The Pupil Premium 2012-13

In 2012-13, Kings Furlong Juniors received nearly £43,000 in Pupil Premium funding.  This was based on the number of children who are entitled to Free School Meals, and also children from service families or those who are in care.  The funding is used to benefit children who are vulnerable, including those who do not fall into the FSM, service family or in care categories.  However, the impact of the funding on the children in these groups is rigorously monitored and outlined below.

Between September 2012 and April 2013, the money was allocated to:

• provide additional, experienced teachers to run English and maths booster groups in Years 3, 5 and 6
• fund tuition in Year 6 to support English and maths
• fund extra LSA support in Y6
• fund our parent support advisor
• provide a weekly homework club
• fund a member of staff to run ‘Young Interpreters’ and provide EAL support

What has been the impact of the funding on our Free School Meal (FSM) pupils?

APS comparison of FSM and Non-FSM Groups

Green shows either a gap closing or an advantage to the FSM group, which is summarised here:

• Y3 gap in attainment for writing is closing and progress for FSM children is better than non-FSM children
• Y4 no gap in attainment for reading and progress for FSM children in reading and writing is better than non-FSM children.
• Y5 attainment is higher and progress is better in reading and maths for FSM children.  FSM children have higher attainment in writing.
• Y6 attainment gap in reading, writing and maths closed across the year.  Progress for FSM readers was better.

Booster Groups

Pupil Premium funds paid for a highly experienced teacher to run a year 6 booster group for 4 mornings every week from September to May.  These were English and Maths sessions and supported children who required focussed teaching to make accelerated progress.

This was a very successful booster group.  Pupil Premium money has had a significant impact on the children in these groups.  A year 6 booster group will operate again in September. 

The Year 5 booster group ran for one term due to staff turbulence.  However, Mrs Chapman, the Y6 booster teacher, has worked with the children in Y5 since SATs finished and will continue with these children in September 2013.

The Year 3 booster group began in January and operated on Thursdays and Fridays.  The booster group teacher reported increased levels of confidence in the children, over time, and a greater willingness to share their ideas. Progress made in writing has been evident in the children’s books. From September 2013, this booster group will operate five days a week, and it is anticipated that this will result in improved rates of progress. 

2:1 Tuition for Year 6

Pupil Premium funded extra teaching hours to provide support for some children who required a short intervention to boost their attainment.

Additional LSA support for Y6

To support the needs of the most vulnerable learners in Y6, an LSA was employed to support the learning and acquisition of basic skills in order for the children to make accelerated progress to achieve age related outcomes. 

When asked, the children who benefitted from this support said:

“Mrs V would work with us one at a time or in a small group to work on specific things we were stuck on.  She really made a difference to our learning and she would be determined and encourage us.’

Parent Support Advisor

Our parent support advisor, Kathy, works within our cluster to help families deal with issues such as attendance, punctuality, behaviour or other issues which make children vulnerable.  Kathy’s work improves liaison between school and parents to work through some tricky situations.  This has involved helping families access other agencies, fetching children to and collecting them from school and running Triple P parenting sessions amongst many other things.  Kathy also helps in school when we invite our parents in to shared sessions which has improved the engagement parents have with school and their children’s learning.

A parent who Kathy has supported said: “Kathy is an amazing support.  She gets straight back to me with solutions to problems.  Words can’t describe how she has helped.  She supports the whole family and if I could buy her a bunch of flowers every week, I would.”

Homework Club

Homework Club is available for all children but Pupil Premium has been used as a way of supporting our more vulnerable learners.  Completing homework can be an issue for many reasons, such as not having the necessary resources, parents feeling they are unable to help or it was causing arguments.  Children coming to school with incomplete homework feel disengaged with the learning process at school. 

Our homework club is run by 2 members of our staff after school so they can support the children in their learning and also ensure the correct resources are available from laptops, colouring pencils, glue etc. 

The children who attend the club are very positive about it, telling our Pupil Premium governor that they would not complete their homework if they did not attend.  They cited reasons such as: their house is too noisy, they could not research because they did not have a computer or siblings made it difficult. 

A parent said that their child would struggle to complete the work at home but is now proud to finish it every week before the weekend.  Another parent said that when they found it difficult to help, their child became frustrated but that the friendly and helpful teachers at the club can guide the learning. 

Teachers report improved rates of completion of homework for the children who attend which supports their learning in class significantly.  It also reduces the levels of disengagement that failure to complete homework can cause.

Young Interpreters and EAL

A member of staff has the responsibility to work with children who have issues because English is an additional language, for example by leading intervention groups for improving confidence and conversation.  Pupil Premium provides extra time for this member of staff to support EAL children through:

• running ‘Young Interpreters’ where children are trained to support others who are new arrivals and have yet to develop the English language.
• running a language club where children have the opportunity to learn about other languages and cultures based on the range of languages within our school.
• liaising with EMTAS to ensure appropriate resources are in school to support children with their particular language needs. 
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When asked, our Young Interpreters said:

“It is good.  It was fun at the conference.  It has helped me learn about different languages and it has helped my English.”

“We discuss how to support younger children and it helps children who don’t speak good English.  It has helped my English.”

“We go on trips and meet other people from our countries and other countries.  It is positive and we share things.  If didn’t have Young Interpreters there wouldn’t be anyone to help children if their English isn’t strong.”

Children of Service Families

The 2 children we have who fall into this category are making satisfactory or above satisfactory progress and their attainment is in line or above age related expectations.  Neither of the children have required any interventions or additional support but they have benefitted from the reduced class sizes that booster groups have brought about.