This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2024 academic years) 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. It was originally written in October 2021, and reviewed in October 2022.
School overview
| Detail | Data |
| School name | CAISTOR GRAMMAR SCHOOL |
| Number of pupils in school | 509 in Years 7-11 |
| Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | 6.9% |
| Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended) | 2021-2024 |
| Date this statement was published | DECEMBER 2021 |
| Date on which it will be reviewed | OCTOBER 2022 OCTOBER 2023 |
| Statement authorised by | SHONA BUCK |
| Pupil premium lead | MARCUS CROFT |
| Trustee lead | HAYLEY TWIDALE |
Funding overview
| Detail | Amount |
| Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year | We expect to receive £43,675 |
| Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year | £8,846 |
| Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable) | £6,243 |
| Total budget for this academic year If your school is an academy in a trust that pools this funding, state the amount available to your school this academic year | £58,764 |
Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan
Statement of intent
| · We aim for Pupil Premium students to feel exactly the same as any other student, and our approach is always to support them in a way which does not draw attention to the fact that they have this additional financial help. · We aim for them to be well supported in their learning, both in lessons and outside. · We would aspire to a situation where all parents and students make ambitious decisions about their post-16 or post-18 study routes. · Pupil Premium students’ progress and attainment should be in line with other groups. · We aim to close any gaps in terms of achievement, supporting them with the demands of class-work, homework, non-examined assessment and examination components of their chosen courses. · We aim for a positive Progress 8 score in 2022 for Pupil Premium students which is close to the cohort as a whole, and at least 0.1 of a grade closer than in 2019. · We aim for a pupil premium Attainment 8 score that is as close to the cohort as a whole as possible, and at least 0.5 less than the gap in 2019. · We aim for 100% Grade 5+ in English and Maths, although this will be a challenge. We aim for the EBacc entry percentage to be at least 85%. · We expect Pupil Premium destinations data to be in line with that for others at the end of KS4, and we would like to see our Pupil Premium students applying for higher education courses at the end of KS5, which makes them indistinct from other students as a group. · We aim for attendance of disadvantaged students to be in line with other students and at least 95%. |
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
| Challenge number | Detail of challenge |
| 1 | Pupil Premium students can have lower aspirations, and have the perception of themselves as less able within a selective setting. . This can manifest itself in lower attainment throughout the School, and ultimately in their GCSE examinations |
| 2 | They can suffer from lower self-confidence and less academic and pastoral resilience |
| 3 | Some have less ambitious future study choices than their peers |
| 4 | Their personal organisation and study skills can be less secure. Their ability to stretch and challenge themselves can be restricted, as sometimes they are not in a position to access extra resources for use both in and outside of the classroom. |
| 5 | They can have less experience of travel and less extra-curricular participation than other students, which can impact on their enjoyment of School, their engagement and, ultimately, their attainment in lessons. |
| 6 | There can be lower attendance rates for disadvantaged students. |
Intended outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
| Intended outcome | Success criteria |
| · 1) We would aspire to a situation where all parents and students make ambitious decisions about their post-16 or post-18 study routes. | All students leave at age 16 or 18 going to university, further education or into an apprenticeship scheme or equivalent |
| · 2) We aim for a positive Progress 8 score in 2022 for Pupil Premium students which is close to the cohort as a whole, and at least 0.1 of a grade closer than in 2019. | Positive progress 8 in 2022, 2023, 2024. Closing the gap on non-PP students by 0.1 grade at least. |
| · 3) We aim for a pupil premium Attainment 8 score that is as close to the cohort as a whole as possible, and at least 0.5 less than the gap in 2019. | Attainment 8 score which is at least 0.5 of a grade closer to non-PP students in 2022, 2023 and 2024 |
| · 4) We aim for 100% Grade 5+ in English and Maths, although this will be a challenge. We aim for the EBacc entry percentage to be at least 85%. | 100% 5+ in English and Maths and 85% EBacc entry in 2022, 2023 and 2024. |
| · 5) We aim for attendance of disadvantaged students to be in line with other students and at least 95%. | Attendance target of 95% achieved at the end of 2022, 2023, 2024 |
| · 6) We aim for good progress for disadvantaged students at KS3 | Progress of all disadvantaged students to be positive at KS3- tracked in a provision plan by MC |
| · 7) We aim for a good take-up of extra-curricular activities amongst disadvantaged pupils | Participation is high amongst PP students, and this is tracked as evidence. |
Activity 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.
Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £0
| Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
| Devote INSET time to reviewing PP strategies and discussing how best to support them- the focus for this will be in the Autumn. | Sharing good practice unquestionably helps to maintain a consistent and whole-school approach. The EEF mentions that the ‘evidence consistently shows the positive impact that targeted classroom support can have’ in its research. Where the EEF is referenced in this document, it refers to the guidance for using pupil premium funding effectively, and also the more specialist guidance reports on subjects such as Literacy, Science and mathematics | 1, 4 |
| Devote departmental time to PP strategies- the focus for this will be in the Spring and Summer | Sharing good practice within departments helps to maintain a consistent and effective approach. The EEF mentions that the ‘evidence consistently shows the positive impact that targeted classroom support can have’ in its research. | 1, 4 |
| Mrs K Jago to go on a School reading INSET to improve strategies in the library, and implement these. | The DfE have a current drive towards the importance of vocabulary and reading, as evidenced in the new inspection framework. The EEF mentions the importance of this- ‘literacy is key to learning across all subjects and a strong predictor of outcomes in later life’. | 1, 4 |
| Making sure the curriculum is suitably challenging for PP students | Part of the Ofsted review of our School was that we need to focus more on the knowledge required for students to make effective progress at GCSE. The EEF talks about the importance of challenge for all students, and this is of course very true for PP students | 1,2,6 |
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £19,000
| Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
| Mentoring programme for students at KS3 in the Spring and Summer terms as decided on Autumn and Spring term assessments | Our evidence from feedback amongst students in the past is that mentoring is an effective way of supporting all students in making progress and identifying gaps in understanding | 1, 4 |
| Intervention for PP students in the Spring and summer terms from the LSA where progress is weak as decided by Autumn and Spring term assessments, and where mentoring is deemed insufficient. | In the past, students who have had 1-to-1 support, whether SEN, PP or neither have identified the value of this. The DfE recommends small group support in its pupil premium guidance. The EEF mentions that tracking should ‘provide teachers with information about what pupils do and do not know’ to inform planning, in its research into effective PP strategies. It goes on to say that these sort of ‘collaborative learning approaches have a positive impact’ on raising attainment. | 1, 4 |
| Maths intervention for PP students where this is needed. | Numeracy underpins many subjects and plenty of research outlines its importance. Consistent and regular revisiting of material helps to embed it- the current drive for recursive planning and low-stakes assessment from the DfE underpins this. The EEF mentions the importance of ‘using tasks and resources to challenge and support pupils’ mathematics’ as a key area of useful intervention with PP money. | 1, 2, 4 |
| Literacy intervention for PP students where this is needed. | Literacy underpins many subjects and plenty of research outlines its importance. Consistent and regular revisiting of material helps to embed it- the current drive for recursive planning and low-stakes assessment from the DfE underpins this. The EEF mentions the importance of this- ‘literacy is key to learning across all subjects and a strong predictor of outcomes in later life’. | 1, 2,4 |
| Develop tracking system to show progress of PP students as part of our provision plan. | Identifying the areas that students are weakest in unquestionably helps to ensure progress, as without it there is no sense of what issues need to be tackled. | 1, 4 |
| Provide £100 academic grant to all students. | At a recent PP national conference, which MC attended, an Ofsted inspector talked about the importance of PP students having some ownership of the PP money in helping to see the value of the support and be on board with it. We have certainly seen this. | 1,4,5 |
| Provide revision guides for all students at KS4. | Revision guides undoubtedly have value in supporting independent preparation for examinations. | 1, 4 |
| Provide support for home extensions in English, Maths and Science at KS3. | The current DfE drive towards recursive planning and low stakes assessment underpins the value of regular revisiting and consolidation of classwork. The EEF mentions the importance of ‘using tasks and resources to challenge and support pupils’ mathematics and literacy as a key area of useful intervention with PP money. | 1, 4 |
| Sixth-form mentoring with Year 11 and, later in the year, Year 10 students. | Our evidence from feedback amongst students in the past is that mentoring is an effective way of supporting all students in making progress and identifying gaps in understanding. The EEF says that the impact of mentoring varies but does have a ‘positive impact on attainment’, especially one-to-one when pupils are ‘identified as struggling in particular areas’. They particularly emphasise the value of ‘peer tutoring’. | 1, 4 |
