Pupil Premium

Publicly-funded schools in England receive extra funding from the government (pupil premium) to help improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in their setting.  The rationale comes from evidence which demonstrates that children from disadvantaged backgrounds face additional challenges in achieving their potential, often not performing as well as their peers.

The pupil premium grant given to schools is there to provide extra funding to bridge the gap and to support those disadvantaged pupils by improving progress in the setting and ultimately the exam results they achieve.

At Bassingbourn Village College we are committed to ensuring that all our students, regardless of their background, witness their potential.  Our Pupil Premium Plan is reviewed annually and outlines clearly how this funding is supporting our students.  Details of which can be found below:

Statement

 

Our vision is for pupil premium students to be fully integrated into college life, ensuring they have opportunities to make progress in a kind and supportive atmosphere. We aim to raise the aspirations of our pupil premium students and give them the confidence to make ambitious decisions about their future.

 

Pupil Premium Funding

 

The pupil premium fund is allocated to schools to pay for additional provision for disadvantaged students. Students who have qualified for free school meals in the previous six years automatically qualify for pupil premium provision. Pupil premium plus is allocated to students who are or have previously been looked after children. Also, students who have a parent in the armed forces qualify for the service premium.

 

Pupil Premium Barriers

 

At Bassingbourn Village College, the pupil premium funding is used to help students overcome the following barriers:

1. Low aspirations for post-16 study
2. Lack of access to IT
3. A lack of parental engagement
4. Low levels of literacy
5. Poor attendance – below 90%
6. Raising attainment in English and maths
7. Metacognition and revision actions
8. General well-being

 

Pupil Premium Income

 

In 2020 to 2021 the total pupil premium income for Bassingbourn Village College is £72,000

 

Pupil Premium Cohort

 

Year Group	Students	PP Percentage
7	11	8.56%
8	22	15.86%
9	16	11.76%
10	18	13.23%
11	12	9.60%
Total	79	11.90%

 

Breakdown of Pupil Premium Actions

 

 

Low aspirations for post-16 study	Review
Parental phonecalls for year 11 applications	Phonecalls made to support parents during process.
Aspirational trips and visits – virtual events	Possibility of trips and visits returning summer 2021.
Case study about a previous PP student
Participation in Duke of Edinburgh	PP students enlisted in D of E

 

Lack of access to IT	Review
Refurbished computers for PP students	Distribution completed November 2020.
Use of Read and Write software	Installed on all school computers and G Suite. Training given to students who require readers.
Dongles for WiFi access	Distribution completed November 2020
Targeted use of GCSE Pod	GCSE pod used to identify gaps from lockdown work October 2020
DfE Computers	41 Chromebooks now in school

 

A lack of parental engagement	Review
Regular parental phonecalls	Parental calls made during lockdown by support staff to most vulnerable PP students.
Raised attendance to parent meetings	PC to track attendance to parent meetings using reports from SchoolCloud and follow up non-attenders.
Mentor engagement with PP parents
Progress follow up phonecalls

 

Low levels of literacy	Review
Year 7 Accelerated Reader	All year 7 enrolled in AR. Intervention group worked with support staff online during lockdown.
Year 7 Star Reader testing	Years 7 tests completed November 2020. Second test due Easter 2021.
Reading in lessons and mentor time – year 7 and 8	Year 8 to be enrolled in AR. Both year groups will read their Accelerated Reader books in mentor time and their reading progress tracked.
Use of the Day – reading comprehension	Used in mentor time Monday and Tuesday.
Staff vocabulary training

 

Poor attendance – below 90%

Review

 

Tracking of school attendance	Pupil Premium attendance 92.94% 15/03/2021.
Regular attendance meetings	Low attenders to online lessons supported through regular parental contact during lockdown and IT provision.
Actions for low attendance by mentors and achievement leaders
Attendance incentives for students below 90%	Incentives to be used in summer term in conjunction with incentives for attendance to tutoring sessions.

 

Raising attainment in English and maths	Review
Catch-up planning 2021	Catch-up plan references specific PP actions including tutoring for small groups of year 7 and 8 students in maths and Accelerated Reader.
Class sizes in English and maths	Additional staffing means there are six classes in years 9, 10 and 11 in English.
Resources for PP students e.g. texts and revision guides	Resources continued to be distributed during lockdown e.g. Computing textbooks, technology resources and art materials.
Dr Frost and White Rose Maths
Online national tutoring programme	In progress. Potentially aimed at maths for disadvantaged year 7 and 8 students.
Group tutoring with BVC staff – use of Hive

 

Metacognition and Revision Actions	Review
Metacognition training sessions with PP focus	PP focused metacognition sessions in November 2020. Further sessions due in the summer term.
Mentor revision sessions
Questioning and engagement in lessons

 

 

General Wellbeing	Review
Use of the YMCA	Twice weekly visits to Hive. 8 PP students currently using the service.
Additional support staff and role of the Hive	One permanent additional staff in the Hive. One part-time.
Staff trained as counsellor – weekly sessions	Friday sessions available.
PP attendance tracked to clubs and activities
Hive revision area 3.30 – 4.30	Starting summer term 2021.
Year 11 exam mental well-being sessions

 

Overview of Bassingbourn Village College Pupil Premium Activities

 

At Bassingbourn, we track our pupil premium students using Power BI. This year, we are developing and widening our focus on barriers and focusing on tracking reading ages, attendance and parental engagement as well as tracking progress and attainment.

 

To develop literacy, we are targeting year 7 with Star Reader and Accelerated Reader to raise reading ages. We will create focus groups with mentors and support staff to try and close the reading gap between many pupil premium students and their peers.

 

As a small school, we offer a friendly and supportive environment. Our pupil premium students are the focus and receive the benefits of our mentoring system, the student support team, the SEN team and leadership team members with responsibilities for their welfare. We have developed our ability to offer academic support with metacognition sessions as well as support for student well- being.

 

We have good relationships with pupil premium parents and this is something we have developed further through our refurbished computer scheme. We make regular parental contact and offer help from the pupil premium budget to ensure students can take part in all aspects of school life. To raise aspirations, we try to ensure all our pupil premium students are given opportunities to see sixth form colleges, take part in aspirational trips and reflect on their next steps after leaving the college.

 

Measuring Impact

1. Pupil premium attendance percentage > 94%
2. Attainment in English and Maths: 4-9 75%, 5-9 40%
3. Pupil premium questionnaire focusing on engagement in lessons
4. Year 7 pupil premium students in Accelerated Reader to raise their reading age by 5 years in 1 year.
5. 100% of pupil premium students to be successfully engaged post-16 in education, employment or

 

Archive Pupil Premium Plans can be downloaded:

2017/18:  HERE

2018/19  HERE

2019/20 HERE