2023 – 2026

Pupil premium (and recovery premium*) funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable)

*Recovery premium received in academic year 2021 to 2022 can be carried forward to academic year 2022 to 2023. Recovery premium received in academic year 2022 to 2023 cannot be carried forward to 2023 to 2024.

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

Pupil Premium funding was introduced in 2011 as a Government initiative to help support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Students identified as being ‘disadvantaged’ often come from low-income families and research has shown that they are prone to underachievement when compared to their non-disadvantaged classmates. Harton Academy students eligible for Pupil Premium funding generally face difficulties such as poor language and communication skills and often have poor attendance and punctuality. They often find it difficult to find appropriate study spaces to consolidate their learning and, as a result, are limited in terms of independence and resilience.

The Pupil Premium funding is allocated to local authorities and schools for students on roll who:

• have been eligible for free school meals any time in the last 6 years (FSM6)
• are in the care of the Local Authority (CLA)
• have been adopted from care
• are children of service men and women

Schools have the freedom to spend the Pupil Premium funding, which is additional to the underlying school’s budget, in a way which they think will best support the raising of attainment of eligible students and closing the gap to their non-disadvantaged peers.

The school uses this funding to support systems and processes which:

• Have a direct impact on progress of disadvantaged students.
• Increase the achievement of all
• Encourage positive attitudes to learning, high standards of behaviour and high aspirations.
• Help to overcome cultural and socio-economic barriers, therefore promoting social mobility.

We recognise that, for a variety of reasons, students may be socially disadvantaged particularly given the circumstances of the past few years. As such, we try to provide initiatives, as outlined below, which are available to all students whilst maintaining a specific focus on those eligible for Pupil Premium funding.

At Harton, we primarily focus on quality first teaching for all students, which gives students from all backgrounds the best possible educational experience. However, we understand that some students need additional support to fulfil their potential. We make use of the Pupil Premium funding to maintain a high standard of teaching and learning and improve intervention strategies for those students who need additional support. We have reviewed the strategies implemented in previous years, investigated the barriers to learning for disadvantaged students and used evidence from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) to provide solid research into the most effective strategies to overcome these barriers to learning.

The main barriers faced by our disadvantaged students are:

• Attendance
• Social, Emotional and Mental Health
• Literacy and numeracy skills
• Access to extended learning opportunities
• Parental Engagement

Our strategy is a three-tiered approach, as recommended by EEF, June 2019.

• High quality teaching and learning for all;
• Targeted support through specific interventions linked to overcoming barriers to learning;
• Wider strategies to support pupils who experience socio-economic disadvantage.

1. While teaching is high quality and students are compliant in the classroom, many students lack the metacognitive skills to regulate their own learning and make decisions on how they can improve.
2. The gap remains between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils in English and maths in term of KS4 outcomes.
3. Not all pupils make the required progress during KS3, in comparison to their starting points, to prepare them adequately for the demands of GCSE study.

1. Some students who have SEND, in addition to being identified as disadvantaged, do not make enough progress at the end of KS3 and KS4.
2. Learning needs in reading fluency has an impact upon achievement across the curriculum.
3. Pupils sending time in the IRB are at risk of falling behind in core subjects and therefore feeling ‘switched off’ on their return to lessons.

1. Social, emotional and mental health is a barrier to learning for some pupils and can lead to periods of sustained absence.
2. Students’ access to cultural capital can be limited and inconsistent across the school.
3. Poor attendance adversely affects the progress and attainment of some pupils.

Whole school CPD delivered to ensure a consistent, whole school approach.

Metacognitive strategies embedded into subject curriculum design.

Data collection in comparison to baseline data (form pupil and staff surveys) will show a greater understanding of what metacognition is and how specific strategies can be used effectively to support learning.

Evaluation of AP1, 2 and 3 data in years 10 and 11 to be tracked to identify target groups most in need of intervention.

Mastery maths to be embedded into KS3 curriculum to ensure further narrowing of disadvantaged gap in future years.

Evaluation of AP1, 2 and 3 data across KS3 to be tracked to identify target groups most in need of intervention.