| E-book provision for all students (initially PP students in the Spring of 2021) | The DfE have a current drive towards the importance of vocabulary and reading, as evidenced in the new inspection framework. The EEF mentions the importance of this- ‘literacy is key to learning across all subjects and a strong predictor of outcomes in later life’. | 1, 4, 5 |
| Extra-curricular programmes to be implemented to encourage cross-curricular learning, initially in Science, maths and geography | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. Cross-curricular work helps to embed understanding and skills across different subjects. | 5 |
| Percy Jackson quest to provide an extra-curricular opportunity prioritising PP students | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. Cross-curricular work helps to embed understanding and skills across different subjects. | 5 |
| Private tuition offered to PP students where needed. | Private tuition can help to embed understanding- this was a DfE suggestion for the use of our COVID recovery money. The EEF says it is most useful for PP students ‘if it is additional to and explicitly linked with normal lessons’. | 1, 4 |
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £25,000
| Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
| Promoting the Invest IN courses for PP students | Previous students have been on these courses and fed back that they valued the opportunities and that they helped to raise awareness of ambitious careers. | 3 |
| Provision of an independent counsellor which Pupil Premium students have priority access to. | We know from previous students who were PP (as well as others) that mental health can definitely be a barrier to learning. There is a current national focus on this, and our counsellor Sally Grey can confirm its benefit. The EEF mentions that social and emotional development is on average the equivalent to ‘four months additional progress in academic outcomes’ over the course of one year. | 2, 6 |
| Support uniform costs, printing costs and lockers. | At a recent PP conference that MC attended, several speakers mentioned the importance of PP students feeling disengaged if they stood out, and this support helps resilience and a positive attitude to School. | 2 |
| Support all curriculum trips. | As a staff, we strongly support curriculum trips as valuable learning activities for all pupils- this is why they are organised. | 1, 5 |
| Support Bronze Duke of Edinburgh. | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. | 5 |
| Encourage higher participation in 11+ tests via more website information and a planned orientation session. | It is self-evident that we cannot provide support for the most able in this selective context if they don’t arrive in the first place, which is why we see this as a key focus. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Supporting music lessons for all KS4 musicians. | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. This also ties in with our belief that a broad curriculum with an emphasis on creative subjects helps all learners to make good progress. Our exam results also support this belief. | 5 |
| Support for outward bounds trip for all Year 7 eligible students. | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. The EEF says that the evidence base is weak, but that these kind of outdoor experiences do ‘show positive impacts’. | 2, 5 |
| Support Year 9 outward bounds course. | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. The EEF says that the evidence base is weak, but that these kind of outdoor experiences do ‘show positive impacts’. | 2, 5 |
| Prioritise careers adviser. | As we know from many programmes, such as Compass, careers education is beneficial to all learners in helping them prepare for their futures. | 3 |
| Attendance monitoring and intervention to support attendance problems. | It is self-evident that learning must be disrupted by low attendance, and the national picture in the wake of the pandemic emphasises the importance of this- the Teaching Unions, for instance, have all outlined this. We therefore see it as a key focus for all students. The EEF mentions the importance of ‘attendance data and levels of absence’ in student progress. | 6 |
| Support for costumes in the School Play. | At a recent PP conference before the pandemic, there were many speakers who emphasised the importance of pupil engagement and attainment benefiting from extra-curricular activity. | 5 |
| Buy in to external presentations for PSHEE to improve confidence, resilience and preparation for the wider world. | The importance of creating resilient and confident learners is underlined by the importance of PSHEE in the National Curriculum, and by the emphasis on Personal Development in the new Inspection Framework. The EEF mentions that social and emotional development is on average the equivalent to ‘four months additional progress in academic outcomes’ over the course of one year. | 2 |
| Transition package to help smooth entry to Year 7 | Our own feedback from all students and parents in Year 7 shows how much they value the transition arrangements and support as they enter the School. | 1, 2, 4 |
Total budgeted cost: £44,000
Part B: Review of outcomes in the previous academic year
Pupil premium strategy outcomes
This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
