Pupil Premium

Strategy statement

This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2022 academic year) 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.

School overview

Detail	Data
School name	Bassingbourn Village College
Number of pupils in school	672
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils	18.03%
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)	2021-2024
Date this statement was published	November 2021
Date on which it will be reviewed	Updated November 2022
Statement authorised by	Vickey Poulter
Pupil premium lead	Phil Church
Governor / Trustee lead	Charlotte Fernandez

Funding overview

Detail	Amount
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year	£87,173
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year	£15,066
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	£102,239

Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan

Statement of intent

•	Our vision is that all pupil premium students are successful in applying for post-16 courses. The progress gap between pupil premium and non-pupil premium students is closed, especially in maths and English. Pupil premium students make rapid progress supported by strong classroom teaching and benefiting from whole school initiatives on literacy and numeracy. Pupil premium attendance is close to 95% and parents are fully engaged in the school, attending parent evenings and supporting their child with independent learning.
•	Our new pupil premium strategy plan is a continuation of the priorities identified in our previous work. The main challenges for students continue to be focused around our whole school initiatives such as raising literacy, providing a safe, supportive environment for students, engaging with parents, helping to provide resources for disadvantaged students and developing an engaging curriculum that enables all learners to make good progress.
•	The key principle in this strategy is knowing our pupil premium students as individuals so that we can remove the barriers to their success.

Challenges

This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.

Challenge number	Detail of challenge
1	Raising aspirations for post-16 study To support pupil premium students to make aspirational choices for their post-16 study
2	Lack of access to IT Surveys completed initially during the pandemic showed that up to 40% of pupil premium students did not have appropriate access to technology at home so they could complete homework and engage with Google Classrooms
3	A lack of parental engagement Analysis of the attendance to parent evenings has highlighted lower attendance for pupil premium parents
4	Low levels of literacy Reading age tests have highlighted a gap of up to 2.5 years between pupil premium and non-pupil premium students in a cohort. National studies highlight the literacy gap for pupil premium students.
5	Poor attendance – below 90% Pupil premium attendance is significantly below the whole school with a gap of approximately 5%
6	Raising attainment in English and maths Historic data highlights the gap in attainment between pupil premium and nonpupil premium students
7	Metacognition and revision activities To ensure that pupil premium students have equal access to good quality revision resources and they are taught the skills to revise effectively
8	General well-being Post pandemic, a significant number of pupil premium students have sought support for their well-being in school

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.

Challenge Number

Intended outcome

Success criteria

Progress and Impact

All pupil premium students to move on to an appropriate post-16 destination

All pupil premium students to be in post-16 destination in September after they leave.

All year 10 and 11 students to have access to guidance meetings

Higher attaining pupil premium students to transition to appropriately aspirational post-16 destination.

2022 all pupil premium students have accessed a post-16 destination.

All pupil premium students to have appropriate access to

Evidence from the IT survey that 100% of pupil premium students have appropriate IT access at home.

Evidence that 100% of pupil premium students have access to Google Classrooms.

Chromebooks available through a loan scheme for pupil premium students as required.

iPads available for specific interventions e.g. Ukrainian students who need to use them for translation.

Survey completed October 2022. 93% have appropriate equipment to access Google Classrooms. Replacement equipment organised by PC.

iPads purchased for pupil premium students loaned to Ukrainian students on a daily basis for translation.

All pupil premium parents to engage with the school reporting and feedback process

Pupil premium parents to engage with parent evening evidenced by collation of registers from School Cloud.

Positive response from pupil premium parents in the parent survey.

Closing the literacy gap and teaching

subject specific tier 2

vocabulary

Tier 2 vocabulary lists to be embedded in all departments evidenced in observations and learning walks

Tier 3 vocabulary to be embedded in 5 year curriculum.

Evidence that reading gap is closing for disadvantaged students between years 7 and 10.

Evidenced by reading tests through Star Reader.

Reading strategies to be implemented in mentor time

Reading to be promoted throughout the school through extra-curricular clubs and activities, promotion of national reading challenges, author visits and the provision of the library.

Vocabulary teaching highlighted as a strength in the Trust curriculum visit October 2022.