Mastery maths to be embedded into KS3 curriculum to ensure greater strength of knowledge at the end of KS3.

Reading intervention process refined through CPD for staff to equip pupils with greater levels of reading fluency.

Use of diagnostic tests to identify target groups for intervention.

SL to review SOW and learning materials available in IRB to ensure they are current and sufficient to avoid pupils falling behind in their work.

Review of self-regulation and wellbeing activities embedded into the structure of the LSC day to ensure a positive return to timetabled lessons.

Refining of activities week programme to widen the offer of cultural capital opportunities across the curriculum.

Pupil premium pupils’ use of extracurricular clubs to be tracked throughout the year to monitor access and encourage greater participation.

Ensure access to onsite and offsite activities through school trips and visitors to school for all year groups.

• Curriculum design embeds strategies to support management of cognitive load, for example, retrieval practice strategies.
• Termly data analysis to identify target groups where gaps in achievement is evident.
• SLT lesson drop in to support high quality teaching across the school and identify specific areas for targeted development.
• Development of mastery as part of the maths curriculum so ensure pupils’ knowledge is developed and built on as they progress through their KS3 study. This is supported through National Cn=entre of Excellent in Teaching Mathematics.

• CPD package for all staff, delivered in designated INSET and twilight sessions, focussing on:
  – Effective retrieval practice
  – Metacognition and self-regulation strategies (supported through Thinking Matters)
  – Inclusion and diversity
  – Understanding Mental Health
  – PACE strategies to support pupils experiencing trauma
  – Strategies to support learners with ASD
• Subject specific CPD to support curriculum knowledge and effective content delivery.
• Catch up Literacy training for SSA staff to enable effective delivery of the intervention at KS3.

• Use of lead practitioners to provide coaching, where necessary, to support high quality classroom practice.
• Development of departmental and whole school learning walks to encourage a culture of coaching and sharing good practice.

• Support for staff requiring cover or time out of school to complete qualifications to support their professional development.  Examples include:
  – Teaching staff completing NPQs in leading teaching and senior leadership.
  – School support staff completing level 3 teaching assistant qualification.
• Identification of staff training needs through performance management process.
• Identification of staff workload issues through staff wellbeing surveys.

• Diagnostic assessment tool to assess reading fluency at KS3.
• Investment in subject specific online resources to widen pupils’ access to high quality materials and support remote learning were required (for example, Pearson ActiveLearn package).

• Engaging with the National Tutoring Programme to provide a blend of tuition and school-led tutoring for pupils whose education has been impacted most by the pandemic. A significant proportion of the pupils who receive tutoring will be disadvantaged, including those who are high attainers.

Small group tuition | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF

• Additional classroom support from teachers timetabled in 10m and 11m classes for English, maths and science. This allows for more targeted in lesson interventions via one to one or small group teaching or team teaching approaches.

 One-to-one tuition | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk)

• Development of whole school literacy strategy, to support in all subject areas, in line with recommendations in the EEF Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools guidance.
• Catch up Literacy intervention to target pupils struggling with reading at KS3.

Improving Literacy in Secondary Schools

• After school weekly revision sessions for year 11 which run throughout the year and focus specifically on maths (Monday) and English (Tuesday).
• Weekly targeted Pupil Premium intervention group in maths for year 11.
• Lunchtime maths club in KS3, which provides targeted intervention on a 1:3 basis.
• HLTA in maths to provide 1:1 support during lessons.

• Nurture group SSA support to ensure those pupils facing specific challenges are adequately supported in their learning and can achieve in line with their peers.
• Weekly reading interventions during morning tutorial time to support pupils in KS3 requiring additional support reaching their expected reading levels.
• Dedicated sensory room and newly constructed therapy room to provide additional support to pupils with additional needs.

• Use of IRB support staff to support in English, maths and science during morning lessons to ensure students don’t fall behind in these subjects.
• Self-regulation and wellbeing activities introduced into the structure of the IRB day to ensure a positive return to timetabled lessons.

• Appointment of two internal Wellbeing Counsellors to provide an in school intervention for specific pupils who require support with regulating their behaviour and emotions.

