Detail

Data

Number of pupils in school

98

Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils

16.3%

Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended – you must still publish an updated statement each academic year)

2021/22 à 2024/25

Date this statement was published

November 2024

Date on which it will be reviewed

November 2025

Statement authorised by

Ben Cornford

Pupil premium lead

Ben Cornford

Governor / Trustee lead

Lynn Hainge

Detail

Amount

Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year

£25500

Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year

Recovery premium received in academic year 2023/24 cannot be carried forward beyond August 31, 2024.

£0

Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable)

£0

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

£25500

At St. Augustine’s we aim to guide all children, irrespective of their background or the additional challenges they may face to develop as independent, confident learners with high aspirations. As a result, our goal is that children make good progress against the school’s progression grids/Inserts tracking, supported by highly reflective practitioners with good subject knowledge and high expectations.

Children are listened to and their opinions valued, leading to a safe and secure environment in which to learn. Children suggest the termly themes which teachers link to high quality texts and supportive experiences to drive the learning, whilst also covering the requirements of the National Curriculum, The West Sussex Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, and Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education. This ensures that the curriculum remains relevant, engaging and challenging for all pupils.

As a result, our curriculum is responsive to children’s needs, is carefully considered and planned and embraces the broad range of subjects, which are regularly celebrated to highlight their importance.

As leaders of learning the children feel safe to make mistakes without the fear of failure. They are supported to recover quickly from difficult situations and develop the courage to have another go.

Additionally, we want all children to be culturally knowledgeable about our country and the world around them, become confident global citizens, and to know how they have a voice in the world.  To achieve these aims, the school community is supported to understand how to respect themselves and others, how to resolve conflict and disagree well.

To aid them, children need to be able to articulate our school values and how these values support learning and their lives.

Our approach will be responsive to common challenges and individual needs, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment, not assumptions about the impact of disadvantage. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils excel. To ensure they are effective we will:

•           ensure disadvantaged pupils are challenged in the work that they’re set

•           act early to intervene at the point need is identified

·         Adopt a whole school approach in which all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes and raise expectations of what they can achieve

Challenge number

Detail of challenge

1

Assessments, book scrutinies and moderation activities indicate that spelling amongst many disadvantaged pupils is holding back progress in writing.

2

Assessments, observations, and discussions with pupils indicate that mathematical fluency skills amongst many disadvantaged pupils are underdeveloped. This is impacting on their reasoning skills.

3

Observations and discussions with pupils indicate that pupils need to develop the ability to recover more quickly from difficult situations in order to continue to engage with a challenging curriculum and make progress.

4

Our assessments and observations indicate that the education of our disadvantaged pupils have been impacted by partial school closures to a greater extent than for other pupils. These findings are supported by national studies.

This has resulted in significant knowledge gaps, particularly in KS1 and early KS2 leading to pupils falling further behind age-related expectations.

5

Our attendance data for the academic year 2021-2022 highlights the rise in absence. The absence for children entitled to Free School Meals was 12.7% compared to 7.3% for non-disadvantaged pupils. 18.2% of our disadvantaged cohort are persistently absent, (2 pupils out of 11) This is 10.3% higher than the national Non-Disadvantaged cohort at 7.9%.

In 2022-23 The absence for children entitled to FSM was 6.8% compared to 4.7% for non-disadvantaged pupils. 16.6% of disadvantaged children are persistently absent. Recent data from the DfE shows that nationally 22.3% of children are persistently absent.

Our assessments and observation indicate that absenteeism is negatively impacting disadvantaged pupils’ progress.

Intended outcome

Success criteria

Improved writing attainment among disadvantaged pupils.

KS2 writing outcomes in 2024/25 show that the percentage of disadvantaged pupils that met the expected standard is in-line with FFT targets.

Improved maths outcomes for disadvantaged pupils

KS2 mathematics outcomes in 2024/25 show that the percentage of disadvantaged pupils that met the expected standard is in-line with FFT targets.

To achieve and sustain resilience for all pupils in our school, particularly our disadvantaged pupils.

Sustained high levels of resilience from 2024/25 demonstrated by:

•Qualitative data from student voice, observations of reflection sessions, student and parent surveys and teacher observations

To achieve and sustain improved attendance for all pupils, particularly our disadvantaged pupils.

Sustained high attendance by 2024/25 demonstrated by:

·                    The overall unauthorised absence rate for all pupils being no more than the national average and the attendance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their non-disadvantaged peers being reduced to the national average.

