Okehampton College Pupil Premium Strategy Report 2017-2018
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Okehampton College Pupil Premium Strategy Report 2017-2018

​Introduction

​Okehampton College, like all primary and secondary schools throughout the country, receive additional funding from the Government to support students.  This additional funding is called Pupil Premium Funding and is allocated separately from the college's general budget on the basis of the number of students who qualify for Pupil Premium assistance. You can find out more about the Government rational behind the funding by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/topic/schools-colleges-childrens-services/support-for-children-young-people

​In order to be eligible for Pupil Premium funding, students fall into one of the following categories:

• Have free school meals, or have done at some point in the last six years
• Are ‘Children in Care’ who have been looked after by the Local Authority continuously for more than one day
• Have been adopted from care

 
It is important to note that since July 2015, children of Service Personnel are no longer classified as Pupil Premium students. They do however still attract some additional funding.  For further information regarding funding allocation, please visit:
 
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-alternative-provision-settings
 
With the modifications made in July 2015 to the categorisation of Pupil Premium students, some changes have occurred in relation to data analysis. This means that a student will ‘count’ as disadvantaged if they have been in care for longer than one day (rather than six months) but students will now not ‘count’ if they are children of Service Personnel.

These groups have been identified by the Government since research shows that nationally, students in these categories perform significantly less well than other similar students who do not fall into these groups. Okehampton College has not historically experienced such dramatic differences in performances, so a number of our students perform in line, and at times, surpass the performance of other students, although this is dependent upon certain subject areas.  There is however, a gap unfortunately - which has grown in terms of attainment and in terms of progress in more recent years (although it has narrowed in some academic areas).

The additional funding enables the college to further develop its support to enable all students including those in the groups identified above to achieve their potential and therefore to close the gaps of achievement between Pupil Premium students and those that do not fall into these categories.
The Government has asked every school to publish how they intend to spend the money and the impact it is having on students eligible for the Pupil Premium as well as assess the impact of the previous year’s spend.  This is imperative in ensuring that all students at Okehampton College go on to achieve their full capabilities.
 
Our commitment to every student

It is important for all parents/carers to feel reassured that it is our practice and intention to support all students to fulfil their potential during their time with us. All students are consistently monitored and if anyone is perceived to have issues affecting their progress they will have access to numerous strategies, in order to improve their performance. The additional money which this year has been allocated as £280,125 has allowed the college to add extra capacity and develop further strategies so that we can assist and support more of our students. We are continually developing and trialling new interventions in order to strive for excellence and in order for all students to fulfil their full potential.

In addition, we are always evaluating our current practice, and as such, we will measure the impact of all strands of support, and evaluate the effectiveness across the college to ensure money spent supports development of pupils’ progress, and closes gaps – our next review of Pupil Premium at Teaching Level takes place in November, and the impact of interventions implemented recently will again be reviewed in March 2018.

The Approach

Okehampton College sees one of its main priorities to close this gap using four strategic approaches (after our recent review in September of this year focused upon Pupil Premium Spending and Impact): reorganising the finances appropriately to ensure impact; focusing upon Quality First Teaching for all students including those who are disadvantaged; faculties to have a greater strategic role in raising attainment and progress for students in receipt of PP monies, and finally, a whole-hearted and unapologetic approach to a raising of aspirations and motivating pupils for their futures which was started last academic year.

​Guidance at a Glance for Parents/Carers

Children in Care
 
Children in Care are supported by a dedicated team of staff, including a Assistant Primcipal: Mrs Edwards, and a full time member of the Inclusion and Safeguarding team: Mr Sean Freeman.  Targets are set through the Personal Education Plan (PEP) and areas that funding is required for are identified though that process in consultation with the young person, their carers, parents where appropriate, and staff from the Virtual School.  Interventions that can supported our Children in Care include:  Extra intervention in Maths, English and Science to support achievement in those areas; trips and events aimed at raising aspirations; an annual Children in Care conference aimed at raising aspirations and looking at post 16 options; additional careers advice; visits to post 16 providers; extra mentoring using the Devon approved Attachment Based Mentoring.  This is not an exhaustive list and each package is carefully tailored around the needs of the individual student.

​In addition, all of our Children in Care receive mentoring from a Senior Leader.
 
Table showing the number of Pupil Premium students in each Year Group

​Pupil Premium Pupil Numbers
 
Okehampton College has 1411 students on roll and of those, 195 are in the Sixth Form. As we can see from the table there is a 6-year trend of the number of students eligible for the Pupil Premium funding increasing each year.  Currently 24.5% of the 1216 students enrolled in KS3 and KS4 are eligible for support through Pupil Premium, this relates only to Key Stage Three (KS3) and Key Stage Four (KS4) students – although Post-16 Pupils are eligible to apply for specific bursary funding usually at the start of the academic year, there are 21 KS5 students who were eligible for Pupil Premium while they were in Year 11.
 
