Disadvantage and the Pupil Premium

Disadvantage

Why focus on pupils from poorer backgrounds? Poverty is the strongest predictor of a child’s educational outcomes. In terms of attainment the facts speak for themselves;  At the end of Key Stage 1 the odds of a pupil eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) achieving level 2 in reading, writing and maths are one third those of a non-FSM pupil.  The gap widens further during secondary education and persists into Higher Education. The odds of an FSM pupil achieving five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics are less than one third those of a non FSM pupil.  A pupil from a non-disadvantaged background is more than twice as likely to go on to study at university as their disadvantaged peers.  Attainment gaps have proved to be persistent and slow at narrowing despite investment.

The attainment gap

KS2 FSM gaps have narrowed in all subjects

KS4 - FSM gaps have narrowed for both indicators, albeit very slowly for 5+A*-C inc. English and maths 3

New from the Performance Table: Narrowing the gaps at KS2 As expected, disadvantaged pupils do less well across the measures than the other pupils. Within the Performance tables the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, those eligible for free school meal or looked after by the Local Authority, has been compared to the other pupils. 17 per cent of pupils have been identified as disadvantaged. Maintained schools only

2011 New from the Performance Table: Narrowing the gaps at KS4 As expected, disadvantaged pupils do less well across the measures than the other pupils. Within the Performance tables the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, those known to be eligible for free school meal or looked after by the Local Authority, has been compared to the other pupils per cent of pupils have been identified as disadvantaged. Maintained schools only Disadvantaged pupils Other pupils All Pupils Achieving grades A*-C in both English and mathematics GCSEs 34.4%62.9%58.7% Achieving 5+ grades A*-C inc. English and mathematics GCSEs 33.9%62.3%58.2% Achieving expected progress between Key Stage 2 and GCSE English 54.3%74.8%71.8% Achieving expected progress between Key Stage 2 and GCSE Maths 44.2%68.3%64.8% English Baccalaureate4.1%17.3%15.4%

Maintained mainstream schools excluding grammar schools Amended data Least disadvantaged schools Most disadvantaged schools FSM pupils in schools with highest proportion of disadvantaged pupils now outperform those in schools with low numbers of disadvantaged pupils and the gap between them and their peers is much smaller

Why focus on pupils from poorer backgrounds? The Government has made it clear that this is a morally and socially unacceptable position and it has made narrowing attainment gaps between rich and poor its’ top priority. Social Mobility Narrowing the gaps is therefore a key component of the Government’s Social Mobility strategy along with raising standards in all schools and raising aspirations for all children.

Social Mobility The Social Mobility strategy was launched in April It aims to tackle unfairness at every stage of life with specific measures to improve social mobility from the foundation years to school and adulthood. Key policies to achieve social mobility include; the Pupil Premium; raising the status and quality of teaching; the introduction of the English Baccalaureate; academies and free schools; all underpinned by parental engagement and good start in the Early Years.

A New Approach to Child Poverty: Tackling the Causes of Disadvantage and Transforming Families Lives  The Child Poverty Strategy launched on 5 April 2011, setting the framework to end child poverty by  The strategy also announced a new Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, which will hold the Government to account for progress across linked issues of child poverty and social mobility.  The strategy represents a radical new approach to tackling child poverty underpinned by the principles of fairness, responsibility and support for the most vulnerable

Pupil Premium

Why the Pupil Premium?  Disadvantage funding did not always reach those who required most support.  Previous initiatives had done little to close attainment gaps.  The Government believes it is right that additional funds are available to give the children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who achieve less well, a better start in life – the Pupil Premium.  Where funding is carefully targeted it can make an impact on attainment for disadvantaged pupils, particularly in English and mathematics.

Eligibility  Pupils in Year Groups R to 11, who are known to be eligible for free school meals and recorded as service children in the January 2011 School census, Alternative Provision census or Pupil Referral Unit census.  Children who have been in care continuously for at least 6 months (aged 4- 15), In January 2011 there were;  1.217m FSM pupils (18%)  1.77m Ever 6 pupils (26%)  45,070 Service Children  40,566 Looked after Children.

