Pupil Premium
Our intention is that all students, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, are safe, happy, proud, loving and able to flourish in both their school life and beyond. Our strategy is driven by student need, not labels.
The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support socio-economically disadvantaged students to achieve our intentions for them, including progress for those who are already high attainers. We will define what we consider to be meant by “premium students” and this will encompass our DISADVANTAGED students, but not be limited to them as we consider the full gamut of students facing socio-economic disadvantage and we will work to ensure that they all will receive a broad and balanced curriculum that allows them to make good progress and achieve their highest attainment across the whole curriculum. We recognize that disadvantage affects students in a myriad of ways including marginalisation, lack of cultural capital for schema-building which can often, but not always, be linked to lower levels of oral language and a limited vocabulary. These limiting issues can all lead to negative perceptions of themselves as learners and of their place in school and may have been compounded in the past by experience of lower expectations due to the DISADVANTAGED (and other) label. We will also consider the challenges faced by extremely vulnerable students, such as those who have a social worker, are LAC or Post-LAC and/or are young carers. We will map intersectionality to ensure that the most disadvantaged do not slip through the cracks and instead receive the best care and education. We want our students to have wide and far-reaching aspirations as a result of the knowledge and experiences that we have given them throughout their time at St. Mary’s. The activity we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support their needs, regardless of whether they are disadvantaged or not.
High-quality inclusive teaching is the keystone of our strategy, with a focus on key curriculum areas in which disadvantaged students require the most support. High Quality Inclusive Teaching is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged students in schools “Good teaching is the most important lever schools have to improve outcomes for disadvantaged students.” - EEF. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged students’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers.
Pupil Premium Strategy
Pupil premium strategy statement
This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium) funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged students.
It outlines our pupil premium strategy, how we intend to spend the funding in this academic year and the effect that last year’s spending of pupil premium had within our school.
School overview
Detail |
Data |
School name |
St. Mary’s Catholic High School |
Number of students in school |
1572 |
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible students |
KS3-5 (308) 19.6% KS3-4 (280) 21.6% |
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3-year plans are recommended - you must still publish an updated statement each academic year) |
24-25, 25-26, 26-27 |
Date this statement was published |
|
Date on which it will be reviewed |
July 2025 |
Statement authorised by |
D Brahms, Headteacher |
Pupil premium lead |
E Meredith, Senior Assistant Headteacher |
Governor / Trustee lead |
D Trussell |
Funding overview
Detail |
Amount |
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year |
£292,192 |
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year Recovery premium received in academic year 2023/24 cannot be carried forward beyond August 31, 2024. |
£0 |
Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable) |
£0 |
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 |
£292,192 |
Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan - Statement of intent
The strategy at St. Mary’s aims to ensure all students, regardless of their background or challenges, feel a sense of belonging and can thrive academically and personally. Our Catholic Mission ensures that we emphasise a commitment to inclusivity, the school seeks to remove barriers for disadvantaged students, driven by their needs rather than labels. The focus is on providing a broad curriculum that supports all learners, particularly socio-economically disadvantaged students, including those facing extreme vulnerability and multiple disadvantages.
Our strategy is based on a team approach; all members of school staff are encouraged in their professional curiosity and to ensure that they “Think First, Think Twice” about any issues a student may have. We endeavour to take account for those who are invisibly disadvantaged ensuring that children across the school are supported in their education.
High-quality, inclusive teaching is central to the approach (see EEF), which aims to close the attainment gap while benefiting all students. The strategy incorporates targeted support to address educational recovery needs.
St. Mary’s commits to regular evaluations, data-driven decision-making, and fostering a whole-school responsibility for the outcomes of disadvantaged students. Overall, the goal is to cultivate aspirations and ensure every student flourishes in a supportive environment.Challenges
This section details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged students.
