have access to the same opportunities that are available to all students through the school; and
  3. are, when required, provided additional targeted support to overcome barriers to learning and participation they may experience so that their life chances are maximised through their experience of attending the school.

 

Challenges

This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our students in receipt of pupil premium.

Challenge number

Detail of challenge

1

Irregular or low attendance for some as a result of emotion-based school avoidance

2

Lower than average attainment on entry for some

3

Vulnerability to community-based challenges for some

4

As a result of COVID, gaps in knowledge in curriculum subjects for some

5

As a result of COVID, impact on self-belief and capacity to engage consistently positively with learning in school for some

 

Intended outcomes

This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.

Intended outcome

Success criteria

Attendance maximised

Attendance in line with school average in all year groups

Attainment and progress maximised

P8 in line with P8 for non-pupil premium students in GCSE examinations

Minimal or no gap between PP and non PP students in other years (measured through internal assessments)

High, positive engagement with school and ability to progress to suitable next stage of education

Suspensions and repeat suspensions remain well below national average for all year groups; progression to post 16 or post 18 provision in line with abilities and aspirations

 

Activity in this academic year

This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.

Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)

Budgeted cost: £ 106,544

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Secure and retain the best classroom teachers we can in all subjects, with a particular focus on English and Maths

Various – wide research nationally and internationally that teaching “makes the difference”. Also, extensive school-derived evidence that the quality of day to day “instructional” teaching is a key determinant of the progress a learner will make. (In line with Rosenshine.) This is especially so where learners rely extensively on what the school can provide and have limited access to external resources.

2, 4, 5

Provide high quality bespoke CPD in-house to share teachers’ effective practice across subject disciplines and further enhance their skills in pedagogy

See above.

 

2, 4, 5

Develop a school based programme for Early Career Teachers to train them to provide most effectively for students within this school’s context

See above.

ECT induction framework research.

2, 4, 5

 

Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)

Budgeted cost: £ 30,996

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Small group tutoring in literacy for students with low reading ages and numeracy support.

Various – extensive research that the development of early reading and numeracy skills benefits from 1:1 or small group interactions.

EEF

2, 4

Purchase of licenses and other programmes to support improved enjoyment of reading and progress in reading comprehension

Various – wide research that good reading skills are essential for effective learning

2,4

“Booster” classes in various subjects  for students who have performed below expectations in school assessments to enable catch up

EEF

2, 4


Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)

Budgeted cost: £ 144,236

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Targeted student and family support to promote attendance

School data. Ofsted reports. DFE guidance

1, 3, 5

Personal and group mentoring and advocacy to break down barriers to learning

School data. Ofsted reports. DFE guidance

1, 3, 5

Safeguarding support from identified school staff

School data. Ofsted reports. DFE guidance

1, 3, 5

Mental health and well-being support from school personnel

School data. Ofsted reports. DFE guidance

1, 3, 5

Extended curriculum opportunities, e.g. Summer School, Sports, theatre performances, team building etc.

Widespread evidence that purposeful extra-curricular activities build many attributes, including self-confidence and “cultural capital”

1, 2, 3, 4, 5


Total budgeted cost: £ 281,775

 

Part B: Review of outcomes in the previous academic year

Pupil premium strategy outcomes

This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2021 to 2022 academic year. Note that the year was materially affected for all students by the COVID 19 pandemic.

Students achieved good results in 2022 through the first nationally sat exams since 2019. Students where afforded targeted support through booster classes after school and in school holidays to help close the gap. While the table below shows a gap between pupil premium and non pupil premium students in terms af attainment and progress, the overall scores are in line with or above expectation given students’ starting points, as indicated by the positive national P8 score calculated by the FFT. This pattern is in line with the trend of results achieved by students in the school over the period 2017-2019 (IDSR). 

 

GCSE and Equivalent Results 2022

FFT Summary

      Attainment   Progress
    Pupils Attainment 8
(Overall)
% English &
Maths (4+)
Progress 8
(Overall)
Summary All pupils 150 47.48 66% +0.43
Pupil Premium Yes 33 44.09 54% +0.14
  No 117 48.43 69% +0.51

Over the course of the school year 2021-22, students’ attendance was significantly affected by the COVID19 pandemic and high cases of covid. The school was assiduous in:

  • providing high quality in-school and remote support for students unable to attend school due to self-isolation
  • ensuring that all students had access to a suitable device to enable full participation in remote learining (well ahead of the government’s laptop programme)
  • tracking  students’ participation in school and  remote learning and intervening if a problem emerged.

Feedback from these learners was consistently that they found school a supportive and positive environment and that they had been able to remain enegaged in their learning, which would otherwise not have been the case. Students in receipt of the pupil premium were strongly represented in the in-school cohorts that received booster session or staff interventions. Following the return to school, attendance overall has been above the national average, and students’ behaviour and attitudes across all year groups has been good.


Whole Year Attendance (2021-22)

All Students

  All Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11
School 90.1% 91.1% 90.7% 89.8% 90.0% 88.6%
FFT National 89.7% 91.7% 90.3% 89.3% 88.8% 88.1%
Difference +0.4% -0.6% +0.4% +0.5% +1.2% +0.6%

Pupil Premium

  All Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11
School 87.5% 89.1% 87.8% 86.7% 87.6% 84.9%
FFT National 84.9% 88.1% 85.6% 83.9% 83% 82.5%
Difference +2.6% +1.0% +2.1% +2.8% +4.7% +2.4%

Non Pupil Premium

  All Y7 Y8 Y9 Y10 Y11
School 91.2% 92.1% 92.2% 91.0% 91.1% 89.6%
FFT National 91.3% 93.0% 91.9% 91.0% 90.6% 89.7%
Difference -0.1% -0.9% +0.3% -0.1% +0.5% -0.1%

 

Fixed Term Exclusions (Suspensions) by Incidence (2021-22)

Year Group 7 8 9 10 11 All
Pupil Premium 5 3 2 2 2 14
All 8 3 6 5 7 29