Reading programme for mentor time implemented by AD October 2022. All students to benefit from

Pupil Premium attendance to be

consistently above

90%

Pupil premium attendance tracked over time using Power BI.

Students with low attendance supported through parental engagement.

Pupil premium attendance

15.11.2022 88.54%.

91.89% when students who have off-site provision are removed from the total figure.

To raise attainment in

English and Maths in

KS3 and KS4

Close the gap in attainment and progress between pupil premium and non-pupil premium students in core subjects.

Targeted intervention in English and maths with a measured impact e.g. tuition, v-groups.

Quality first teaching to raise attainment of pupil premium students in KS3 through effective teaching of key areas e.g. literacy and numeracy. Evidenced through internal data collation.

Targeted intervention in-place for English and maths. Hours per student being tracked. Progress for these students to be reviewed at 11 DP2.

English focus on vocabulary and recall embedded in 5 year curriculum.

5-a-day retrieval in maths lessons

All pupil premium students to be confident using a range of revision strategies

Impact of revision strategy

sessions to be collated in pupil premium survey

Evidence to show pupil premium students are confident using a wide range of resources e.g. flashcards, online resources and revision guides

Evidence to show pupil premium students have appropriate equipment for school from pupil premium survey.

94% of pupil premium students surveyed could identify at least one revision strategy they could use effectively.

All pupil premium students have access to appropriate equipment and revision materials in core subjects.

All year 11 students have 2 mentor revision sessions a week with revision cards provided for core subjects

To ensure appropriate support is available to all students if required

Pupil premium students to be offered well-being support as required.

Spirals approach to build relationships and understand barriers and ensure every pupil premium student has a champion

Proactive support for pupil premium students by mentors and achievement leaders.

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: £ [45,000]

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
CPD focus on inclusive classrooms	EEF guidance report on special educational needs in mainstream schools. The report highlights the importance of the classroom teacher in providing equal opportunities to learn for all students.	Challenges 4, 5, 6, 8
CPD sessions on literacy and vocabulary	EEF Toolkit +6 months. There are gaps in reading age of up to 2 years between pupil premium and non-pupil premium students in each cohort. Whole school initiatives can reduce this gap by focusing on reading intervention strategies that benefit disadvantaged students. Using Star Reader, we have taken the reading ages of year 7 and 8 which has shown there is a 14 month gap between pupil premium and nonpupil premium students.	Challenge 4
Recruiting strong teachers in maths and English	EEF Toolkit +6 months for high quality feedback and strong classroom teaching. In the current year 11, there is a 0.4 progress gap between PP and non-PP students. Strong classroom teaching has been shown to bridge the gap between PP and non-PP students.	Challenge 6
Maintaining small class sizes in core English and maths classes in 9, 10 and 11.	EEF Toolkit +2 months. Smaller core classes are viewed positively by staff who believe they enable higher quality support in the classroom.	Challenge 7
Developing the use of technology in the classroom through the iPad project	The EEF report into technology in the classroom in 2019 suggested it helped teachers to model good work and give feedback more effectively. We are experimenting with iPads in the classroom for lower ability students, focusing on the accessibility options and the ways it can be used to develop modelling in the classroom. We are using the Apple Elements of Learning book to focus our vision of technology in the classroom.	Challenges 6 and 7

Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)

Budgeted cost: £ [15,000]

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
Accelerated Reader used to provide reading intervention in Years 7 and 8	EEF Toolkit +6 months for reading programmes that are properly implemented. In previous work with Accelerated Reader at Bassingbourn Village College, disadvantaged students made up to 2 years of progress in their reading age in less than a year.	Challenge 4
School-led tutoring in core subjects	EEF Toolkit +5 months. Evidence shows that students are more likely to attend and benefit from school-led tuition than from outside agencies.	Challenge 6
Metacognition and revision sessions for all students	EEF Toolkit +7 months. Giving students the skills to revise and reflect on their learning has a significant impact on progress when implemented as a whole school initiative. The study into how much more progress disadvantaged students can make through this strategy versus non-disadvantaged is ongoing.	Challenge 7

Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)

Budgeted cost: £ [43,000]