Adolescent mental health: A systematic review on the effectiveness of school-based interventions | Early Intervention Foundation (eif.org.uk)

• Use of SLT staff to provide a mentoring programme for year 11 students which provides these students with help and advice throughout their GCSE year.
• Introduction of CPOMS system to support the pastoral team with child protection monitoring.
• Implementation of the personal development programme in KS3 delivered in extended registration periods.
• Introduction of Class Charts system to ensure a consistent, school-wide system for sanctions and rewards.
• Appointment of Student Safeguarding Support Officer to support the pastoral team further.
• Careers service offered to KS4 pupils throughout years 10 and 11 to ensure pupils are adequately informed of their post-16 options thus promoting a motivated and focussed approach to GCSE study.
• On call facility and supporting patrol system to ensure a positive learning environment is maintained for all pupils.
• Assistant heads of year assigned to all years groups to provide a wider pastoral team available to pupils and reduction of HOY timetables to ease workload.  Specialist year 7 assistant HOY to aid with KS2/3 transition.

• Appointment of Attendance Officer and assistant attendance officer to support the pastoral team further to maintain good attendance.
• Investment in Iris Reach software to further support the attendance team.

• Extensive extracurricular timetable, which covers a wide range of various activities, ranging from sports to RPG and chess clubs.
• Activities week scheduled into whole school timetable to give pupils access to activities designed to broaden their horizons and afford greater cultural capital.
• Investment into our Sound Start school orchestra and opportunities for students to showcase their skills through school productions and special events.

• Year group specific after school homework clubs which give student access to ICT and library facilities in support of their independent studies.
• Year 6 transition summer school to support KS2 pupils into KS3. The offer includes a one-week programme covering various aspects of the curriculum and encourages social skills and healthy lifestyle.

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/summer-schools

• Breakfast club provision open to all pupils between 8 and 8.30 every day. This provides pupils access to toast, bagels, cereals and hot chocolate in a social environment, thus supporting a positive start to the day.

• Introduction of Class Charts system to ensure a consistent, school wide system for sanctions and rewards. Parent app allows parents/carers to access rewards information and allocated homework.
• Iris reach software to support attendance in immediate contact with parents/carers should a pupil be absent from lessons.

Progress data: For 2023, disadvantaged pupils achieving grades 9-4 in both English and maths was 48.3% compared with 76.9% for non-disadvantaged and the 9-5 figures for the same was 20.7% compared with 53.3%.  This has focussed our tuition intervention this academic year to begin with students struggling to achieve grade 4 in English or maths at the end of year 10. This is supported by additional hours timetabled into core subjects to allow greater support and targeted intervention in our KS4 m band classes. Destination data reported that 98 disadvantaged pupils went on to post-16 colleges, 29 of these enrolled to Harton Academy sixth form college. 4 disadvantaged pupils went onto apprenticeship schemes or armed forces.

CPD provision: Following our CPD programme last academic year, which focussed on themed working groups, we have highlighted a need for more structured retrieval practice embedded consistently across the curriculum as well as a focus on the wider metacognitive skills required for our students to effectively self-regulate their own learning.  An evaluation of this has focussed our whole-school teaching and learning approach, for the next three years, on metacognition and self-regulation, which is evidenced-based and supported by EEF guidance and Thinking Matters.

NTP provision: last year we offered 273, 15 hour tuition packages to KS4 pupils, totalling 4577 hours of tuition across our KS4 cohort.  Attendance to these was 79.9% however, while attendance and uptake from our e band PP students was in line with this, m band PP students was much lower with some refusing the places altogether.  This indicates that a more targeted approach to selection and delivery is needed this year to encourage greater participation in NTP from this group. 12 year 7 pupils were targeted for reading tuition delivered by our SSA team and delivered during 30-minute lunchtime sessions.  The timing of the intervention meant that attendance was sporadic by these students and an overall impact was difficult to measure.  This has been re-evaluated for this year with Catch-up Literacy intervention taking the place of this going forward.

