What is the Pupil Premium Grant?
The Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) is additional funding given to schools to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, and to close the gap between the highest and lowest achieving pupils
nationally. Pupil Premium support is also directed towards supporting children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces. Disadvantaged pupils in Years 7 to 11 recorded as Ever
6 FSM receive £955.00 per pupil. Children adopted from care, or who have left care (referred to as post-LAC), receive £2345.00 per pupil.
To find out more, visit the What You Need to Know guide on the Department for Education website.
Pupil Premium strategy
Pupil Premium funding is allocated to City of London Academy Highgate Hill based on the number of pupils in its secondary year groups who are eligible for deprivation, i.e. Free School Meals (FSM) or Looked After Children (LAC). Up to 60% of our students meet this criteria.
Main barriers to academic achievement faced by disadvantaged students
The following are the potential barriers preventing the narrowing of the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged pupils.
Social segregation
The academy is situated in Islington, which on average has measures of deprivation in the top 5% of most deprived areas in England. It is characterised by high levels of crime, acts of violence or anti-social behaviour, and high numbers of lone-parent families compared to national averages. As such, approximately 61% of pupils in Islington are eligible for FSM.
Attendance
Statistically, it has been proven that there is a clear link between poor attendance at school and lower academic achievement. Disadvantaged pupils are closely monitored by the pastoral team and the Attendance Officer, who will provide support to parents/carers in tackling issues affecting their child’s attendance or punctuality.
Parental engagement
Increasing the range of opportunities for parental involvement in the education of their children often has a positive impact on achievement. Where this is lacking, attainment levels often drop.
Effective feedback to parents/carers
Feedback needs to be constructively delivered in order to have a positive impact on achievement. The knowledge of what works and what doesn’t can often help to advance to better levels of understanding. Parental feedback when linked to learning objectives is often more effective in boosting student engagement.
Teaching quality
The maximisation of the impact of teaching is essential to ensuring that pupils are able to achieve at their highest potentials. Training interventions for teachers are essential to ensure effective teaching is consistently available to pupils.
Use of Pupil Premium in addressing the barriers (rationale of spend)
The Pupil Premium Grant will be utilised through a variety of targeted interventions which aim to improve the learning experiences of disadvantaged pupils:
One-to-one literacy, numeracy and science recovery
- KS3 and KS4 and is designed to ensure that pupils making less than expected progress are able to access support from teaching assistants or specialist staff in developing their attainment levels in these areas. Over time, the support is revisited, refined and revised to ensure that there is a growing understanding of pupils’ needs in making sustainable good progress.
Behaviour mentor intervention programme
- Aims to raise pupils’ self-esteem and develop positive social interaction and study skills that may otherwise be lacking. The programme allows mentors to work closely with subject leaders, Heads of Departments, class teachers and Looked After Children teams to ensure requisite social skills for building positive relationships with peers are developed.
Engagement for students and families
- Is designed to empower pupils and parents/carers to play a much more active role within the academy community. Some of the programmes include Parent Days, during which pupils and parents/carers meet with their teachers and form tutors to discuss performance and attainment levels, and agree upon improvement strategies towards achieving set learning targets.
Check-ins with pupils and their form tutors will also be available for specific students every Monday morning during form time. During this time mentoring support is available to all pupils to help them to improve their learning outcomes.
Education welfare programme
- Will provide required support to ensure pupils maintain excellent attendance, are able to make sustainable progress by attending all their timetabled lessons, and are able to develop their interactions and friendships whilst participating in academy activities.
Enrichment provision
- Every week there are two extended days where a wide range of extra-curricular activities are delivered to all pupils. These enrichment classes include activities such as Gender Action, Student Radio, Beginners Latin, Basketball, and many more.
Saturday school intervention programme
- Offers academic enrichment and revision support to lower attaining pupils. These are specifically aimed at plugging the gaps which have been identified early, and thereby increase the chances of a better performance for the affected pupils.
Half term and Easter revision courses
- Are specifically targeted at pupils who are at risk of underachieving in their exams. They will offer coaching in subject areas where pupils are experiencing difficulties.
Boarding school and residential courses
- Will be offered to Pupil Premium pupils at KS4 who are predicted to achieve grade 4 or below in Maths. Pupils spend 10 days on an offsite residential where they receive focussed interventions and structured revision programmes.
Subsidised music tuition
- Is available on a range of instruments and voice training. These take place in groups or individually, and the tuition cost is subsidised to encourage more pupils to participate. Additional sponsorships may also be available for talented pupils to be able to participate in bigger music achievement schemes.