Pupil premium strategy statement
This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2022 academic year) funding to help improve the attainment of our pupils. Because all our pupils have a learning difficulty and EHCP they are all considered to be vulnerable. At Talbot % of pupils receive pupils premium and 5 students are Looked after.
Below we have outlined 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 | Talbot Specialist School |
Number of pupils in school | 204 |
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | 54% |
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended) | 3 years |
Date this statement was published | December 2021 |
Date on which it will be reviewed | September 2022 |
Statement authorised by | Carolyn Sutcliffe |
Pupil premium lead | Karen Halford |
Governor / Trustee lead | Debbie Grainger-James |
Funding overview
Detail | Amount |
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year | £72,335 |
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year | £24,000 tutoring grant |
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 |
£96,335 |
Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan
Statement of intent
The curriculum at Talbot is rich and varied, and personalised to meet the needs of each student. The focus on individual students ensures that barriers to learning are identified and appropriate interventions and support are put in place so that students are able to enjoy their learning and achieve.
Pupil Premium is used to close any gaps in attainment between pupils in receipt of pupil premium and others. Talbot has no attainment gap to narrow between pupils in receipt of free school meals or Looked After and pupils not in receipt of free schoool meals and not Looked After. However, all our students are vulnerable due to their severe and complex learning difficulties and this budget is used broadly in the following ways:
A key area for students’ development in Talbot is communication. Pupil Premium is used to ensure that communication strategies are embedded and implemented throughout school in order that pupils can maximise their communication skills, both verbal and pre-verbal. This includes using a range of communication strategies including Makaton, PECS and where appropriate assistive communication technology and aids.
We also use Pupil Premium to offer enrichment and extra-curricular activities which promote self-confidence, independence skills and physical and mental well-being. These include access to sport, outdoor activities and performing arts. This provides essential opportunities to increase cultural capital for students and their families.
The student well-being team identify need and provide personalised support around behaviour, attendance and mental health to students and their families. They are a multi-skilled team who work in partnership with internal and external agencies.
Our aim for our students is that they become confident and resilient young people. We use pupil premium to offer nurture provision for vulnerable students in order to support them to develop resilience and to communicate and manage their emotions.
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our pupils.
Challenge number | Detail of challenge |
1 | Many students have communication difficulties and are unable to express themselves |
2 | Many students have low self esteem, high anxiety and find it difficult to develop emotional self regulation |
3 | Some students have difficulty in progressing with functional literacy skills and are not yet reading for pleasure |
4 | Some students have difficulty in progressing with writing skills and are not yet confident, independent writers |
5 | Some students have limited opportunity to access sporting or cultural opportunities outside school |
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 |
To support the development of communication skills so that all students have effective means of communication and can express their views verbally and pre-verbally | Students have effective methods of verbal or pre-verbal communication which they are able to use in a range of settings and situations in order to express their needs and choices. |
To provide nurture groups which will develop emotional resilience and improve mental health and well-being. | The student well-being team identify need and provide personalised support which impacts positively on behaviour, attendance and mental health. |
To enable students to become confident, independent readers and develop functional literacy skills | Students make good progress in reading and develop functional reading skills. |
To enable students to become confident, independent writers. | Students make good progress in writing and develop functional writing skills. |
To offer enrichment and extra-curricular activities which promote self-confidence, independence skills and physical and mental well-being. | Enrichment and extra-curricular activities promote self-confidence, independence skills and improve physical and mental well-being |
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
Budgeted cost: £15,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Meetings with individual parents / carers of Y7 pupils to agree communication targets
|
Code of practice 2014 – engaging parents /carers in their child’s learning
Engagement model – developing partnership between parents / carers and professionals |
1 |
Staff training in communication strategies and interventions including Makaton, Pecs and core vocabulary grids
|
Impact of high quality training on student outcomes and staff satisfaction and motivation – Wellcome Challenge project report 2021 | 1 |
Training for teachers and teaching assistants in attention autism delivered by a qualified practitioner | https://ginadavies.co.uk/ | 1 |
Training for teachers and teaching assistants in intensive interaction delivered by a qualified practitioner | https://www.intensiveinteraction.org/ | 1 |
Targeted academic support
Budgeted cost: £40,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
1:1 structured reading sessions using running reading records for Y7/8 students | Reading continuum within Birmingham Toolkit | 3 |
1:1 structured reading and writing sessions to develop functional literacy skills for Y10/11 pupils | Reading and writing continuums within Birmingham Toolkit
Edexcel functional literacy https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-functional-skills.html
|
3, 4 |
Individualised support for students across the school to develop communication skills using high tech and eye gaze technology.