The percentage of pupils who are persistently absent being below 4% and the figure among disadvantaged pupils being in-line with national at 8%

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Purchase NFER assessment materials

Standardised tests can provide reliable insights into the specific strengths and weaknesses of each pupil to help ensure they receive the correct additional support through interventions or teacher instruction:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/embedding-formative-assessment

1,2,3,4

Training for new staff to deliver the Sounds Write Spelling Programme and purchase the resources needed.

Fund teacher release time to embed and monitor the key elements across the school

Fund teacher release time to run parent workshops

Phonics approaches have a strong evidence base that indicates a positive impact on the accuracy of word reading (though not necessarily comprehension), particularly for disadvantaged pupils:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/phonics

Parental engagement has a positive impact on average of 4 months’ additional progress:

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/parental-engagement

1,4

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Staff to deliver spelling interventions programme

Additional spelling sessions targeted at disadvantaged pupils who require further English support 

Tuition targeted at specific needs and knowledge gaps can be an effective method to support low attaining pupils or those falling behind, both one-to-one:

One to one tuition | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)

And in small groups:

Small group tuition | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF

1,4

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Fund for a member of staff to lead Forest School

Forest Schools offer a unique educational experience using the outdoor environment as a classroom. It supports confidence, social skills, communication, motivation and physical skills.

https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/research/forest-schools-impact-on-young-children-in-england-and-wales/

3,5

Training for Learning Mentors

Evidence suggests that some pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds show low engagement with or have low expectations of schooling. Mentoring interventions may be more beneficial for these pupils, as the development of trusting relationships with an adult or older peer can provide a different source of support.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/mentoring

3,5

Embedding principles of good practice set out in the DfE’s Improving School Attendance advice.

This will involve training and release time for staff to develop and implement new procedures and appointing attendance/  support officers to improve attendance.

The DfE guidance has been informed by engagement with schools that have significantly reduced levels of absence and persistent absence.

5

Contingency fund for acute issues.

Based on our experiences and those of similar schools to ours, we have identified a need to set a small amount of funding aside to respond quickly to needs that have not yet been identified.

All

Funding to run a support programme for disadvantaged children who experience high levels of anxiety.

There is evidence to suggest that CBT can have a high impact on risk behaviours and behavioural difficulties:

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Youth Endowment Fund)

Early Intervention Foundation’s report on adolescent mental health found good evidence that CBT interventions support young people’s social and emotional skills and can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression:

Adolescent mental health: A systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions

4,5

Funding for an ELSA to provide support for disadvantaged children and their families.

There is extensive evidence associating childhood social and emotional skills with improved outcomes at school and in later life (e.g. improved academic performance, attitudes, behaviour and relationships with peers):

The average impact of the Parental engagement approaches is about an additional four months’ progress over the course of a year. There are also higher impacts for pupils with low prior attainment. https://educationendowmentfoundation .org.uk/education-evidence/teachinglearning-toolkit/parental-engagement 

All

To ensure that disadvantaged pupils can fully access enrichment opportunities including clubs, theatre trips and residentials. 

Funding for school trips, visitors, clubs and residentials to ensure equal access for disadvantaged pupils. School evidence based research using pupil voice shows that pupils value the wider opportunities that are available 7  9 and that these impact on their SEMH and academic progress. 

All

We have analysed the performance of our school’s disadvantaged pupils during the 2023/24 academic year using key stage 1 and 2 performance data, phonics check results and our own internal assessments.

Data from tests and assessments demonstrate that disadvantaged children are making accelerated progress in their spelling and are achieving equivalent outcomes to their peers in maths.

The attainment gap between our disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils has continued to narrow after the pandemic and this is reflective of the impact that we have made based on our plan, but we know there is more work to do.

Support from our specialist Inclusion Assistant to support disadvantaged children has been exemplary and we will continue to develop this role in the coming year.

Absence among disadvantaged pupils has reduced considerably over the past year and we are working hard to continue that data trend. Data with such small cohorts can be affected severely and it should be remembered that all children are individual and that they should be treated as such.

These results mean that are now on course to achieve the outcomes that we set out to achieve by 2024/25, as stated in the Intended Outcomes section above.

 We have reviewed our strategy plan and made changes to how we intend to use some of our budget this academic year, as set out in the Activity in This Academic Year section above