Pupil Premium and Recovery Grant Funding

Part A (i): Pupil Premium Strategy Plan

Statement of Intent

Our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make +1 progress and achieve high attainment across the curriculum. This strategy runs from September 2023 to July 2026, but is reviewed regularly and at least yearly.

The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve that goal, including progress for those who are already high attainers. We will consider the challenges faced by vulnerable pupils, such as those who have a social worker and young carers. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.

High-quality teaching is at the heart of our approach, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support. This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers.

Our strategy is also integral to wider school plans for education recovery, notably in its targeted support through the National Tutoring Programme for pupils whose education has been worst affected, including non-disadvantaged pupils. 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
further develop our belonging and inclusion strategy to ensure all pupils, especially those experiencing disadvantage, feel celebrated and have clear purpose.

Challenges

The table below outlines the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.

Challenge Number	Details of the Challenge
1	General academic disadvantage, upon entry into the school. As a school we use GL Assessment to understand about the prior attainment as students start at the school. Evidence from these assessments show that students eligible for the pupil premium are already academically disadvantaged. Last year, upon entry into the school, disadvantaged students were found to be 11 SAS points (standardised age scores, a nationally benchmarked age-related measure) below their more affluent peers in maths, and 9 SAS points behind in English.
2	Poorer reading and spelling, upon entry into the school. Nationally standardised reading and spelling tests are taken every year as part of our ongoing monitoring of student outcomes. Students from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to enter the school with lower reading ages and spelling competency than their more affluent peers. Typically upon entry, disadvantaged students are 8 months behind their more affluent peers in spelling and score 5 SAS (standardised age score) behind in reading ability.
3	Poorer organisational skills. From our experience and observation, students from more disadvantaged backgrounds tend to face specific organisational challenges at the school. This includes accessing and completing homework, punctuality to school, bringing in the correct equipment and wearing the correct uniform. Consequently, we see an overrepresentation (40% rather than an expected 20%) of sanctions for poor organisation.
4	More complex pastoral issues that impact on academic performance. From our experience and observation, students from more disadvantaged backgrounds tend to face a greater range of pastoral challenges. This includes mental health issues, challenging familial and peer relationships, poor behaviour, safeguarding concerns and other problems often associated with low economic circumstances. The number of concerns regarding disadvantaged students last year was almost 7 times greater than for more affluent peers.
5	Poor attendance. From our experience and observation, students from more disadvantaged backgrounds tend to be absent from school more frequently. Last year, the attendance rate for disadvantaged students was 92%, compared to 95% for more affluent peers.

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
Improve general academic outcomes relative to peers.	At the time of our first published public examinations (academic year 2023/24) disadvantaged students achieve significantly above a P8 of 0. In the intervening years, there is evidence of closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged and more affluent peers.
Improve reading and spelling	Reading comprehension tests and spelling tests demonstrate improved comprehension skills among disadvantaged pupils and a smaller disparity between the scores of disadvantaged pupils and their non-disadvantaged peers. Teachers should also have recognised this improvement through engagement in lessons and book scrutiny.
Improve organisational skills	From Year 9 onwards, there is a significant reduction in the number of sanctions awarded for organisation.
Reduce the impact of pastoral issues	Year -on-year decreases in the number of referrals made to external agencies, and flagging of concerns by staff. Pastoral services provide proactive support.
Improve attendance	Sustained high attendance from 2024/25 demonstrated by the overall absence rate for all pupils being no more than 5%, and the attendance gap between disadvantaged pupils and their non-disadvantaged peers being reduced to no more than 2%.

Activity in this academic year

This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) in the 22/23 academic year to address the challenges listed above.

Predicted Income: £368,230

£57,194	Bring Forward not spent from last year
£253,678	Anticipated PP Grant based on current numbers
£25,000	Additional PP anticipated due to growing school
£32,358	LAC funding
£368,230	TOTAL

Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)

Budget cost for the below: £114,312

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed	Cost
Purchase of standardised diagnostic assessments (GL and associated products). Training will be provided for staff to ensure assessments are interpreted correctly.	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. Click here for more details.	1, 2	£3,569 (30% of £11,897) £1380 (30% x 45 Exams Officer days Admin Assistant £4600)
The employment of additional maths teaching hours, that is then deployed for those who are significantly behind their peers within normal curriculum time.	This allows for small class sizes for those students (disproportionately PP) who are most in need of specialist and tailored maths support. Small class sizes allow the teacher to deliver maths in a different way. This approach is recommended by the EEF. Having previously used external tutors for vulnerable pupils, the school decided to recruit an additional Deputy SENCo maths teacher to enable pupils in all 5 year groups to receive 50 minutes of small group tuition each day. For 23/24, this amounts to 20 intervention groups.	1	£44529 The cost of this SENCo teacher is £59,119.37. This cost will be met as follows: £29,559 Recovery Premium (50%) £29,559 Pupil Premium (50%)
2 Step into Teaching LSAs to support PP students not in receipt of Top Up Funding	Click here for supporting evidence.	1, 3	£43,750
Intervention for EAL students who are also PP - Flash Academy software, resources and technology	Our newer to English students who are EAL are further behind their peers and we need to accelerate their progress		£3895
50% contribution towards music tuition for PP	Example of evidence here.	1, 2, 3	£12,189
LAC students - tutoring, resources, PSL intervention time	As per guidance from the Hope School, Bristol		£5000