|
https://www.barnsleyhospital.nhs.uk/assistive-technology/resources-and-information/ | 1 |
Wider strategies
Budgeted cost: £40,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award offered to students in Y10 following the formal curriculum | https://www.dofe.org/ | 5 |
Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award offered to students in Y11 following the formal curriculum | https://www.dofe.org/ | 5 |
Kick boxing sessions delivered by trained instructors | https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/physical-activity-and-your-mental-health/about-physical-activity/ | 5 |
Climbing sessions delivered by qualified instructors | https://climbingforallsheffield.com/about/ | 5 |
Visits to the theatre and other cultural venues | https://early-education.org.uk/cultural-capital/ | 5 |
Nurture provision delivered by a specially trained HLTA, including nurture groups and 1:1 support
|
TISUK https://www.traumainformedschools.co.uk/
Boxall profile |
2 |
Working with families to provide advice and guidance to support good attendance | https://www.traumainformedschools.co.uk/
|
2 |
Total budgeted cost: £ 95,000
Part B: Review of outcomes in the previous academic year
Pupil premium strategy outcomes
This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils in the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
The priorities in our Pupil premium strategy for 2020/21 were:
Due to the pandemic focus shifted to supporting our students to continue learning and to achieve their learning intentions at home during periods of absence from face to face teaching. The student well-being team worked hard to support pupils to return to school following long periods of absence and the nurture team was focussed on enabling students to make sense of their emotions and manage their high levels of anxiety. Off-site enrichment and cultural visits were very restricted
There continued to be no significant discrepancy between the achievement of students in receipt of pupil premium and others.
The data below shows the number of individual learning intentions met by students in May 2021
Phase | Pupil Premium | Non Pupil Premium | Males | Females |
Phase 1 | 31 students
102/124 LI’s Met 82% |
31 students
106/124 LI’s Met 85% |
46 students
154/184 LI’s Met 84% |
16 students
54/64 LI’s Met 84% |
Phase 2 | 35 students
125/140 LI’s Met 89% |
28 students
99/112 LI’s Met 88% |
43 students
149/172 LI’s Met 87% |
20 students
75/80 LI’s Met 94% |
Post 16 | 23 students
86/92 LI’s Met 93% |
20 students
70/80 LI’s Met 88% |
24 students
86/96 LI’s Met 90% |
19 students
70/76 LI’s Met 92% |
Total | 89 students
313/356 LI’s Met 88% |
79 students
275/316 LI’s Met 87% |
113 students
389/452 LI’s Met 86% |
55 students
199/220 LI’s Met 90% |
The data below shows the number of individual learning intentions met by students in July 2021
Phase | Pupil Premium | Non Pupil Premium | Males | Females |
Phase 1
|
33 students
104/132 LI’s Met 79% |
34 students
115/136 LI’s M et 86% |
50 students
164/200 LI’s Met 82% |
17 students
56/68 LI’s Met 82% |
Phase 2
|
36 students
137/144 LI’s Met 95% |
29 students
103/116 LI’s Met 89% |
44 students
163/176 LI’s Met 93% |
21 students
77/84 LI’s Met 92% |
Post 16 | 23 students
84/88 LI’s Met 95% |
20 students
72/76 LI’s Met 95% |
24 students
92/96 LI’s Met 96% |
19 students
72/76 LI’s Met 95% |
Total | 91 students
324/360 LI’s Met 90% |
84 students
290/332 LI’s Met 87% |
118 students
410/466 LI’s Met 88% |
57 students
204/226 LI’s Met 90% |
The achievement of students in receipt of pupil premium was slightly higher than that of pupils not in receipt of pupil premium in both May and July 2021.
The number of students accessing low tech and high tech communication aids increased in 2020-21:
Means of communication | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
High tech aid | 9 students | 13 students + three at the assessment trial stage. |
Low tech aids | 44 students | 57 students |
Switch Use | 16 students | 20 students |
Makaton | 21 students | 28 students |