Pupil Premium Strategy

Key Principles for the use of the Pupil Premium at Aston Fields Middle School 

• The school never confuses eligibility for the pupil premium with low ability, and focuses on supporting disadvantaged pupils to achieve the highest levels.
• The school thoroughly analyses which pupils are underachieving, particularly in English, mathematics and science, and why.
• The school drew, and draws upon, evidence from its own, and others' experience in order to allocate funding to activities that are most likely to have an impact on improving pupils' achievement.
• The school uses achievement data regularly and robustly, to check whether interventions or techniques are working and makes adjustments accordingly. The school does not simply use data retrospectively to see if something has worked.
• The school ensures that a designated senior leader, Headteacher and governors, have a clear overview of how funding is allocated. They review the difference it is making to the outcomes of pupils on a half-termly basis.
• The school ensures that class and subject teachers know which pupils are eligible for the pupil premium so that they can take responsibility for accelerating progress.
• The school successfully uses pupil premium funding to tackle a range of issues, e.g. effective teaching and learning, attendance, behaviour, confidence, mental health, wellbeing, resilience, reading, factors outside of school, professional training for staff on helping disadvantaged pupils, literacy support, targeted support, further enrichment and so on.

The impact of the use of pupil premium funding is always measured and reviewed and Ofsted noted how successful the school is in this area:

"The progress of students eligible for additional funding is rapid in both English and mathematics. Extra help is provided through one-to-one tuition, in class support and the employment of additional teachers and this has reduced the attainment gap between these students and others across all years. Consequently, students receiving additional support achieve as well as and sometimes better than their peers."

The Governing Body has spent (during previous academic years) and is spending (during the current academic year) the school's Pupil Premium funding in the following ways:

• Maintaining a Lead Teacher role for Disadvantaged Pupils within school to champion the needs of Pupil Premium pupils.
• Employing additional staff to provide extra support for Pupil Premium pupils.
• Funding professional development in areas proven to improve outcomes for Pupil Premium pupils e.g. Quality First Teaching, Trauma Informed Schools UK, Emotional literacy, support assistant (ELSA) training and other interventions.
• Setting up, staffing and maintaining a specialist support room.
• Purchasing additional resources to support English and mathematics for Pupil Premium pupils.
• Providing small group tuition, support and catch-up programmes.
• Paying for supply costs for key staff to attend Early Help meetings to support Pupil Premium pupils.
• Paying for transition projects for Pupil Premium pupils.

The Governing Body rigorously monitors the progress of disadvantaged pupils and the impact of the school's Pupil Premium Strategy. This is done on a termly basis.

Pupil Premium: Progress of Disadvantaged Pupils – diminishing differences at AFMS

Progress for Disadvantaged Pupils over time at AFMS (2024 exit data)

 Progress for Disadvantaged Pupils over time at AFMS (2023 exit data)

The tables above show the outstanding progress of Disadvantaged Pupils at Aston Fields Middle School and how differences have diminished significantly. In all areas, pupils are not only diminishing differences between 'other' pupils nationally, but also with their peers within the school.

What we have done to diminish differences:

• Creation and continuation of a Lead Teacher for Disadvantaged Learners to support disadvantaged pupils in and out of school.
• Funding to create and maintain the school’s specialist support room for pupils including disadvantaged pupils, including training for staff to support behaviour management, self-esteem training, circle of friends, healthy lifestyles and safe choices, mentoring etc.
• Additional resources purchased for maths & English (on-going) to support disadvantaged pupils, including Most Able disadvantaged pupils.
• Increased TA support in targeted groups.
• Renaissance Reading set up and continued for targeted pupils (PP)..
• Sumdog and Timestable Rockstars set up and continued for targeted pupils in KS2 & 3.
• Increased Academic Guidance and Personal Development  for disadvantaged pupils with a focus on diminishing the differences and supporting Most Able disadvantaged pupils.
• Extending our support staff within school to include a Pupil Premium mentor.
• Continuing highly effective partnership with main feeder High Schools and other local schools to ensure disadvantaged pupils get the most out of school through increased attendance. This has clearly had a significant impact (attendance data).
• On-going funding for school trips, equipment and to improve participation in lessons and outside for disadvantaged pupils.
• Y4/5 transition projects to support pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable and disadvantaged pupils in their move to Aston Fields including additional visits, mentoring and liasion with parents/carers.
• Y8/9 transition projects to support pupils who may struggle with their move to high schools. This involved the creation of, and subsequent maintenance of, transition projects with the high school mentioned above. This helps to support pupils during their final year at AFMS and includes staff from AFMS working with high school staff, so KS5 pupils can become Peer Mentors for disadvantaged pupils once they arrive at high school.