The following table outlines the percentage of students eligible for Pupil Premium (PP) funding per year group and those in receipt of free school meals.
 
Applying for Free School Meals

If you feel your child could be eligible for Free School Meals, they could receive approximately £400 worth of free lunches from the canteen per academic year. They could also be eligible to receive a range of other benefits contained within our Pupil Premium Pledge. By simply telephoning Devon County Council on 0345 155 1019 or on the Citizen's Portal and giving your National Insurance number and your child's date of birth you can check whether your child is eligible for Pupil Premium funding.
You will be told immediately if you are eligible and the next steps in the process. We are more than happy to help and support you through the application process if required. Please contact our PP Senior Lead in the first instance, Mrs Charlie Edwards (cedwards@okehamptoncollege.devon.sch.uk). Unfortunately, due to data confidentiality we are not allowed to telephone on behalf of the parent, guardian or carer.

However, if you do not want your child to have Free School Meals from the canteen, you can still continue as normal with your lunchtime arrangements.  Please consider carefully whether to apply, as all eligible applications will mean the college will gain extra funding, to support your child’s time with us.  In order for you to access other benefits (and for the school to receive Pupil Premium funding) you simply need to be registered for Free School Meals.
 
Barriers to Future Attainment
 
In School Barriers

• A greater proportion of the Pupil Premium students have lower literacy skills across the year groups than their non-Pupil Premium counterparts.
• Boys in receipt of Pupil Premium funding are not making the same progress as their female counterparts.

 
External Barriers

• To improve the attendance of Pupil Premium students as currently this is lower than the non PP counterparts.
• To lower the persistent absence of Pupil Premium students as this is currently higher than the non-Pupil premium students (currently 92.8% for pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium as opposed to 94.7% for non-PP students.  Overall attendance is 94.4 %).

 
 Outcomes
 
In school barriers

• Students eligible for pupil premium (with specific focus on boys) who are currently under age in both reading and spelling will by the end of the year be at least at age expected level or exceeding. This will be evidenced using the Lexia Literacy Program.  A further aspirational aim is for 100% of pupil premium students (boys and girls) in Year 11 to achieve in line with their expected grades in English Language or English Literature.
• To close the gap in attainment and progress which has, on average, widened in recent years.
• Aspirations are typical of a rural setting with some students in receipt of PP (and also those who are not) having lower aspirations and a lack of motivation which we are trying to improve with Careers; External Workshops; Alumni and the College’s Aspire programme.  This will be evidenced via student voice.

 
External Barriers

• As of October 2017 attendance of Pupil Premium students across the school stood at 92% to improve this to at least 95% as this is the National Expectation.
• Focussed intervention in place to support persistent absentees maintaining at least 90% attendance.

 
Current Attainment

Last Year's Attainment

​How Pupil Premium Funding was allocated in 2016/17:

Impact of Current Position:

As mentioned previously, with our Progress 8 and Attainment 8 scores showing, on average, a reduction in achievement (in contrast to previous years) with pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium, we feel incredibly strongly that we need to address and change the way we allocate some PP money and resources – in order to have the most effective impact (see above for changes at a glance).  We have therefore carried out a formal review of how the finances are allocated to which provision, and having appointed a member of the Senior Leadership Team as PP Lead in April, we are able to implement some of the development plan which was drawn up last academic year, along with other provisions to support all of our students, in particular those in receipt of PP.

Previously specific subject leads have been responsible for PP allocation and tracking, this is now a Senior Leader’s role, and has become the focus of the Senior Team and Middle Management, and is being publicised as a key issue for all staff.  We are currently carrying out a strategic review of Pupil Premium at classroom level, which will add to our knowledge, to ensure Quality First Teaching is targeting all students. 

Core Subjects & Attainment:

There were many successes despite the overall figures.  Science does not indicate a gap for PP students, and when exploring the Maths and English analysis of disadvantaged children, it is clear that there are a number of middle ability PP students who have NOT accessed their grades 4 or 5.  The Math’s faculty are well aware of this gap, and intend to continue with interventions which work – including after school tuition, work with a specialist maths TA, and organising one-to-one tuition.  The gap in terms of attainment in Maths for achieving grades 9-4 and 9-5 is 8.4% and 17.5% respectively.  This in comparison to last year when the gap was 17.7%: so the gap has narrowed in Maths by 9.3%. 

In English, there are two subjects to draw from: the gap from English Literature students achieving 9-4 and 9—5 is 5.7% and 6.1% respectively, and it is 10.3% and 13.3% when looking at English Language.  The gap has narrowed by 3% in English Language, and by 5.8% in English Language. 