SLT drop-ins and learning walks: Of 126 SLT drop-ins to lessons last year, 70% proved to show outstanding practice indicating a wealth of high quality teaching across the school. As part of our CPD offer, staff were required to partake in learning walks which were met with positivity. Going forward, this will form part of our metacognition strategy to encourage a greater culture of coaching and sharing of good practice.

Literacy interventions: Reading interventions were put in place for learners identified as being in the bottom 20% of readers according to their end of KS2 SATs results and in-house diagnostic testing on entry to KS3. These interventions were during the school day, taking place during timetabled tutorial time so as to minimise impact on taught lessons. Phonics interventions took place weekly for learners who were identified as having gaps in their phonetic knowledge and, as a result, the gaps in phonic knowledge were closed and learners felt more confident when reading as they were able to decode and blend unfamiliar words. Pupils were also supported with dedicated library time for each year group during lunch times and for homework clubs, thus ensuring all pupils had the opportunity to visit during lunch and after school, as well as their timetabled slots during the school day. An evaluation of targeted reading interventions showed a need for greater standardisation in delivery as well as a more robust method of assessment. This year we have invested in the EEF funded intervention, Catch up Literacy, to provide more current CPD and resources to support.

Extra-curricular and cultural capital: In order to support all pupils’ access to clubs and societies, and the development of cultural capital, pupils have been offered a wide ranging suite of activities which they may select to best support their individual needs and/or interests. Our pastoral and wellbeing teams have worked together to signpost some of our most vulnerable pupils to clubs that will best support their needs, for example, young carers and Bright Futures. The attendance at these clubs has been tracked and monitored using our ClassCharts system. Over the last academic year pupil premium students accessing clubs has ranged between 13% and 35% indicating an average attendance of below our PP percentage overall. Overall, PP pupils showed greater attendance in sports and creative clubs, rather than music and STEM clubs where average attendance by PP pupils was around 16%. An increasing variety of extra-curricular clubs continues to be advertised and this has been heavily linked to our whole school Classcharts awards system to encourage greater uptake. This extra-curricular offer is supported by our investment in Activities Week which offers students in all year groups access to a variety of activities and experiences ranging from day trips, in-school events and visits to further/higher education institutions. This is further supported by our Duke of Edinburgh Award Programme in KS4.

Pupil wellbeing: Our assessments and observations indicated that pupil behaviour, wellbeing and mental health have been significantly impacted over the past three years, following the covid-19 pandemic. Our assessment of this has led to the appointment of two wellbeing counsellors, offering a full time wellbeing provision in house.  Last year the service was accessed by 199 users, 89 of these being in receipt of PP.  Data reported form the provision indicates an increase in anxiety related issues, particularly in KS4. This is highlighted by the increased use of the service by year 11 pupils who made up 54 of the total users last year.  Highlighting these students early and offering a mentoring scheme to the most vulnerable at this stage is key to supporting these pupils at such a significant point in their academic career.

Attendance: Implementation of a First-day call system, ‘Iris reach’ which rings the appropriate contact 3 times and the followed up by a call by the attendance officer has proven effective over the last year, in addition to more frequent home visits and welfare checks for non-attending students due to increased capacity within the team. New texting systems for attendance alerts and meetings have also increased parental engagement, as has informing parents on a Half-termly basis of their child’s attendance and highlighting attendance procedures. Capacity has been improved in order to speak to each student whose % of attendance decreases in order to target early intervention and we have also increased parental engagement meetings with students who are struggling with attendance barriers. Weekly attendance figures are reported to each form tutor encouraging ownership of student’s attendance and this has been enhanced by promoting attendance and punctuality throughout the school via attendance boards, TV messaging, posters and form competitions. New attendance support plans have been implemented to personalise support for each student suffering attendance barriers. Our late detention system has been modified and improved to tackle and improve punctuality. The specific impact of attendance changes are highlighted below:

– Whole-school attendance is extremely positive: 2021/22 – 92.7%; 2022/23 – 92.69% Currently (October 2023) – 94.69%

– Persistent absentees have significantly reduced: 2021/22 – 394; 2022/23 – 328; 2023/24 – 214 at present

• The number of late students year on year comparison: 2022/23 Sept 26: 385; 2023/2024 Sept 26: 247