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Background

Schools receive a Pupil Premium payment for each child who has registered and qualifies for free school meals and for those children who have been in care or adopted. This money is used to support any educational needs and can also be used towards the cost of uniform, school trips etc.  Decisions about additional support and interventions are made between the headteacher, teachers and SENCo.  These decisions are examined for their impact on progress three times each year at our Pupil Progress Review meetings and adjusted as necessary.

Our strategy

At Wateringbury CE Primary School, we believe in investing in the highest calibre staff to teach and support all of our pupils.  For this reason, the majority of our Pupil Premium allocation goes towards staffing which ensure that small group support and 1:1 work with pupils is possible.  

Interventions mostly take place during the afternoon where additional support is targeted at the pupils who require it, whilst ensuring all children also participate in a full and balanced wider curriculum.  Early awareness of difficulties and immediate support is our model. 

We are also all too aware of the impact of the pandemic on our children's mental health and wellbeing and the subsequent impact on their learning and readiness to learn.  Some staffing allocation goes towards enhancing our pastoral team a FLO and Parent Support. 

Our Pupil Premium strategy for the year is set in July to enable support and interventions to begin immediately from September; it is reviewed mid-year in March.  Individual pupil progress is reviewed 3x/year during Pupil Progress Review meetings.

In-school barriers include developmental and cognitive delay, particularly speech and language; behaviour and attention/listening; dyslexic and dyscalculia tendencies. External barriers include low levels of literacy support at home; minimal exposure to books and vocabulary within the home; punctuality/attendance; poor sleep routines; poor diets; covid impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Our ethos of learning and support for pupils

The main barriers some of our pupils face are low levels of literacy support at home and limited exposure to books and vocabulary.  A relentless focus on reading – whole class, small group and 1:1 – models for children the pleasure of reading and also supports accelerated progress.  Reception pupils are screened within the first 8 weeks of joining our school for speech and language delay and programmes are put into place immediately to support correct sounds and vocabulary development.

Small group teaching is a key part of the philosophy at Wateringbury and every staff member is viewed as an educator with the potential to transform the learning for a child.  We invest in the highest calibre staff and aim for smaller adult:pupil ratios at the critical early stages of a child’s education.  A determined focus on phonics, writing and number at Key Stage 1 sets children up for greater success at Key Stage 2.  Where pupils are particularly vulnerable and continue to demonstrate difficulties, additional targeted support is provided.

Pupils receiving additional support are monitored closely: small steps are set for targets and the child’s progress is monitored closely and reviewed at least 3x/year.  The success of any intervention is measured by the child’s progress in phonics, spelling, reading, writing or maths and is always evidenced by work in books.