Disadvantaged pupils are achieving slightly higher than the national data reported for English achievement, but there is a gap of 14.6% achieving grades 9-7. 
These faculties adopted metacognition and used a significant amount of teacher and specialised TA intervention to focus upon pupils considered to be at a disadvantage.  Provisions were also made for PP students to attend specific target led intervention weekly which proved to be a success for those students attending.  All of these core subject areas were able to allocate groups carefully as Okehampton College has deliberately overstaffed these areas to allow for greater intervention opportunities for all pupils, and in particular for PP pupils who do tend to be in smaller groups, with the appropriate member of staff allocated to ensure progress is made.  As each subject area has narrowed the attainment gap, and ensured a positive progress outcome, this strategy is deemed to be a success.

Other Successes:

• Late buses and additional transport allocation has allowed pupils to attend revision and intervention opportunities which led to successes in specific subject areas.
• Over allocation of teaching provision in three core areas: English, Maths & Science.
• Ready to Learn has been implemented successfully, and it is already evidenced in surveys that pupils find the classroom environment to be more positive as a result.  Pupils who experienced Ready to Learn also indicate that they see this as a positive approach.
• Mill Leat provides a pastoral and interventionist approach, with many pupils who are supported there who are in receipt of PP, and this allows these students to continue to access the opportunities made available to them.
• The Summer School has continued to support students to transition effectively from Primary to Secondary Education.  Funding sought externally.
• A comprehensive extra-curricular programme including external trips to theatres, careers shows, aspirational days at universities and Okehampton College’s Curriculum Extension Week.

Other considerations:

In order to track the multiple interventions which take place at the College, and to consider their impact, Okehampton College is considering the implementation of a Pupil Premium Tracking Resource, but will use Excel initially to track and assess the impact of provisions made available for PP students.
Other documentation will be available to ensure impact is easily measured in 2017-18: from student voice surveys to NFER data, Lexia data, Data for AFA students in Year 11, and soft skills tracking of some students.  See this year’s development plan here which also details how the school intends to measure the effect of Pupil Premium along with the reasons behind the interventions chosen.

You can view the PUPIL PREMIUM STRATEGY STATEMENT here

Contacts:

​If you have any further questions regarding Pupil Premium Funding, or simply wish to clarify any of the information here, please do not hesitate to speak to Mrs Charlie Edwards, Assistant Principal responsible for Pupil Premium.  All requests will be treated in the strictest confidence. 

Okehampton College pledges the following for Pupil Premium Students

• The £100 ‘Opportunities Grant’ per eligible student will be made towards the cost of additional equipment, Curriculum Extension Week and activities such as visits or trips.  This amount will be determined at the start of an academic year.
• Pupils can also request approval for additional support outside of this grant via the same form (which is obtained from Curriculum Support or the link above) to cover music lessons or other extra-curricular activities.  The college will consider each request on a case-by-case basis.
• A bursary will be available from a separate budget for families who feel they need support in paying for some uniform.  Please complete a form and indicate how much support is required.  Student Progress Leaders will consider each request on a case-by-case basis.
• Access to a Careers South West Personal Advisor for careers advice and guidance during their time in Key Stage 4.
• Where possible access to interventions such as Gifted and Talented events and activities (where applicable), motivational and raising aspiration activities and trips.
• All students in Year 11 to be Assertively Mentored.
• All Heads of Faculties and individual subject teachers will monitor the performance of students on a monthly basis in Key Stage 4 and 5, half termly for Key Stage 3 (English, Maths and Science) and termly for all other subjects in Key Stage 3.
• Where possible, access where required to additional Teaching Assistant Support in Maths and or English.
•  Where possible, access to additional targeted small group intervention sessions for English and/or Mathematics.
• Where required access to small extra English groups to support development of their literacy skills.
• Where possible, access to after school and holiday catch-up/revision sessions for a range of subjects including English and Maths.
• Where possible, invitation to a week long summer school based at the College in order to support the transition process from year six to seven. This is a completely free of charge service, which includes subject specific sessions, cross curricular and sports activities and travel and food provided.
• Provide additional buses outside of normal school hours (Tuesday to Thursday) to enable students the opportunity to engage in extra-curricular activities whether academic or sporting and ease the burden of getting home.
• To raise aspirations for Higher Education through involvement of external agencies such as visits to Exeter University and Duchy College and through the work with the college alumni, Future First, Careers South West and other external agencies.
• To provide subsidised enhanced sporting opportunities through engagement with Okehampton Community and Recreational Activities (OCRA).
• Where possible, access if appropriate to the Breakfast Club run every morning in the canteen.  Give financial support to students who would like to access breakfast provision.
• Where possible, access where required, to specialist Teaching Assistant Support from Mill Leat for behavioural and/or social issues.

• Where appropriate, Children in Care to be mentored half-termly throughout their time at the college.
• To provide, where appropriate, alternative provision to support students’ academic performance.
• To provide peer support programmes for Children in Care.
• All Children in Care will have a Personalised Educational Plan which takes place every academic term - the spending of some of the Pupil Premium funding is determined in this personalised plan.