Challenge number |
Detail of challenge |
1 |
Outcomes: 24-27: Our GCSE results show a decreasing gap between PP and non-PP students however we aim to ensure that this gap further decreases over the following three years. Outcomes for KS5 PP students are good and there is a positive gap to non-PP and we look to at least maintain this 24-25: Subjects of particular focus for 24-25 are Art, Computer Science, English Literature, Geography, PE, Photography and Religious Education. |
2. |
Attendance and Suspensions: Our severe absence rates for PP students in 23-24 have more than halved on 22-23 however we always aim to decrease them further. Our assessments and observations indicate that absenteeism is negatively impacting disadvantaged students’ progress, under 90% leads to at least one grade lower across average total attainment and under 50% showed as 6 grades lower across average total attainment. We have seen an increase in suspensions of PP students and in particular female students, both of which reflect the national picture. EBLA continues to be an issue within school as nationally although as a school we have reduced EBSA rates. EBLA is a particular issue for Y9 and Y11 girls. Absence due to poverty-related issues continues to be an issue for our community. |
3 |
Literacy: 24-27: We aim for the gaps within year groups to decrease year on year. NGRT reading tests show that suspected literacy gaps are real: Compared with all Y7-11, there is a 7.5-month gap in average reading ages for disadvantaged pupils. Students with a Standardised Assessment Score of below 87 on NGRT are classified as ‘red readers’ and will be offered bespoke intervention. The gaps show variations across the Y7-year groups and indicate disproportionate numbers of DISADVANTAGED in the red-reader categories. The strategy has made some strong inroads over the last year (moving from an average 9-month gap) but literacy remains a priority. |
4 |
Aspirations and Belonging: Whilst NEET figures have fallen we aim for there to be zero NEETS by Oct 2025 from KS4 or KS5. PP students are less likely to be involved in co-curricular endeavours (in part due to transport issues). |
Intended outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
Intended outcome |
Success criteria |
Think First, Think Twice: Improve the attainment of disadvantaged students across all areas of the curriculum and close the gaps between them and their peers. Closure of gaps across the 7 identified subjects
|
24-5: Increase average A8 for PP students from 3.71 to 4.5 Close gap in 7 identified students to less than 1.0 SPI 24-7: Increase average A* for PP students such that it is in line with the non-PP students |
Think First, Think Twice: Increase and sustain the increases in attendance for disadvantaged students |
24-25: PA figures for Premium students to drop to no more than 5% difference to non-premium students 24-27: PA figures for Premium students to be at least in line with non-premium students 24-25: Suspension figures for Premium students to drop to no more than 5% difference to non-premium students 24-27: Suspension figures for Premium students to be no more than non-premium students |
Think First, Think Twice: Continue to decrease the gaps between Premium and non-Premium students in NGRT SAS scores |
24-25 NGRT gap to decrease by a minimum of 6 weeks bringing the gap to less than 6 months on average 24-27: NGRT gap to close by end of Y8 between Premium and non-premium students |
Think First, Think Twice: Continue to provide aspirational and co-curricular activities to all Premium students |
24-25: Co-curricular and leadership participation rates for Premium students are at least the same as the non-Premium students NEET figures for Premium students are zero in KS4 and KS5 |
Activity in this academic year
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £200,000
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
Literacy Intervention Programme (training, resourcing, canon) Form time programme for revision and reading (inc resources) CPDF programme inc SEND, Oracy training) and associated resources Embedding reactive assessment (inc resourcing around hinge questions)
|
https://reports.gl-assessment.co.uk/whyreading/home/ https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/literacy-ks3-ks4 https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/articles/how-reading-for-pleasure-can-tackle-poverty SEND and poverty: https://www.rcslt.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/CSJ-Social-Justice-Commission-Submission.pdf |
1 - 4 |
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £30,000
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
Reciprocal Reading, training and implementation Phonics Oracy Sparx Math programme |
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/projects-and-evaluation/projects/reciprocal-reading/ https://tinyurl.com/yv54try2 - SPARX research |
1 - 3 |
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £62,192
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
Family Liaison officer CfL staffing CPDF (Soft landings, EBSA/EBLA) Aspiring Futures Service EFT Therapy training for Family Liaison Officer (FLO) Loaned laptops Breakfast Club Subsidise FSM Experiential Learning:
Staff essentials Care packages TEAM PP – FLO integral part, calendared and data driven |
https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2023/07/the-impact-of-absence-on-progress-8/ Attendance Interventions Rapid Evidence Assessment, EEF, 2022 DFE Supporting the attainment of disadvantage pupils brief https://www.nutrition.org.uk/news/the-importance-of-breakfast-for-school-children/ |
1-4 |
Total budgeted cost: £292,192
Review of the previous academic year
Outcomes for disavantaged pupils
The information below details the impact of our pupil premium activity in the 23-24 academic year.
