Parents

At Bluecoat Beechdale Academy approximately two thirds of the students are eligible for the Pupil Premium funding, much higher than the national average. Schools and academies are challenged to provide additional support for these pupils to help them to overcome the barriers they face and consequently help them to secure the same level of attainment as their more socio-economically advantaged peers. The amount of Pupil Premium funding that Bluecoat Beechdale Academy expects to receive for the current academic year 2016-17 is £328213. There are 644 students on roll at the academy of which 413 students across Years 7 to 11 benefit from Pupil Premium Funding.

The priorities for the Pupil Premium Funding are:

• Narrowing the gap by addressing inequalities and raising the attainment of those students entitled to Pupil Premium Funding
• Raising self-esteem and aspirations of students entitled to Pupil Premium Funding through pastoral support, enrichment and extra-curricular activities
• Reducing inequalities and gaps in attainment between those students who are in receipt of free school meals (FSM) and their peers
• Ensuring that wider opportunities are provided and participated in by all PP students across the academy
• Continuing to improve the attendance of PP students so that they are in line with national averages

Bluecoat Beechdale Academy has targeted additional strategies and systems aimed at ensuring that every student is able to achieve their potential. However, in relation to those students who are financially disadvantaged we aim to:

• Improve levels of attainment and progress and close any attainment gaps
• Enable them to have full access to the curriculum, enrichment extra-curricular activities
• Raise their confidence and self-belief thus enabling them to become confident learners and a valued part of the school and wider community

Develop their wider aspirations so they are prepared for the next stage after compulsory education.

Evaluation of 2015/16 Pupil Premium Funding

The impact of the expenditure is as follows:

• Attendance for Pupil Premium students was 93.1% compared to the school average of 94.4%. This compares to 90.2% in 2013/14 and 92.3% in 2014/15, an improvement of 2.9% over 2 years.
• The Attainment 8 score increased from 2.74 in 2015 to 4, an increase of 1.26 compared to an increase of 1.12 for non-pupil premium students.
• Overall Pupil Premium students achieved over 1 grade higher in their GCSE examinations compared to similar students the previous year.
• Over a two year period, from2014, the Attainment 8 score for Pupil Premium students has increased by 54% compared to 38% for the non-Pupil Premium cohort.
• Similarly the capped Average Points Score for pupil premium students has risen by 58% compared to 33% for the non-Pupil Premium group.
• The Progress 8 measure for Pupil Premium students is estimated to increase by 1.12, this will be validated on publication of the raiseonline document.
• With the exception of one student, all other Pupil Premium students attended at least one enrichment activity. These activities covered a range of experiences such as community support, academic excellence and development of social skills. All have focused on raising aspirations.

Plans for 2016/17

Examples of support that the Academy plans to fund via the Pupil Premium Funding allocation include:

• A focus on core subjects, English and mathematics, including the employment of academic coaches in both subjects.
• A focus on literacy in order to improve the reading age of students. The employment of specialist intervention teaching assistants and a teacher to lead Literacy across the whole school. The purchase of Accelerated Reader and associated resources.
• Continued strengthening of the pastoral system; the employment of a full time Pastoral Leader (non-teaching) for each year group.
• Increased and improved systems for tracking progress and intervention for those pupils benefitting from pupil premium including CAT tests which return individual profiles for students, Digital Reading Age Tests and PASS (Pupils’ Attitudes to Self and School) surveys.
• Subsidies for participation in extra-curricular activities and visits and a focus on the provision of an extensive enrichment programme, including the employment of a full time enrichment coordinator.
• Extending the links with local universities and businesses in order to promote high aspirations.
• Ensuring all students in Year 10 complete at least one week of work experience throughout the academic year.
• Developing the off-site alternative provision with a focus on academic achievement and personal development.
• A focus on quality first teaching in every lesson and appropriate awareness, differentiation and personalisation of learning for pupil premium students.

The governors and leadership team at Bluecoat Beechdale Academy will continue to monitor and review the impact of these measures to ensure that they represent value for money and continue to play a direct role in improving the achievements and quality of learning for students of all abilities. The academy recognises that by putting many of these interventions in place the benefit to students is beyond those that are being specifically funded and as such is committed to supporting the se interventions by adding to the funding received from the pupil premium from the Academy’s General Annual Fund.

In addition to the pupil premium funding received, Bluecoat Beechdale Academy also received £29000 in relation to year 7 catch Up funding in 2015-16 which has been used to target literacy support as detailed in the table below:

Last Updated: March 2017

Next Review: September 2017