Pupil Premium

We want to champion these children

We believe that all children should have the same opportunities in life, but sometimes this is not the case. At Little Paxton, we want all of our children to achieve their full potential as a person, and as a learner. All members of our staff team, and our governors, accept responsibility for disadvantaged pupils and are committed to meeting their individual pastoral, social and academic needs within the school environment. We are committed to diminishing gaps between vulnerable pupils and their peers, and the pupil premium is an important tool in this process. Pupil premium helps remove barriers to learning so that all of our pupils reach their full potential and enables them to engage fully, both in our curriculum and school life. The ultimate objective for our disadvantaged pupils is for them to achieve age-related expectation in reading, writing and maths in line with their peers.

Research conducted by the EEF concludes that common barriers to learning for disadvantaged children are: less support at home; weak language and communication skills; lack of confidence; more frequent behaviour difficulties and attendance and punctuality issues. We will ensure that all members of staff can identify disadvantaged pupils and are aware of strengths and areas for improvement across the school.

Principles that we lead/teach by…

  • Quality first teaching and effective assessment meets the needs of all pupils, complemented by targeted academic support for pupils who are not making the expected progress.
  • Where appropriate, provision is made for pupils that belong to vulnerable groups including disadvantaged pupils.
  • We will address non-academic barriers to learning such as attendance, behaviour, well-being and cultural capital, ensuring that disadvantaged pupils have access to a broad range of activities.
  • Ensure disadvantaged children are supported and challenged by adapting the work they are set as required.
  • Act quickly to identify needs and take appropriate action.
  • Adopt a whole school approach where all staff take responsibility for disadvantaged childrens’ outcomes and have consistently high expectations of what can be achieved.

Central to our strategy is quality first teaching, we believe this is the best approach to support all children but particularly those children who are disadvantaged. Evidence demonstrates that this has the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and will benefit all of the children in our school. We actively encourage the take-up of free school meals by working proactively with parents and carers in a sensitive and supportive manner, and seek to remove any potential barriers, or perceived stigma attached, to claiming free school meals.

In addition, our disadvantaged children often suffer from mental health issues. This is either themselves or they are being impacted by the mental health of another member of their family which impacts their achievement in school. In order to be able to learn and achieve many of our children need support to be able to understand, and overcome, mental health challenges.

Pupil Premium Leads: Mr Saxby and Miss Owen