Closing the Gap in Herefordshire How to spend the pupil premium to maximise achievement Deborah James SHMI November 2013 Free school meals pupils in Hereforshire  At GCSE in 2012 149 pupils were eligible for free school meals of which 22.8% attained 5A*-C including En+ma compared to 59.4% of non FSM pupils.  That is a 36.6% gap, bigger than the national gap of 26% and the regional gap of 24.7%.  There are 331 FSM pupils currently in Year 11 in Herefordshire schools. If things remain as they are in 2014, 61 of these pupils will attain 5A*-C inc En+ma, and 270 of them will not Closing the Gap 3 Why?  Who are these FSM pupils?  What are they like?  What support do they need?  What is preventing them from achieving as  well as their peers? What are we doing about it? Overview for this session      Why are we doing this? Guiding principles Effective approaches to closing the gap Roles and responsibilities How inspectors judge schools’ use of the pupil premium Closing the Gap 5 Characteristics of successful approaches No excuses  ‘My school is in an area of high deprivation, so we have a lot of children eligible for FSM – but how can we raise attainment when there are so many?’  ‘Parents don’t support at home so its hard to make a difference’   ‘But their attendance is so low…….’  ‘Our FSM pupils are at age related expectations so its not a problem’  ‘It’s not just that they’re entitled to free school meals, but they have so many other needs, not to mention the difficulties that the children in care have.’ ‘We only have a very small group of pupils eligible for the pupil premium in my school, so it’s not an issue for us.’ A self audit….. Look at the cards in the envelopes. Which of the statements match up with strategies already in place in your school? Which do not apply to your school at the moment? Are there any that would be less successful than others? Characteristics of successful approaches (February survey) Where schools spent the Pupil Premium funding successfully to improve achievement and narrow the gap, they shared many of the following characteristics, they:   never confused eligibility for the Pupil Premium with low ability  tracked and monitored achievement data to check whether progress was being made and whether any interventions were working – and then made adjustments  ensured that the allocation and spending of the Pupil Premium was given a high priority in terms of staffing… understood the importance of ensuring that day-to-day teaching meets the needs of each learner rather than relying on interventions to compensate for less than good teaching Closing the gap 9 They….  ensured that a designated senior school leader linked to a governor had a clear overview of how the funding was allocated and what difference it was making  ensured that all teachers knew which pupils were eligible so that they could take responsibility for accelerating their progress  made sure that support staff (particularly teaching assistants) were highly trained and understood their role in helping pupils to achieve  thoroughly involved governors in the decision making and evaluation process. Closing the gap 10 Less successful approaches  What do we think does not work so well? Closing the gap 11 Less successful approaches  Spending the funding indiscriminately on teaching assistants with little impact and not managing their performance well  Spending the funding on one-to-one tuition and booster classes – that go on forever…and do not relate to class teaching…and are not audited or quality assured   Planning spending in isolation – not part of the school action plan  Comparing the performance of pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium with other eligible pupils nationally, rather than all pupils – lowering expectations. Assuming that pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium will have learning difficulties Closing the gap 12 Guiding principles         Clear leadership – including governors All staff involved and aware Analytical approach alongside challenging success criteria Clear plan of support Quality of teaching – including marking and feedback Regular tracking and comparison IMPACT - monitoring, reviewing, evaluating …and changing what you do if it is not working. Everyone’s responsibility A story about Joe and Jade  Individually  Read the story below about Joe and  Jade.  Highlight positive and negative factors which potentially affected each pupil’s progress in mathematics. Closing the Gap 15  How should we ensure our target setting for each year group promotes good achievement?  How can we pick up quickly when a pupil is falling behind and what will we do to help them catch up or not fall behind?   What should we do when a pupil’s homework completion slips?  How can we ensure the teaching and assessment by temporary staff are good? Closing the Gap 16 Best Practice – Senior leaders      set up an effective system to enable frequent and regular tracking    report on website make sure that students are in the building - attendance hold all staff to account for results dedicate a member of staff to be responsible make sure that the school is inclusive of people (parents and students) who do not have as much money as others intervene early – take a long-term view. find out what it is that is holding these pupils back and address barriers (Gap busting) Closing the gap 17 GAP BUSTING Sharing good practice. What works well for you? GAP BUSTING: some ideas Vertical tutoring High profile Extended school day Trips Practical work with parents; somewhere to study, getting to school on time Access to ICT Homework clubs Closing the gap 19 GAP BUSTING: some ideas Summer schools Enhance study and research skills, independent learning, thinking skills Improving developmental feedback Strong information advice and guidance Literacy and targeted support Reading clubs Full range of educational experiences Facilities for supported self study: food, equipment, advice, inspiration Closing the gap 20 GAP BUSTING: some ideas Learning mentors – internal or external Group work on confidence/social skills Speaking and listening groups Resources: revision guides, memory sticks, maths equipment Specialist lessons with the best teachers Sports camp Aerobics class Closing the gap 21 Best Practice - Middle leaders What can middle leaders do?  track progress of FSM/CLA as discrete groups and hold members of department/teams to account   ensure that teaching is improving achievement for all pupils  encourage imaginative ways of ensuring that interventions can happen   find out from pupils what they need ensure that FSM/CLA have a stake in the school, that they and their parents feel that the school serves their needs as much as others hold the line on the no excuses philosophy. Closing the gap 22 Best Practice - Teachers  plan and deliver lessons that meet the needs/interests of all pupils in the class       mark work and give meaningful feedback with follow-up know who’s vulnerable in the class, spend time with them track regularly and frequently remove barriers talk to parents endorse high aspirations – no excuses. Closing the gap 23 Best Practice - Governors What can governors do?       ask for information about how many pupils are eligible look at the breakdown of funding allocation and provision ask what is being done ask why ask for information about impact of actions ask why it is working and why it isn’t Closing the gap 24 What will inspectors be looking for? Achievement Pupil premium More emphasis on the progress of  provides support. those for whom the pupil premium  For achievement, and OE, to be outstanding, their progress in English and mathematics should match, or be rapidly approaching, the high level of progress of other pupils.  If their progress is falling further behind that of other pupils in either English or mathematics, leadership and management are likely to be inadequate.  Risk assessment will include their progress. Raiseonline  How well did FSM pupils attain last year in comparison with other pupils in the school and nationally?  How much progress did FSM pupils make last year compared with other pupils in the school and against the national picture?  How well have FSM pupils been performing over time? Is attainment rising? Is the attainment gap narrowing? Closing the gap 27 Resources  The Pupil Premium: How schools are spending the funding successfully to maximise achievement Ofsted Reference number 130016  The Pupil Premium: analysis and challenge tools for schools Ofsted Reference number 130045  Toolkit of Strategies to Improve Learning – Summary for Schools, Spending the Pupil Premium – Sutton Trust/Education Endowment Foundation (//educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/ approaches) Closing the Gap 28 What are you going to do first? Closing the gap 29