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
STEPs behaviour policy	EEF behaviour interventions research shows that a successful whole school behavioural approach can raise progress by +4 months.	Challenges 5 and 8
Parental engagement to support students with raising their attendance	EEF Toolkit +4 months progress regardless of socio-economic factors according to the 2019 EEF report into the impact of parental engagement. This report showed that the impact is higher on disadvantaged than non- disadvantaged students. For the year 8 parent evening, 87% of parents engaged positively with the process.	Challenges 3 and 5
Well-being support through facilities in the Hive, PSHE lessons, mentor time and achievement leader support.	The 2019 EEF report ‘Healthy Minds: Healthy Outcomes’ showed that projects improving mental health have a significant positive impact on students physically, emotionally and academically. There is a study currently taking place (The Healthy Minds Statistical Analysis Plan) that is looking at the impact of healthy minds interventions on disadvantaged vs nondisadvantaged students at primary and secondary.	Challenge 8
Providing laptops through a school loan system.	Student surveys have shown that up to 15% of pupil premium students do not have adequate technology at home to enable them to access Google Classrooms or study online if isolating. We now have a stock of 41 laptops WiFi ready to use with this scheme. Evidence is also being collated through the PP survey to find students who need to use the loan scheme.	Challenge 2
Aspirational trips and visits and advice and guidance for post-16	As this is a complex area, there is no definitive study that shows its impact. Historically, all PP students from Bassingbourn find appropriate courses for post-16 study and we believe our small community enables us to provide the support that enables this. Despite the disruption, we have managed to give financial help to some PP students to attend aspirational events such as a year 7 team building day which had positive student feedback.	Challenge 1
Developing student wellbeing and life skills. Enabling students to take a full part in college life and supporting achievement.	Surveying students to find their individual challenges. The PP survey is underway and has provided some important evidence about student aspirations and experience in the classroom. This evidence is being collated in Power BI to share with all staff.	Challenges 1, 4, 6, 7 and 8

Total budgeted cost: £ [84,500]

Part B: Review of outcomes in the previous academic year

Pupil premium outcomes

This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2021-2022 academic year. Please see the information sheet below for information on the 2022 exam series, which can also be downloaded PP plan outcomes:

Part C: Pupil Premium Actions and Strategies by challenge

Low aspirations for post-16 study	Actions and Strategy
Parental meetings for year 11 applications.	PC supported parents during post-16 options process. Also, PC met pupil premium students during the year 8 options process to help them with their choices.
Aspirational trips and visits – virtual events	Trips and visits returning summer 2022. Year 7 PP students supported with payments for team-building day.
Participation in Duke of Edinburgh	PP students enlisted in D of E and full price paid.
Pupil Premium Survey	Pupil premium students have taken part in a survey in April/ May 2022 to find out about their aspirations for post-16 study, reading habits and resources.
Lack of access to IT	Actions and Strategy
Computers for PP students	Distribution of new Chromebooks on a loan scheme starting November 2021. Due to further laptops delivered by the DofE and purchased through the catch-up funding we now have a surplus supply that are available to be loaned to PP students as required. In the June survey, 94% had access to a laptop at home. Some need replacements due to technical issues.
Use of Read and Write software	Installed on all school computers and G Suite. Training given to students who require readers.
IPad and Chromebook department sets	IPad use trialled with small group of students looking at accessibility functions. There are now 30 iPads in science and 20 in English. In English lessons the iPads are being used to support literacy and to help students engage in oracy tasks. In maths Chromebooks are used to provide homework clubs for students with support from maths specialists.
A lack of parental engagement	Actions and Strategy
Regular parental contact	Parental calls made during lockdown by support staff to most vulnerable PP students. This practice has continued with parental contacts and meetings made via the support staff, achievement leaders and SLT to support our most vulnerable disadvantaged students.
Raised attendance to parent meetings	PC to track attendance to parent meetings using reports from SchoolCloud and follow up non-attenders. SchoolCloud has been opened for PP parents 24 hours in advance of other students and they have been offered help booking their slots. For the year 11 parent evening, 88% of PP students attended appointments vs 81% attendance overall. 100% of parents engaged with feedback on some level.

