Pupil Premium targets additional money at pupils who meet the eligibility criteria, to help them achieve their full potential.

In 2012, Eligibility for the Pupil Premium was extended to pupils who had been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) at any point on the last 6 years.  As a group, children who have been eligible for FSM at any point in time, have consistently lower educational attainment than those who have never been eligible for FSM.

Schools have the freedom to spend the Premium, which is additional to the underlying school budget, in a way they think will best diminish difference in attainment between the most vulnerable pupils and the whole school.

Pupil Premium is also provided for children in care who have been looked after for more than six months and care leavers, recognising that they need additional support to help them raise their educational achievement.  It is also provided for children with parents in the armed services.

For each academic year - Pupil Premium allocation is based on student data in the January school census.

Barriers to learning

We are aware that pupils attending St Matthias Academy, as in many schools, may experience a wide range of barriers to learning. Many of our students have additional needs around speech and language and social
interaction or diagnosed medical conditions and the PP spend reflects this. Other factors that can impact learning include experience of family bereavement, living outside the family home  or witnessing DV, emotional abuse or drug and alcohol misuse. There are also the risks of CSE and CCE that need to be considered when choosing the appropriate internal and agency interventions. 

Pupil premium strategy statement

This statement was completed and is reporting on data gathered before St Matthias Academy became a part of Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership.

This statement below details our school’s use of pupil premium and recovery premium funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils. 

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. 

Impact

The national lockdown, school closures and subsequent discontinuity of face to face teaching has impacted negatively on pupils’ rates of academic progress and social and emotional development. There has also been a decline in pupils’ wellbeing and mental health. Pupils with outside agency intervention and those in year 11 were prioritized for on-site education during this time.

To minimize the impact of impact on academic progress, a programme of blended learning incorporating on line and hard copy resources was developed to maintain continuity of curriculum. Wellbeing was monitored by daily phone contact from the pupils’ tutor teams. Weekly home visits were carried out to drop off and collect home learning packs and to provide wellbeing and mentoring support. These visits carried on into school holidays where necessary. Parental feedback was sought alongside audits of work packs and on-line lesson attendance. GCSE results indicate that loss of learning due to Covid did not impact significantly on year 11 attainment.

Parent and Pupil voice was used to evaluate the impact of remote learning and gain a clear understanding of the obstacles that were preventing access to remote learning. The majority of parents expressed a preference for hard copy resources and home learning packs.

Analysis of the data shows that our mentoring interventions have a corresponding positive impact on student social and emotional progress. Furthermore, we have seen a reduction in challenging and aggressive behaviours as pupils have access to a calming, sensory space.  This in turn is impacting positively on pupils and staff wellbeing. The number of Positive Handling incidents has decreased from 56 in the 2018/19 academic year to 21 2022/23  and the number of students receiving an exclusion decreased from 30 to 11.

Allocation 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.

Total budget: £13,455

Teaching 

Budgeted cost: £4,440

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
Focus on Reading throughout the curriculum in line with DfE guidance. The lead will engage with our local research school and English hub to develop the quality of English and literacy teaching through CPD.	There is strong evidence that teachers’ pedagogical and content knowledge within specific subjects has a significant impact on pupil outcomes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-reading-framework-teaching-the-foundations-of-literacy https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/literacy-ks2	1
CPD for teaching staff on developing pupils’ reading skills. Allocated LSA time for updating key word and literacy displays	Evidence from research suggests that teachers must carefully teach key literacy skills in their subject to improve pupils’ subject specific vocabulary.	1
Purchase of an additional half day per week of Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) time for delivery of targeted support.	Child Speech (SLCN intervention) to deliver evidenced interventions to support children’s speech, language and communication. What works database (ican.org.uk) This has been endorsed by the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.	2, 3

 

