This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2023 to 2024 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.
The total budgeted cost is £279,968.
School overview
School name
Longfield Academy
Number of pupils in school
903
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils
30% (270 students)
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)
2022-23 to 2024-25
Date this statement was published
29th September 2021
Date on which it will be reviewed
29th September 2024
Statement authorised by
Felix Donkor (Principal)
Pupil premium lead
Matt Lowe
Governor / Trustee lead
Holi Jackson
Funding overview
Detail
Amount
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year
£279,968
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year
£94,000
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
£279,968
part a: pupil premium strategy plan
Statement of intent
At Longfield Academy, we ensure that all students have the opportunity to make excellent progress and succeed. Our small school structure allows us to have a personalised provision that is not only linked to aspects of achievement in the classroom, but also attendance, aspiration and wider experiences. We therefore use the PPG strategically to support disadvantaged students to ensure that they ‘achieve beyond expectations’. However, through our provision we aim to help broaden the support we offer to other groups of students where appropriate.
Our core objective is to close the attainment gap between our disadvantaged students and other students. We will do this by providing more student support via teaching assistants, mentors, additional classes and learning resources to disadvantaged students. We will encourage opportunities to see how the world works outside of their local communities in order to heighten their aspirations, and further develop their cultural capital.
We intend to operate an “Enrichment Week” where students are taken through a range of exciting opportunities to increase exposure to the wider world; through workshops, trips/visits, and skill-based experiences. We also intend to make school a more engaging place to be by providing enrichment opportunities and other activities beyond the classroom.
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
Challenge number
Detail of challenge
1
Progress: research shows that students who are classified as disadvantaged, are likely to make less progress than their non-disadvantaged peers.
2
Attendance: our most disadvantaged students have lower attendance figures, historic attendance issues and poor punctuality, much of which is parentally condoned.
3
Limited extra curricular involvement: disadvantaged pupils have limited outdoor experiences and opportunities to develop skills or interests, for example music, sports, technology, and business. Increasing their exposure to these fields will support their learning, build confidence and improve their mindset towards acquiring transferable skills.
4
Limited access: not all students have access to a suitable device or stable internet to complete school work. The school is becoming increasingly digital with all homework being set online and all lessons available online for revision. Disadvantaged pupils also have less access to equipment and learning resources, including scientific calculators and revision guides.
5
Lower literacy: many of our disadvantaged students have struggled with literacy. This can impact upon the student’s ability to fully engage with the curriculum.
6
High levels of anxiety especially in relation to exams/assessment, but also part of a wider range of increased mental health concerns. Some of this can be traced back to impacts of the COVID pandemic.
7
Parental engagement: ensuring that our entire community sees the value of education, and the importance of school in the development of young people. At present, some of our most disadvantaged pupils struggle to engage with education, in part because parents themselves do not see a benefit to it.
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
To improve rates of progress for all disadvantaged students.
Whole school P8 figures for disadvantaged pupils will continue to improve upon the previous academic year and the national average.
Increased abilities in literacy, closing the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils.
Intervention records show the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils closes over the academic year.
To improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils, in line with national average statistics.
Attendance of disadvantaged pupils to improve.
Percentage of persistent absenteeism among disadvantaged pupils to reduce.
To have in place interventions for disadvantaged pupils to improve attainment, and support social, emotional and mental health.
Records indicating uptake of targeted interventions offered to disadvantaged students.
Evidence from pupil and parental surveys show improvements to wellbeing.
To improve aspirations, cultural capital and extracurricular involvement for disadvantaged pupils.
All disadvantaged pupils to have participated in events of enrichment week in module 6.
Improvement in the engagement of disadvantaged pupils with extra-curricular activities, trips and clubs.
To improve access to resources and opportunities for all pupils.
To further roll out the chromebook loan scheme so that all students joining the school have a working device provided.
To enable access to PPG funding for children who require support for providing essentials (e.g. calculators, books, uniform) and involvement in extra-curricular (e.g. trips, supplementary lessons).
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: £134,384.70 (48% of funding)
Activity
Evidence that supports this approach
Challenge number(s) addressed
Employ and retain high quality teachers of English, and other core subjects.
Ensuring we are able to employ the highest quality of teaching staff, means that we can bring the best standards of teaching and learning to the academy. It also means we can work to reduce class sizes where possible.
1
Employ and retain high quality Lead Practitioners to develop Teaching & Learning at the Academy.
The EEF Toolkit clearly indicates that effective teaching and learning, and collaborative sharing of good practice, can provide extensive benefits to students.
1
Employ and retain specialist teachers and support staff, to teach in our Specialist Resource Provision (Spectrum Centre) and support students with high levels of SEND.
The EEF Toolkit suggests that reduced class sizes, and students being appropriately organised within settings, can benefit from 3 months added progress.
1
Access to technology through the Chromebook scheme.
Access to technology enables teaching staff to develop a wider range of more effective teaching and learning strategies. Research by the EEF also suggests it offers ways to improve the impact of pupil practice, assessment, and the quality of explanations and modelling.
1, 4 & 5
Use of specialist literacy tools to assess students’ abilities and needs.
The EEF Toolkit provides evidence to suggest that improved reading comprehension can add up to 6 months progress. It can also open up the wider curriculum to students, improving their access.
1 & 5
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £86,790.08 (31% of funding)
Activity
Evidence that supports this approach
Challenge number(s) addressed
Teaching assistants contributing to 1:1 or small group support.
The EEF Toolkit provides evidence to suggest that effective deployment of teaching assistants can add up to 4 months progress.
1, 5 & 6
Literacy interventions
Small-group English mentor
MyTutor programme
The EEF Toolkit provides evidence to suggest that effective small-group interventions can add up to 4 months of progress. The toolkit is equally forthcoming with evidence to support 1:1 tuition, which is provided where possible and appropriate.
EEF Toolkit – Small Group Tuition
EEF Toolkit – One to One Tuition
Evidence from the EEF also suggests that literacy interventions are particularly impactful, given that they pave the way to accessing the wider curriculum with greater ease.
1 & 5
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £58,793.28 (21% of funding)
Activity
Evidence that supports this approach
Challenge number(s) addressed
Student Support Mentors in school to improve wellbeing and engagement.
Retention of a family liaison officer to raise attendance and improve parental engagement.
Funding of the Attendance and Welfare Officer.
The EEF Toolkit provides evidence to suggest that boosting parental engagement can add up to 4 months of progress.
EEF Toolkit – Parental Engagement
Further research also demonstrates the importance of providing effective communication.
Working with parents to support children’s learning (EEF)
Behaviour interventions provided by the SSMs are also evidenced as impactful under the EEF Toolkit.
1, 2, 6 & 7
Contribution of funding towards other interventions for wellbeing and pastoral care of students (including Kent Minds)
The provision of specialist support (e.g. mental health support services) in the academy by both internal staff and external specialists.
2 & 6
Funding for trips, visits and other opportunities.
The development of cultural capital is vital for students to be aspirational about the future, and henceforth enthused about their education.
3 & 6
Funding for private music lessons.
The EEF Toolkit provides evidence to suggest that arts participation can add up to 3 months of progress.
3 & 6
Uniform and equipment
Many disadvantaged students may find themselves struggling to access the same equipment as their peers, and so we have provision in place to support families where required.
1 & 4
part b: review of outcomes in the previous academic year
pupil premium strategy outcomes
This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2022 to 2023 academic year. Note that the targets are continuing until the end of the three year plan (2024).
Previous Objectives
Objectives from 2022-23 Report
Intended Impact / Outcome
Impact / Outcome
To improve rates of progress for all disadvantaged students.
Whole school P8 figures for disadvantaged pupils will continue to improve upon the previous academic year and the national average.
Early indicators from pupil outcomes suggest that progress in Ebacc, English and Maths has improved upon last year. The gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupil progress also appears to have narrowed in English and Maths.
Increased abilities in literacy, closing the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils.
Intervention records show the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils closes over the academic year.
Literacy impact reports from module 6 of 2022-23 state that all PP and SEN groups made progress with their literacy over the course of the academic year. In year 7, PP students made more progress than all students collectively.
Further interventions such as 1:1 support, Lexia, Reading buddies and tutor-led reading have contributed to progress.
To improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils, in line with national average statistics.
Attendance of disadvantaged pupils to improve.
Percentage of persistent absenteeism among disadvantaged pupils to reduce.
Between modules 3 and 6 last year, KS3 saw a rise of 6% average in PP attendance, with a drop of 10 persistent absent students.
To have in place interventions for disadvantaged pupils to improve attainment, and support social, emotional and mental health.
Records indicating uptake of targeted interventions offered to disadvantaged students.
Evidence from pupil and parental surveys show improvements to wellbeing.
8 different interventions* have been supported by PP funding this year, which have collectively seen 145 children pass through them.
Over 65% of the students who accessed interventions were classed as disadvantaged.
Impact surveys from all of the interventions (many of which are supported by PP funding) show a 4.5 (of 5) average score for “the intervention improved my wellbeing” and a 4.3 (of 5) average score for “the intervention had a positive impact on mental health”.
*1:1 Counselling (in-house), Kent Minds, Fitter Stronger, ELSA, FLO, Life Coach, Risk-it, 1:1 Counselling (external).
To improve aspirations, cultural capital and extracurricular involvement for disadvantaged pupils.
To improve access to resources and opportunities for all pupils.
All disadvantaged pupils to have participated in events of enrichment week in module 6.
Improvement in the engagement of disadvantaged pupils with extra-curricular activities, trips and clubs.
To further roll out the chromebook loan scheme so that all students joining the school have a working device provided.
To enable access to PPG funding for children who require support for providing essentials (e.g. calculators, books, uniform) and involvement in extra-curricular (e.g. trips, supplementary lessons).
The PPG funding continued to support children who needed it last year, removing barriers to their engagement in academy life.
- 73 sets of revision guides
- 18 sets of uniform
- 9 equipment sets
- 6 theatre trips
- 4 residential trips
- 14 contributions to private music tuition
- 6 DofE Award places/expedition costs
- 4 assistance with travel
16 contributions to rewards trips and a further bulk payment for all disadvantaged students to participate in enrichment week. All children participated in enrichment week.
externally provided programmes
Please include the names of any non-DfE programmes that you purchased in the previous academic year. This will help the Department for Education identify which ones are popular in England.
Programme
Provider
Online tutoring (Maths, English, Science, French)
MyTutor
Interventions (contributed to by PP funding)
Kent Minds