Poole High School is a vibrant and thriving community school, committed to the well-being and future prospects for all students irrespective of ability and background so that all our young people can be valued, inspired and empowered.
A knowledge-rich curriculum and instilling stellar learning habits are our key priorities to ensure that even our most vulnerable learners realise their potential. Our Pupil Premium strategy develops three key areas in order to ensure success for our more disadvantaged students: Quality first teaching, implementing targeted interventions and offering wider opportunities.
The Pupil Premium is an allocation of money that is given to schools to specifically assist children that fall into at least one of the following groups:
They are currently eligible for free school meals (FSM).
They have been eligible within the last six years for FSM.
They have been identified as a Looked After Child (LAC).
The amount that we currently receive for pupils within these groups is £955 per student. This money is specifically designed to help us raise the achievement level of the students in these groups who have previously been identified as being disadvantaged through economic hardship.
We also receive a premium for students whose parents are currently serving in the armed forces. This is currently £310 per student per year. This money is specified to help with the emotional and social well-being of these pupils.
Schools are free to spend the money in ways they believe are most appropriate to assist the groups of students identified. It is understood that schools are best placed to identify what will work better for the students within their care, where different strategies might be more effective than others.
We focus our spending on three key areas: quality teaching, intervention, and wider strategies and opportunities. We utilise a wide range of strategies within these three areas to help us improve performance within the identified groups. We ensure that we use up-to-date research and data to decide which strategies to implement to ensure that we are responding to the needs of our students; these can include recommendations from published sources, such as the Education Endowment Foundation, Teaching and Learning Toolkit and relevant literature.
Please see below for some examples of what we spend our money on to ensure success for these students:
|
Teaching |
Targeted Interventions |
Wider Strategies & Opportunities |
|
· Continued Professional Development for teachers to ensure teaching is of the highest standard · To be overstaffed in subjects to ensure we have the best possible staff and staff retention is a priority · Professional development that is reflective and reviewed regularly · Development of Early Careers Teachers · Raising the profile of Pupil Premium students and Service Pupil Premium students
|
· Small group intervention programmes in core subjects · Mentoring for students · Raising the aspirations of potential ‘first generation applicants’ to Higher Education. · Allocated support staff to provide extra support for our students and develop relationships with home · Designated support bases for students with regards to behaviour and mental health · Progress Leaders for each year group to implement strategic decisions and interventions · School Literacy co-ordinator – raising the profile of reading and to support improved outcomes |
· Attendance-related support structures and incentives · Reward structures for behaviour and learning · Additional behaviour and learning support activities · Pastoral support systems to support students' social and emotional health · Financial support for resources such as revision guides · Supporting with trips and experiences that may not otherwise be possible in order to broaden their horizons · Social skills, self-esteem and other specific programmes · Extra-curricular activities |
We are accountable for how we decide to spend the additional funding and for how effective our plans have been in helping the groups of students achieve. This is why we are constantly monitoring and evaluating our strategies to ensure that we respond to our students' needs appropriately.
Further information on the Pupil Premium can be obtained from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium
Further information on the Service Premium can be obtained from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/raising-the-achievement-of-disadvantaged-children/supporting-pages/service-premium
Further information on our Pupil Premium Strategy:
https://poolehigh.co.uk/school-information/general/policies