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

Budgeted cost: £6,996

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
One-to-one SLCN Interventions with Speech and Language Therapist	Meeting the individual language needs of students, increased engagement and confidence to help them access and progress across curriculum areas.  Using techniques such as memory retraining, cognitive reorganisation, language enhancement, and efforts to improve abstract thinking; speech therapists can ensure children can benefit from a more successful and satisfying educational experience as well as improved peer relationships. http://www.unlockinglanguage.co.uk	1, 2, 5
Targeted weekly sessions of Maths and English that focus on numeracy and literacy skills for identified students	Older students tend to have varied profiles of needs for support. Either they have specific needs often related to a deficit in one area of literacy which can be addressed with a targeted programme or they have more complex and individual profiles of helpful and less helpful knowledge and skills. https://www.ucl.ac.uk/reading-recovery-europe/sites/reading-recovery-europe/files/research_evidence_informing_grow.pdf Numeracy is an important area of learning for young people, not only as a fundamental element of mathematics but also as a life skill that gives students a foundation to succeed in learning and access the wider curriculum (Education Scotland, 2019). The EEF demonstrates the small group intervention can add 4months of progress for participants across the course of a year. It also reveals that small group tuition is most likely to be effective if it is targeted at pupils’ specific needs. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/small-group-tuition	1
Provision of specialist equipment to support individualised needs eg. Laptops for students requiring support with dyslexia	Using such technology enables the pupil to gain independence and reduces the stigma of having to rely on others to access the written word. https://studyingwithdyslexiablog.co.uk/	6
Providing bespoke programmes for students requiring alternative learning provision in addition to their core academic subjects in order to meet their needs	Wolf review of vocational education First, it is an essential part of a broad curriculum. Just as much as academic education, vocational learning provides invaluable opportunities for young people to develop their potential and expand what they know, understand and can do; and to gain recognition for that learning which allows them to progress as they move to adulthood. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/180868/Wolf-Review-Response.pdf	4, 6

 

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

Budgeted cost: £2,019

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
Creation of a “Sensory” room – Used to develop students’ self regulation of behaviour.	We have observed and recorded that the sensory equipment and resources such as large bean bags, sensory lighting, weighted blankets and additional equipment has been effective at meeting the needs of our pupils. The sensory room provides support for our pupils with sensory needs.  It is also used by a significant number of pupils as a strategy to manage their behaviours related to their SEMH needs	3, 6
One-to-one and small group mentoring – Used to develop a positive relationship with education and to facilitate multi agency working with families	Identified students with issues around self-esteem and relationships with peers. The EEF recognises that mentoring in education can be extremely beneficial for young people who have low aspirations and self-esteem, mentoring can build confidence, develop resilience and raise aspirations. It can also embed the skills required for strong lasting relationships built on trust. https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/mentoring	3, 5, 6
Ongoing support for Year 11 leavers in their transition to higher education	Becoming NEET limits life chances and engagement in education is a protective factor from a range of harms. Bespoke, needs-based interventions are needed to support these year 11 pupils transition to post-16 provision successfully.   https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alternative-provision-year-11-transition-funding#purpose-of-the-fund	3, 4, 5to learning

 

Barriers to Learning

We are aware that pupils attending St Matthias Academy, as in many schools, may experience a wide range of barriers to learning. Many of our students have additional needs around speech and language and social interaction or diagnosed medical conditions and the PP spend reflects this. Other factors that can impact learning include experience of family bereavement, living outside the family home or witnessing DV, emotional abuse or drug and alcohol misuse. There are also the risks of CSE and CCE that need to be considered when choosing the appropriate internal and agency interventions. Many students will be assessed for an EHCP and in many cases, St Matthias will pay for the associated costs for the process

For some of the Pupil Premium Cohort, St Matthias Academy is the additional intervention bought in by another school and funded from their own Pupil Premium funding.

At St Matthias Academy, we aim to support all pupils. We do this by providing good quality classroom teaching with additional support staff. This is supplemented by other interventions.

• Ongoing support for Year 11 leavers in their transition to higher education
• Time to allow intervention strategies with focus groups on attendance and transition
• Free Breakfast Club to start the day in a positive way and help students achieve more in class
• Snacks at break to help student’s energy and concentration levels
• Reading interventions
• Speech and language support
• Providing bespoke programmes for students requiring alternative learning provision in addition to their core academic subjects in order to meet their needs
• Attendance – Individualised attendance support

Our strategy will be driven by the needs and strengths of each young person, based on formal and informal assessments, not assumptions or labels. This will help us to ensure that we offer them the relevant skills and experience they require to be prepared for adulthood.