Why use FSM as the disadvantage indicator for the Pupil Premium? It is accurate at identifying and targeting underachievement as the link between FSM eligibility and underachievement is very strong – at every key stage the level of educational attainment for pupils who are eligible for FSM is lower than their non-FSM peers. Its provides historical information and is used by both local authorities (LAs) and schools. All other measures are based on postcodes. It is recognised that not all of those families eligible for free school meals currently register so the Department is extending the coverage of the Pupil Premium from to those who have previously been known to be eligible for FSM in the past six years known as Ever 6. We are also exploring how more families, eligible for FSM, can be encouraged to claim.

Key Facts on Funding  In £625m –£488 per FSM and Looked After Child –£200 per Service Child  In £1.25bn –£619 per Ever 6 FSM and Looked After Child –£250 per Service Child –£50m for Summer Schools  In £1.875bn –£900 per Ever 6 FSM and Looked After Child –Service Child amount yet to be announced –£50m for Summer Schools  In £2.5bn

Pupil Premium Use

How are schools using the Premium?  Schools are free to use the Premium as they see fit. They are best placed to assess the needs of the pupils in their schools.  We did some small scale studies of schools before its introduction and schools seemed to be saying that, at least initially, they will use the Premium to: enable improvement to existing provision rather than any fundamental change to practice and facilitate longer term strategic practice; enable current support to continue and be extended to more pupils; make possible the planned roll out of already successful interventions; and fund additional staffing – especially teachers to work with identified underperforming pupils.  Since then, we have results from a number of small studies suggesting schools are: Employing of additional specialist teaching staff. Employing and training of high quality support staff. Providing additional ‘out of school hours’ teaching. Providing planned support on transition. Undertaking engagement with ‘hard to reach’ parents. Broadening pupils’ experiences of the world.

The new £50m Transition Summer School programme – what does this involve? Evidence shows that there can be a dip in performance for pupils as they transfer from primary to secondary school. Funding is sufficient to enable all pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who have been looked after in public care continuously for 6 months or more to attend a summer school. Size and shape of the summer school schemes are decided by schools and headteachers – they know best what form the summer school should take based upon the needs of their pupils. It is for schools to decide how best to staff the summer schools but teachers will not be compelled to do anything. About 2,000 schools took part this summer. David Laws announced that the programme will continue throughout this spending review period – up to

Pupil Premium Accountability

How will schools be held to account for their use of the Pupil Premium? The Government is clear that it is important that schools should be accountable to parents for how well their pupils do. The Premium is a significant and increasing amount of money, provided to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and schools will be held to account for how it has been spent: New measures have been included in the performance tables that capture the achievement of disadvantaged children in our schools who will directly benefit from the Pupil Premium. The Premium now features in Ofsted’s inspection framework – inspectors will consider the attainment of pupils who attract the Premium and will look at how schools are using the Premium to remove barriers to learning for this group of pupils. Schools will also be expected to publish an online statement about how they have used their Pupil Premium. So, schools will want to spend the Premium wisely.

New Initiatives  The Deputy Prime Minister announced in May 2012:  awards for schools doing most to boost the performance of their disadvantaged pupils  a scholarship scheme for teachers who are doing the most to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.  an additional £10m funding for EEF to fund projects aimed at transition literacy catch up for disadvantaged pupils who did not achieve Level 4 at Key Stage 2 in English  The Department is currently working through the detail of the first two initiatives and will release further details at a later date.

Education Endowment Foundation The EEF has been established to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in underperforming schools.  To fund bold and innovative approaches into ways of raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in response to bids from schools, local authorities, parents, voluntary and community sector organisations, charities and social enterprises;  To robustly evaluate all funded activities and  To share the results with schools and others in an accessible way.  To contribute to our evidence base.  Website address:

Evaluation  There will be an external evaluation of the first year of the Pupil Premium.  To find out what the impact of the Pupil Premium has been in its first year.  The evaluation is underway and should report in Spring  An external evaluation of the first year of the Summer Schools programme will also report in early 2013.