Sir John Dunford, national pupil premium champion, writes for TES;
Closing the gap between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and others is the biggest challenge faced by our generation of teachers and school leaders.
The persistent gap in the UK, which is wider than in most other countries and has existed for generations, is commonly attributed to our class-based society, with its greater inequalities than, say, those in Scandinavian countries or the tiger economies of the Far East. Tough as it is, schools are already making great strides, but there is much more to be done to meet this challenge.
The 2015 Pupil Premium Awards will recognise the importance of this challenge by rewarding the work of up to 500 schools across England in helping the most disadvantaged young people
The awards give schools a chance to showcase the innovative and effective ways they are using pupil premium funding to successfully narrow this attainment gap.
…
Using the pupil premium effectively to narrow the gap is the starting point for succeeding in this challenge. The government is giving schools autonomy in this area and it is for schools to decide what to spend the pupil premium money on.
There is plenty of evidence about what works, especially in the Education Endowment Foundation toolkit and on the websites of schools where the gap is small or non-existent, such as the winners of the Pupil Premium Awards of 2013 and 2014.
Read the full article on the TES website.