Teaching
The average P8 for Premium students has risen in 2024 and the gap between them and their non-Premium peers have decreased by a 1/3 of a grade. (+0.32)
All students undertook at least one exam which was an improvement on 22-23.
FFT Datalab Sept 24 has average attainment scores for Premium students (national) at 36.8. Our students had an APS of 37.12.
The number of students not taking any exams declined considerably as a result of a concerted team effort through the year and key students working with the FLO. Only one student did not sit any exams.
QA shows reactive assessment tools are universally used and are part of the relational approach to learning and classrooms; next steps will include further training on responsive teaching and developing student voice through oracy (and hence the development of writing).
NEET figures KS4:
98% of Premium students were placed at P16; one child was not. 100% of non-Premium students placed. This is a significant improvement on 22-23 and in line with national figures for all students.
Key Stage 5 Outcomes:
Premium students at KS5 have had a positive gap to their non-premium peers for the last three years. In 2024 all are placed in universities or apprenticeships (Zero NEET). Their average point score is 0.91 above their non-premium peers.
Targeted Interventions
Tutoring:
Original plan for Y11 Tutoring using the minibus to transport home – no minibus. Tutoring used for students unable to come into school for a plethora of reasons and ensured contact with school; success rates with attendance at sessions and some transition into school or AP settings as a result for half of the cohort. Tutoring funding has now been withdrawn and will not be pursued as an avenue for premium students unless there is a SEND need.
Literacy information:
120 students (y7-10) received intervention for reading based on reading ages last year.
43 of these students were Pupil premium students making up 39% of the cohort, significantly above the proportion of PP students in school.
Of the 120, 72% narrowed their reading deficit with 68% of PP students narrowing their gaps. Those that didn’t was due to poor attendance to school in most cases. Of students who attended regularly, 83% of PP students narrowed gaps.
17.5% (21)of the students were both PP and SEN and 13 of them made good progress (69%%).
21% of all books borrowed from the library in 23/24 were borrowed by PP pupils (Y7-11), this is higher than the 20% of students who are PP.
PP funding was used again to fund Book Buzz – all y7 students received a book to read at home and keep.
Funding for Wider Participation
Attendance:
Severe absence rates for the Premium cohort made significant improvements dropping from 8.2% to 3.7%. In the same period, PA saw a slight rise, in part due to the children from SA moving upwards through PA. Absence rates for the Premium cohort dropped for the third consecutive year (15,9% in 2022 to 12.9% in 2024). Suspensions have grown amongst the Premium cohort in line with the national picture and this will continue to be an area of focus for the coming year.
Students working with the FLO as Severe Absence made considerable gains to move above 50% attendance.
Co-curricular funding:
Music – funded music lessons for PP students and those known to be in poverty but not on FSM. This directly impacts their performance grade which is 30% of their overall grade. The performing component was the best component for 6 funded students and music at least equalled their best grades across their subjects or was their highest grade.
Spanish Tapas visits open to all Y9. PP attendance was 38% (double the proportion) due to funding being given to the trip to allow those students to go. Offers for 50% funding for DoE, Blackpool and other non-compulsory day trips also taken up by a range of families. 10% funding for residential foreign trips offered. Funding for compulsory FW for Geog and A level given at KS4 and KS5 meaning all Premium students accessed entitlement. All the wider participation contributes to the raising of aspirations and the decline in NEET figures at KS4 and KS5.
Family Liaison:
Breakfast club runs daily with between 5-20 students. 15+ food parcels go out fortnightly making use of Friends of St Mary’s. Caseload of 19 of the hardest to reach families. Positive attendance outcomes have been achieved especially so in Y11 where three students sat exams that may not have done without FLO intervention.Externally provided programmes
Please include the names of any non-DfE programmes that you purchased in the previous academic year. This will help the Department for Education identify which ones are popular in England
Programme |
Provider |
One to one tutoring |
Equal Education |