PUPIL PREMIUM the Pupil Premium


the funding is being extended to pupils who have received FSM at any time in the previous six years. Ms Weighill said: “We’ll be looking to increase the


activities that we’ve already been doing and sustaining the things that we believe are effective. It will depend very much on the students telling us what makes a real difference to them.” With national research expected to be published


a year from now, new accountability measures being introduced in September that will require schools to publish online details of how they have used the premium, and with funding ramping up year-on-year until 2014, interest in the premium’s impact on reducing the gap between rich and poor pupils will undoubtedly become one of education’s hottest topics. This will be a positive development if it means that


the attainment gap takes centre stage in the educational debate, says Prof Denis Mongon. “If we have to pick a single biggest issue facing


public education service it’s not the comparative achievement of our middle and high achievers,” he said. “Our biggest national issue is our lowest third or quarter of attainers. Proportionately these come from economically poor families. This is the issue we really need to tackle.”


SecEd


• Nick Bannister is an education writer and communications consultant.


Further information


Official information about the Pupil Premium funding for 2012/13 is available at www.education.gov.uk/schools/ adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schools revenuefunding/a00200697/pupil-premium-2012-13 The Sutton Trust’s Pupil Premium Toolkits is


available at www.suttontrust.com/research/toolkit- of-strategies-to-improve-learning/ while information about the background to the analysis is available at www.suttontrust.com/research/toolkit-of-strategies-to- improve-learning-technical-appendices/ Other Pupil Premium toolkits can be found at


http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit/ and also www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/ premium/a00200492/ppstrategies


Tweets of the week Appearing before the


Leveson Inquiry, Rupert Murdoch reveals that News International had been in talks with the DfE over plans for a free school


“Murdoch, who says education is a market ‘worth $500 billion in US alone’, has met Gove to discuss


education ‘reform’.” @Brixtonite


“Murdoch’s plans to launch school explains why Gove


heaped praise on Hunt.” @OutofRangeNet


“Murdoch in cahoots with Gove to start a free school. What a good example for our


young people.” @DrFautley


“Murdoch stands as lesson in what happens when politicians let the free


market do political favours.” @watermelon_man (quoting the Guardian’s Polly Toynbee)


Celebrating Cultural


‘


Diversity in the United Kingdom


The good news is that many of the things that are most effective are relatively inexpensive –


improving the quality of feedback to pupils about their learning, or supporting them in planning, monitoring and reviewing their learning


to reduce the number of senior posts and create five heads of year – non-teaching pastoral roles with a remit that includes monitoring and supporting FSM and vulnerable pupils. Together the team are now trying to pin down the


Pupil Premium’s role in narrowing the gap. Ms Weighill said: “We are looking to see if raising achievement in our FSM and vulnerable groups is to do with attendance. “It’s taken us the best part of a year to determine who


we should do interventions on. The next step is trying different interventions. We’re also holding student focus groups to find out what pupils think of the interventions and support and if they could be changed or improved.” Professor Steve Higgins at the University of


Durham’s School of Education says that the link between increased funding and better learning has always been hard to establish. “It is all too easy to spend the money in what looks


like sensible or effective ways, but without finding any discernible impact on the pupils it aims to help,” he explained. Prof Higgins co-authored a Pupil Premium Toolkit


– published last spring by the Sutton Trust educational charity and designed to give school leaders a Which?- style assessment of the measures typically used to raise pupil attainment. The toolkit, which will be updated in the summer,


uses a star rating to inform readers of the interventions that research indicates make the most difference for the money. It has become a popular resource for school leaders since its publication last spring, with Prof Higgins receiving requests to speak about it from Sussex to South Shields.


SecEd • May 3 2012 He told SecEd: “There are some surprises in the


findings. With an approach like ability grouping, the effects are most beneficial for high attaining students. FSM pupils are more likely to be in lower sets or groups, and the impact over time on their performance tends to be negative, particularly on their beliefs about themselves as learners and their aspirations. So schools should think about how they can mitigate the likely detrimental impact, perhaps by significantly reducing the size of lower sets – to about 15 – and certainly by increasing the amount of effective feedback in teaching these groups. “The good news is that many of the things that are


’


most effective are relatively inexpensive – improving the quality of feedback to pupils about their learning, or supporting them in planning, monitoring and reviewing their learning can all be tackled through professional development and professional inquiry, such as by working in small teams to implement strategies and to track the impact of any new initiative. “There are, of course, no guarantees. The toolkit


summarises approaches that have been effective in the past, across a range of different schools and used by different teachers with different pupils. “Each school will need to work out what is likely to


be most effective for their particular school and pupils, and then to monitor the impact to ensure the Pupil Premium is effective in supporting the learning of the disadvantaged students it seeks to help.” At Bilton, the Pupil Premium funding is set to


become a significant slice of the school’s £5 million annual budget. In 2011/12 it represented one per cent of the total budget. This will treble to almost four per cent because


9 £1,000s IN PRIZES TO BEWON


The competition The NASUWT annual arts & minds Competition aims to promote and celebrate cultural diversity.


• The Competition is open to children and young people from primary, secondary and special schools across the UK.


• Using artwork and creative writing, pupils explore what diversity, equality and identity means to them and how this is reflected in their lives, families, schools and communities.


• Teachers can incorporate the competition into lessons on various subjects, including history, humanities, literacy, art and citizenship, and school projects.


• There is an art category for all forms of art, including photography, digital artwork and collages.


• The creative writing category is for stories, poetry and lyrics, including the Anne Frank Poetry Award for poems inspired by the life and writing of Anne Frank.


Awards ceremony and prizes Prizes will be presented at a special awards ceremony on 9 October 2012 and will include:


• • • •


•


£1,000 for the overall winning school; £350 for all winning schools;


gift vouchers worth up to £100 for winning pupils;


overnight accommodation at a deluxe London hotel and appropriate travel and subsistence expenses for winning pupils, their parent/guardian and a teacher;


a visit to a top London attraction. CLOSING DATE: 2 JULY 2012


To obtain an application formandmore details, go to: www.nasuwt.org.uk/ArtsandMinds Telephone: 0121 453 6150


Sponsored by


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