Pupil Premium Strategy 2024-2025

Pupil premium funding is allocated to eligible schools based on the number of:

• pupils who are recorded as eligible for free school meals, or have been recorded as eligible in the past 6 years (referred to as Ever 6 FSM)
• children previously looked after by a local authority or other state care, including children adopted from state care or equivalent from outside England and Wales

Pupil premium is not a personal budget for individual pupils, and schools do not have to spend pupil premium so that it solely benefits pupils who meet the funding criteria. It can be used:

• to support other pupils with identified needs, such as those who have or have had a social worker, or who act as a carer
• for whole class interventions which will also benefit non-disadvantaged pupils

Pupil premium funding is allocated to local authorities based on the number of:

• looked-after children, supported by the local authority
• pupils who meet any of the eligibility criteria and who attend an independent setting, where the local authority pays full tuition fees

For pupils who are looked-after children, funding is managed by the local authority’s virtual school head (VSH)  in consultation with the school.

In the financial year 2024-25, pupil premium spending will increase. As in previous years this funding is in addition to the school’s budget and represents a major investment in pupils.

At Foxwood Academy we have a tiered approach to Pupil Premium, based on 'The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium' of High Quality Teaching, Targeted Academic Support and Wider Strategies. This tiered approach is helpful in making decisions regarding the allocation of funding, energy, training and time.

High Quality Teaching

'Making sure an effective teacher is in front of every class, and that every teacher is supported to keep improving, is especially important for socioeconomically disadvantaged pupils. Investing in high quality teaching for these pupils should be a top priority for Pupil Premium spending. Strategies to support this could include professional development, training, support for early career teachers, and investing in recruitment and retention.'

Targeted Academic Support

'We know from a wide body of evidence that targeted academic support can have a positive impact on learning, particularly for those pupils who are not making good progress.  An effective Pupil Premium strategy considers how classroom teachers and teaching assistants can provide targeted academic support. Such support could include structured small-group interventions that link to classroom teaching and the curriculum.'

Wider Strategies

'Significant non-academic challenges—such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional learning—can have a negative impact on academic outcomes. Addressing wider barriers to learning is an important part of any Pupil Premium strategy.  While many challenges may be common between schools, the specific features of the community your school serves will affect which approaches you prioritise in this category.'

– Extract from the EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium - September 2024 

During the current academic year it is expected that Foxwood Academy will receive just under £61,000 which will be used to raise achievement through a wide range of additional ‘resources’. Our belief is that to truly make an impact on the individual lives of the young people at whom this funding is aimed, we need to know and understand our students’ needs well. Whilst acknowledging that we do have small groups of students who have similar needs and would benefit from ‘pooled’ resources, there are many who require bespoke support and interventions to improve their life chances.

Alongside this is the indirect barrier to educational achievement that our eligible students face around what is their ‘local community’. With many students accessing LA transport each day their lives ‘out of school’ may not be enhanced by playing/meeting up with school friends or accessing after school clubs. Our parents too may feel more isolated from each other and the support networks that parents naturally provide, for example daily communication in the playground, for each other simply aren’t formed. Many of our students have additional medical needs which affect attendance and of course their health which again can require additional support from the communities around them. Feedback from our parent coffee mornings/afternoons has historically been positive and we will continue to facilitate these events that provide opportunity and a venue for our parents, carers and families to meet each other and share their experiences as soon as we can. We must also now consider the cost of living crisis and what will no doubt be a significant impact on our community.

In addition, we are committed to supporting our residential experience, peripatetic music lessons and the majority of our curriculum activities that have an additional cost to parents.

A percentage of the funding per student is also allocated for tutors / teachers to identify areas where there are ‘gaps’ between an individual pupil and their peers and request interventions to help narrow/close any gap. This may be in the area of Achievement and Progress, Attendance, Social skills and/or wider achievements. Staff complete a request for funding form stating the intervention/resource identified and what the impact and outcome for the individual will be. As a general rule this has been budgeted for £300 per student this academic year. This does need to be flexible though as some students will need more to be specifically assigned to them.