| · Last year, we were already improving the process of tracking the students more closely to identify underachievement in Year 11 especially. This will be enhanced with the new SISRA package in 2023/24, and was one of the reasons we decided on this package. · The support received from the sixth-from mentors has proved especially useful in recent years. We are planning on embedding this more fully in the next academic year across all years. In 2021/22, we used this more with our KS3 students and will continue with this. · The GCSE results confirmed that our Pupil Premium students were well supported. In 2019, their progress 8 score was positive, and the results were very strong in comparison to national progress figures for disadvantaged children. We anticipate this being true in the 2022 figures too. They also achieved well in terms of the percentage achieving grade 4+ in English and Maths, and in terms of Attainment 8. · The profile of Pupil Premium students was further raised with staff, at a variety of meetings such as the SLT Link meeting where they were a focus, and staff were made more aware of our expectations in terms of Pupil Premium students at the start of the year. We feel that this was useful in making the progress of Pupil Premium students a priority for all staff. In 2021/22, we made this a big focus in preparation for our Ofsted inspection, based on the new framework. We were very pleased with the comments made by inspectors, and in an independent review we commissioned earlier on in the academic year. · We supported students with a range of extra-curricular activities, as well as with equipment and support for their normal lessons as appropriate. Prior to COVID, and where possible during the last year, several took part in concerts, plays and a range of clubs, as well as the Duke of Edinburgh programme. We are confident that this support has made the students feel more included and more resilient in School, and has helped to ensure that they do not lose out to others in terms of resources or opportunities for personal development. We are confident that this strategy has had a qualitative impact on pupil premium students’ attitude to School and take up for extracurricular day trips and visits by Pupil Premium students is in line with take up from other students. MC completed a survey to show the take-up of extra-curricular activities amongst PP students. · Of our 5 Pupil Premium students in Year 11 in 2020/21, 4 stayed to do A-levels and one went to do A-levels elsewhere. Of those 5 Pupil Premium students from a total of 10 that stayed with us at the end of GCSE in 2019, all went on to study at university. In 2021/2, our 9 disadvantaged students all went to university bar one, who is doing voluntary work with a plan to reapply to UCAS next year. Of those in Year 11, 3 stayed with us to the sixth form, 2 went to other sixth-form colleges, and one has an apprenticeship with Norwich FC. · Progress in KS3 was good, and MC began to track this- a more rigorous tracking system is part of the new plan. · An independent commission that we had in the Autumn of 2021 indicated that PP students made up a good proportion of our student population based on the local demographic. Hopefully, our proposed 2024 Admissions Policy will enable us to further help here. |
Externally provided programmes
Please include the names of any non-DfE programmes that you purchased in the previous academic year. This will help the Department for Education identify which ones are popular in England
| Programme | Provider |
| Literacy support | Bedrock Learning |
Service Premium Students.
- Service Premium funding is designed primarily to provide pastoral support for students from service families, to mitigate the negative impact of family mobility or parental deployment. We received £2400 in the academic year 2017-18, £2100 in the year 2018-19, £1800 in the year 2019/20, £3100 in 2020-21, £2480 in 2021/22, and we anticipate £2240 in the 2022/23 year. Our money is used to support our counselling service, to which Service Premium students have priority, and also we would use our Learning support advisor to smooth the transition of Service Premium students into the School when they arrive if this is needed- especially if they do so mid-year. We also use the Service Premium grant to support some of our pastoral programme that is designed to improve the resilience of service students- we have outside speakers to do some of this at Key Stage 3 in particular, and we also supported a range of ‘off-timetable’ activities in the summer term. As part of our support for Service Premium students, we would also consider spending the money on supporting students to build their confidence through participation in extra-curricular activities to raise their self-esteem.
- Where service Premium students are falling significantly behind their expected progress, or are falling short in terms of their commitment to learning, we would also use some of the money to give them time with our Learning Support Advisor to help get them back on track. Appreciating the disruption to the home life of some Service Premium students, we would also be able to provide revision guides and other support material for them to use at home should this be necessary. As with Pupil Premium students, Service Premium students are informed about our policy at the beginning of each academic year.