Staff and Mentor engagement with PP parents	Mentor training focuses on awareness of pupil premium students within mentor groups and developing staff knowledge of these students, particularly those who are disadvantaged and SEND learners. There are weekly student support briefings led by AW that provide context and strategies for disadvantaged and SEND students.
Progress follow up phonecalls	For parents who cannot attend parent evening appointments, feedback is collated and shared with parents through a phone call by the pupil premium lead or an achievement leader.
Low Levels of Literacy	Actions and Strategy
Vocabulary teaching	After a professional learning day focused on literacy and vocabulary, teams have been working on their strategies to develop the teaching of tier 2 and 3 vocabulary. Departments are now working on ways to in-bed vocabulary teaching into their schemes of work
Creation of literacy TLR in English	In April, we appointed a TLR position to promote literacy and vocabulary linked to the English department. Their role is to look at how we engage students with reading and develop vocabulary teaching with a particular focus on disadvantaged students.
Reading mentor scheme	14 Year 7 PP students are currently working with reading mentors from year 9.
Accelerated Reader	Star Reader has been used to monitor reading ages of all year 7 and 8 students. Small groups including disadvantaged students have then benefitted from Accelerated Reader intervention sessions.
Mentor time literacy activities	These include: Using The Day to read news articles and whole group reading activities.
Reading Interventions	Pupil premium students benefited from reading sessions focusing on root words and suffixes to develop vocabulary and reading age. These sessions were organised and run by the deputy SENCo and followed up with further reading tests to gauge progress and further sessions to develop fluency and vocabulary.
Poor attendance – below 90%	Actions and Strategy
Tracking of school attendance	Pupil Premium attendance 87.58% 4/11/2021. 87.04% 17/05/2022. School attendance tracked using Power BI which highlights students in PA and can be filtered to allow a focus on specific groups of students.
Regular attendance meetings	Low attenders supported through regular parental meetings led by student support staff.
Strategies for low attenders by mentors, support staff and achievement leaders	As a key part of our pastoral support system, mentors and achievement leaders are given regular updates on attendance and are involved in making parental contact.
Engagement in school life	In the PP survey, 54.21% of PP students were positive or very positive about coming to school every day. 28.04% gave an average score.

Raising attainment in English and maths	Actions and Strategy
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 English Department website.	English and maths teams are using online resources to make homework and revision available to all students. As ensuring PP students have laptop provision at home, they have equal access to these resources. Independent work is set according to department policy.
School-led tutoring programme	Tuition is organised in school for core subjects by Bassingbourn staff. Both maths and English have been offering 1:1 or small group intervention sessions for disadvantaged students. With a focus on year 11 during the build up to exams, groups of students from 7-10 are now benefiting from these sessions with a focus on numeracy and literacy. Over 233 hours have been logged so far.
Metacognition and Revision Actions	Actions and Strategy
Metacognition training sessions with PP focus	PP focused metacognition sessions in November 2021. RC has led sessions for all students with a particular focus on groups of PP students ensuring that they have the skills to revise independently.
Mentor revision sessions	With year specific mentors, there has been the opportunity for group revision using resources as directed by heads of department.
Questioning and engagement in lessons	As part of our teaching and learning strategy teachers are expected to use ‘cold calling’ in lessons to ensure all students are given equal opportunity to share their ideas. This has been identified as a strength in lesson observations and learning walks. In a year 9 survey, 92% of PP students agreed or agreed strongly that they were given feedback that helped them make progress.
General Wellbeing	Actions and Strategy
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.
Hive revision area 3.30 – 4.30	Started October 2021. PP students benefit from a time to work quietly and use laptops for their online homework.

Music lessons

As part of a drive to get pupil premium students more engaged in school life, we have been offering half-term taster session music lessons. These have included lessons in singing, piano and guitar. If students are keen to keep learning music, this has been followed up with a full term of weekly lessons. So far this year, 10% of pupil premium students have benefitted from support with music tuition.

Support for EHCP students

RL working on 1:1 support and behaviour plans with pupil premium students who have an EHCP

Archive Pupil Premium Plans can be downloaded:

2017/18: HERE

2018/19 HERE

2019/20 HERE

2020/21 HERE

2021/22 HERE