Each term staff have sight of and update the Intervention Plan which identifies the priority areas to focus on for each individual PP student. This is continually updated and never finished! The priority for all of our PP students is to be on target to reach their end of year / Key Stage target in line with the Foxwood Key Stage End Points (KSEPs) in all curriculum areas in addition to achieving their own individual EHCP outcomes. If any of these are ‘red’, the teacher of the subject will be asked to look at any potential barriers and identify interventions. Our Academy records show an agreed intervention with impact and outcomes measures and summarises the allocation per student.

Other examples of how the Pupil Premium Grant is being allocated to support individuals at Foxwood Academy include:

• Attendance as a priority
• Closing the gap in all curriculum areas
• Health and exercise programmes
• Behaviour strategies
• Adaptations to curriculum dependent on needs, for example Sensory input
• Provide access to professional services outside of the Academy, for example Speech and Language or Occupational therapy, Mental Health Service, CASY Counselling
• Home support for families
• Enrichment activities for any student whose family is unable to meet the financial costs or access
• Independent travel 

We would encourage all parents and carers who may not have applied for Free School Meals, but may be entitled to them, to do so in order that their Son/Daughter can benefit from some of the great initiatives funded by the Pupil Premium grant.

To find out if you qualify for Free School Meals please telephone the following number in confidence. You will need to supply your name, address and National Insurance Number. The service will let you know straight away if you qualify and will notify us for you. This will help us to ensure that we continue to target our resources at students who need it most.

Tel – 0300 500 8080 or Mini-com - 01623 434 993

Alternatively you can apply online by clicking here

Our  Foxwood Pupil Premium Strategy Statement 2024-2025.docx is reviewed each academic year with the outcomes shared on the website by 31^st December.

 ‘Every area of a child’s life is affected by the family.’

‘Unemployment by either or both parents causes financial hardship and social and emotional strain which can disrupt family life.’

Our vision is to:

• Work in partnership with our pupils and their families
• Raise aspirations and provide ‘real’ routes into paid employment
• Close the attainment gap in all areas of our curriculum

The gap in Attendance for our Pupil Premium cohort reduced by 0.9% (from 4.4% to 3.5%) in 2021-2022.

In 2022-2023 the gap in Attendance for our Pupil Premium cohort closed completely by over 3.5%. Attendance for our Pupil Premium cohort remained strong in 2023-2024.

In 2022-2023 the gap in Attendance for our LAC cohort significantly reduced by 7.6% (from 10.4% to 2.8%). Whilst there remained a gap (reduced by 0.1%) over the 2023-2024 academic year, this is a continued focus into 2024-2025.

Foxwood Academy Performance Data 2023-2024

Our 2023-2024 Key Stage End Point (KSEP) data shows the gap has closed in a significant number of subjects for our PP cohort and they are now achieving higher (or in line with) the non-PP cohort in 10/16 subjects. This is particularly noticeable in Maths. Our PP cohort achieved higher in 3 out of 4 of our PfA subjects.

Our 2023-2024 Key Stage End Point (KSEP) data shows that the gap between our LAC and Non-LAC cohorts identified in both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 has closed in a significant number of subjects.  Our LAC cohort are now achieving higher (or in line with) the non-LAC cohort in 12/16 subjects (was just 2/15 subjects in both 2021-2022 and 2022-2023). This is particularly noticeable in PE, PSD and Science. Our LAC cohort achieved higher in 3 out of 4 of our PfA subjects.

  Core Subjects – Pupils who met or are on track to meet their KSEPs

EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium - September 2024

 Pupil Premium 2023-2024

The Foxwood Academy allocation of Pupil Premium funding for 2023-2024 was just over £64,000. £4,000 will roll over into the 2024-2025 academic year.

All curriculum data collated and analysed in the 2023-2024 academic year is based on the Foxwood Key Stage End Point’s (KSEPs) and the percentage of pupils that either met (Years 2, 6, 9 and 13) or are on track to meet (all other year groups) by the end of the Key Stage.

Our Pupil Premium allocation was used to support the 43 children and young people eligible in 2023-2024 in the following ways: