Agenda item

            The Board received a report which provided an overview on the aims, purpose, use, monitoring and accountability of the Pupil Premium and its impact on improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. In addition, the report provided an analysis of the 2013/14 Ofsted inspection judgements on the impact of the Pupil Premium in closing the achievement gaps between pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium and their peers.

            The Board noted that Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and was specific, additional funding provided to support the education of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM), pupils who had been eligible for FSM at any point in the last 6 years, children who had been looked after continuously for a period of 6 months and children whose parents were currently serving in the Armed Forces. The Government believed that the Pupil Premium, which was additional to main school funding, was the best way to address the current underlying inequalities between children eligible for free school meals and their peers, by ensuring that funding to tackle disadvantage reached the pupils who needed it most.

            Members were advised that schools decided how the Pupil Premium was spent. However, they were accountable for their use of this funding. Since September 2012, schools were required to publish on line information about their Pupil Premium allocation and how they planned to spend it in the coming year. They must also publish a statement of how they spent the money for the previous year, and its impact on the attainment of pupils eligible for support through the Pupil Premium. In addition, under the current OfSTED inspection framework, inspectors were now required to make a judgement on the use of the Pupil Premium and its impact on the progress, and attainment of pupils in receipt of Pupil Premium.

            During the 2013/14 academic year, 22 schools in Halton were inspected by OfSTED. Of the 22 schools inspected, 16 were judged to be good, two outstanding and four required improvement. Overall, pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium were achieving well compared to their peers, nationally. However, in at least six schools, in-school gaps were identified. Pupils in receipt of the Pupil Premium would behind their peers by as much as two terms in some cases. All the schools were aware of their in-school gaps and the inspections acknowledged that appropriate action was being taken to close the gaps.

            Since September 2013, inspectors had also been able to recommend an external review of the school’s use of the Pupil Premium funding, where the inspection identified specific issues regarding the provision for eligible pupils. This had not been the case in Halton Schools. It was noted that the proportion of pupils on FSM achieving five A* to C including English and maths in Halton in 2013 was the highest in the North West. Halton was ranked first in the North and 29 nationally for the attainment of pupils on FSM.

            Since the Peer Challenge exercise identified closing the gap a priority for Halton, a Closing the Gap Project was launched in May 2013 after a joint analysis of gaps between the schools and the School Improvement Team. There were currently twelve schools in the Project, six of the twelve schools in the Project were inspected last academic year. Details on the progress of the schools involved in the Project were outlined in the report. Further work on identifying strategies that were effective in closing in-schools gaps would be carried out with the Closing the Gaps Project Schools and shared widely with all other schools.

            RESOLVED: That Members note the contents of this report.