Impact

Pupil Premium funding is enabling the school to diminish differences for Pupil Premium pupils compared to 'other' pupils nationally and within the school. As a result, they are now doing better and differences are diminishing. The school would also not have a specialist support room or designated Lead Teacher for Disadvantaged Pupils and Pupil Premium Mentor without this funding.

The Governing Body monitors the impact of the school's Pupil Premium Strategy and outcomes for pupils on a termly basis and Mr G Wigley is the governor link person for Pupil Premium. Mr J Brooks, Associate Assistant Headteacher and Mrs J Birrell, Deputy Headteacher are the people in school responsible for Pupil Premium. Please contact her if you would like further information on Pupil Premium.

The school's Pupil Premium Strategy can be found here

The Governing Body
September 2024

Year 7 Catch-up Funding

At Aston Fields Middle School we receive additional funding from the Department for Education to provide literacy and numeracy catch-up support for those pupils who did not achieve the national in reading, writing and/or mathematics in Year 6.

We used the money we receive in the following ways to ensure these pupils were given the opportunity to make accelerated progress and catch-up their peers as quickly as possible:

• Additional specialist support has been introduced in both maths and English in Year 7. This includes the teaching of Rapid Maths to improve pupils' core skills in mathematics and the continuation of a reading scheme to encourage pupils to read widely and often.
• Booster sessions have been introduced to narrow gaps and enable pupils to make accelerated progress.
• Additional resources have been purchased in maths and English to support the achievement of these pupils. Examples are the purchase of Rapid Maths and Sumdog (Literacy) for targeted pupils.
• Additional staff training for teaching of these intervention programmes.

Impact

Year 7 Catch-up funding enabled the school to ensure pupils who did not meet the required standard in their KS2 tests made accelerated progress in Year 7, catching up their peers rapidly. As a result, these pupils left Aston Fields Middle School with results in line with their peers in Year 8.

Year 7 Catch-up Funding Received:

2019/20  £10,000

Please note that we have received catch-up funding since 2020 due to the cancellation of KS2 SATs during the pandemic. This statement reflects previous years' strategy. However, the school continues to use the stratergies listed above whenever possible to support all pupils it identifies as not meeting age related expectations.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Recovery Premium

We spent the grant in the following ways:

• Targeted online tutoring through the National Tutoring Programme and the school's own recovery intervention scheme
• Resources to support in-school and online learning, including improving pupil access to technology through the purchase of laptops and 4G dongles 
• Purchasing licenses for online programs, subject-specific software and applications that pupils can access at home
• The purchase of webcams and visualisers for staff to improve remote learning
• Additional support for pupils’ mental health & wellbeing and to encourage good attendance
• Planning time to ensure our plan for remote learning is robust and supports all learners
• Additional staff training to support the remote delivery of the curriculum, as well as to support pupils' mental health and well-being
• Supporting poor attenders to improve their attendance and expanding the roles of the school's welfare teams

We assessed the effect of the expenditure on pupils’ attainment in termly review meetings with governors.

The Governing Body monitors the impact additional funding and outcomes for pupils very closely and Mr G Wigley is the governor link individual responsible for all of the above. Mr J Brooks, Associate Assistant Headteacher and Mrs J Birrell, Deputy Headteacher are the people in school responsible for Pupil Premium and supporting all pupils to make excellent progress. Please contact her if you would like further information.

The Governing Body
September 2024