Defining a clear priority for Early Years Pupil Premium funding

When the manager of Teddy Bears Nursery* made this statement, it marked the start of a significant shift in thinking.

The nursery team were committed to improving outcomes for disadvantaged children. But they recognised that their existing approach, which was largely centred on purchasing additional resources on an ad hoc basis, was not resulting in meaningful progress for the children who were most in need of support.

This realisation prompted the leadership team and me, as an external advisor, to work together to devise a clear and coherent Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) strategy.

Working together, we revisited the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Guide to the Early Years Pupil Premium. The guide is explicit that EYPP funding is most effective when it is used to narrow early learning gaps through:

• intentional planning
• evidence-informed practice
• sustainable improvements embedded in everyday provision

We also drew on the EEF’s implementation guidance. This ensured that decisions weren’t based on assumptions or quick fixes, but on a thorough understanding of children’s needs and the realities of practice across the setting.

Explore: Building an accurate picture

Rather than jumping straight to solutions, I encouraged leaders to pause and look closely at what was happening for children eligible for EYPP. This phase included:

• Joint observations across rooms, focusing on children’s engagement, language, interactions, and participation in routines
• Learning walks to find out more about staff views about their developmental priorities for the children
• Key person discussions about children’s progress, behaviour, communication patterns, and learning characteristics
• Conversations with parents to understand home experiences and contextual factors

This systematic exploration helped leaders develop a richer, more accurate view of the nursery’s strengths and the barriers children were facing.

What leaders noticed

As evidence accumulated, a pattern began to emerge. Many of the nursery’s EYPP-eligible children were experiencing similar barriers around communication and language. They often used a more limited range of vocabulary, and some required support to express themselves.

We also observed inconsistencies in staff practice: some adults were highly skilled at extending conversations and modelling language. Others unintentionally missed opportunities to do so. Shared reading routines varied in quality and structure. Some staff lacked confidence in how to use storybooks to spark rich talk.

The message was clear: the challenge wasn’t a lack of effort — it was the lack of a coordinated, consistent, evidence-informed approach to addressing barriers to learning.

‘Assess needs’: Defining the Core Challenge

With a deeper understanding of children’s needs, we moved into the assess needs phase.

Leaders defined a clear, setting-wide priority:

“Strengthen communication and language by improving the quality and consistency of everyday interactions.”

This wasn’t a challenge affecting one or two children. It was a shared need across the cohort. Leaders recognised that for the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) to have genuine impact, they needed:

• a focus on high-quality adult–child interactions

• consistent expectations and routines across rooms

• practical support for parents to extend language learning at home

Their thoughtful approach ensured that any future decisions about EYPP spending would be grounded in evidence rather than intuition.

The leadership team agreed that all EYPP decisions must be:

• backed by strong research

• feasible to implement within everyday practice

• monitored using practical, proportionate methods - including observations, educator reflection, and conversations with families.

A clear priority for change

By the end of the assess needs phase, Teddy Bears Nursery had formulated a clear and purposeful target. This provided a firm foundation for selecting appropriate evidence-based approaches and planning implementation. This would ensure that the next stage of their EYPP journey would be coherent, targeted, and far more likely to result in sustained improvements for the children most in need.

*(This is an anonymised name for a real nursery.)