Pastoral and Behavioural Support

Budgeted cost: £262,659

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed	Cost
Additional employment of a PSL to support students academic and pastoral progress and wellbeing.	Click here for supporting evidence.	3, 4, 5	£35,329
50% Centralised behaviour support (OnCall) system, staffed by PSLs and LSA Average £40000	Click here for supporting evidence.	3, 4, 5	£20,000
45% of Attendance Officer (45% of pupils with below 92% attendance are PP) Minibus driver to support attendance strategy for PP students	Click here for supporting evidence.	4, 5	£20,061 45% of £29,921 plus driver
PP Ex 4030 Uniform & Travel 6500: Contribution towards trips	Meeting basic needs of students and supplementing trip costs to ensure equal access	4	£14,000
Professional Educational Services for PP pupils (counselling etc.)	Meeting basic needs of students.	4	£7,500
Teacher overtime/cover to release teachers to provide pastoral interventions to PP students	Evidence from EEF about impact of behaviour interventions here		£11,400
50% of behaviour lead targeting PP students	Evidence from EEF about impact of behaviour interventions here		£24,964
50% Safeguarding Lead targeting PP students			£16,209
External mentoring and small group intervention, including forest school and enhance transition activities	Evidence from EEF about SEMH interventions here		£24,628
10% Head of Soul monitoring PP attendance at clubs and increasing attendance (2.6hrs pw)			£5,868
Parent education sessions and community outreach	Evidence from EEF here		£1,400
Professional Educational Services for PP (4135), including Bright sparks intervention programme run by Bristol Bears Rugby and Bear in Mind programme	Evidence from EEF about impact of behaviour interventions here		£21,000
In-school behaviour interventions, teacher time costs	Evidence from EEF about impact of behaviour interventions here		£7,800
House system, culture of belonging, guest speakers and rewards for excellent attendance and behaviour	Information used to form strategy here and here		£15,700
40% of AHT & PP lead’s time	Required for the leadership of the above	All	£36,800

Total budgeted cost: £376,971

Part A (ii): Recovery Grant Expenditure

Predicted Income for 23/24: £60,000

The Recovery Grant is being used to part fund targeted English support groups aimed at closing the progress gap for the most disadvantaged pupils. Students selected are based on assessment data, teacher observations and background knowledge about the pupil.

Of the students in the these English groups in 22/23:

23 students received 50 minutes of small group instruction a day in groups of up to 8 with 1 - 3 members of staff for each group.

Expenditure
Having previously used external tutors for vulnerable pupils, the school decided to recruit an additional SEN english teacher at 0.8 to enable pupils in all 5 year groups to recieve 50 minutes of small tuition each day. For 23/24, this amounts to 20 intervention groups. The cost of this SEN teacher is £33,587.68 The school is also recruiting a second Attendance worker (Attendance Support Leader) for 23/24 The cost of this role is £29,746
SEN english teacher			£33,587
Attendance Support Leader			£29,746
Total			£63,333

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Cost

Having previously used external tutors for vulnerable pupils, the school decided to recruit an additional Deputy SENCo maths teacher to enable pupils in years 7-11 to receive 50 minutes of small tuition each day 25 periods a week, the equivalent of one member of staff. The cost of this SENCo teacher is £59,982.

Click here for supporting evidence.

1, 2

£33,587

This cost will be met as follows: £29,559 School Led Tutoring (50%) £29,559 Pupil Premium (50%)

Attendance Support Leader

£29,746

Part B: Review of Outcomes in the Previous Academic Year

Improve general academic outcomes relative to peers. Given that we are yet to have any public exams, our current evidence is drawn primarily from internal assessments (sat at the end of each term) and nationally benchmarked English, maths and science tests (sat yearly). The table below shows how students from PP and non-PP backgrounds have fared across all subjects in our internal summer assessments. It suggests that PP students are broadly performing in line with their more affluent peers.

		% Above Expected	% Making Expected	% Below Expected
Year 7	PP	18	47	11
Year 7	Non-PP	13	60	17
Year 8	PP	6	54	23
Year 8	Non-PP	19	56	14
Year 9	PP	22	43	19
Year 9	Non-PP	18	54	21

Last year’s Year 10s have been awarded predicted grades following their summer mock exams. Below are the relative performance indicators for PP v non-PP. Initial data suggests that students are that PP students are on track to make positive progress.

		Predicted A8	Predicted P8
Year 10	PP	4.9	+0.3
Year 10	Non-PP	6.0	+1.2

The nationally benchmarked test results, summarised below, also suggest that PP students are making more progress than the average student, nationally. The results also suggest that PP students are, on average, outperforming the national cohort.

	National Cohort (no data for PP only)	Trinity PP (+/- since last assessment)
English	100	96.6 (-3.8)
Maths	100	99.7 (+2.0)
Science	100	100.3 (+4.4)

Improve reading. We measure this through nationally benchmarked reading tests, carried out annually. The table below shows a summary of these tests across all years. Results suggest that PP students are making more progress than the average student, nationally. The results also suggest that PP students are, on average, outperforming the national cohort.

	National Cohort (non data for just PP)	Trinity PP (+/- since last assessment)
Reading	100	101.7 (+1.6)

The school is yet to experience a year without Covid-19. This makes any analysis of attendance figures – where full and partial closures have occurred and where students are advised to remain home in certain circumstances – problematic. It also makes it difficult to judge the impact of our pastoral support as we continue to see an increase in pandemic-related anxiety and mental health generally.

Reviewing the impact of the recovery grant expenditure. Analysis of maths and English small group tuition, funded in part by the recovery grant, suggests significant improvements beyond the average progress seen across most year groups. This analysis was conducted using GL assessed standard age scores (SAS). Details can be found below.

	Maths		English
	Year group mean improvement in SAS	AC mean improvement in SAS	Year group mean improvement in SAS	AC mean improvement in SAS
Year 7	1.9	4.1	-6.5	-1.3
Year 8	-1.8	-0.7	-0.9	8.5
Year 9	6.3	15.8	1.3	1.2