31 December marks the annual publication point of Pupil Premium strategies across English schools. These strategies are rooted in a deep understanding of unique strengths, needs and additional challenges of children, enabling us to focus on how schools can make a difference for less advantaged pupils and their families.
Are the challenges you identify accurate? Is the activity you’re planning deliverable, having an impact and based on the best reliable research evidence?
To help school leaders make the most of their funding, the EEF has today launched a practical, step-by-step Guide for developing and implementing an effective Pupil Premium strategy. With over 90% of school leaders citing EEF evidence in their strategy, it is a great place to start to develop your plans.
Who
Sustain your Pupil Premium strategy by making it a collective responsibility. Share our Guide in your school leadership teams and with your Pupil Premium link governor. There is a handy governor discussion tool within the guide to support those conversations.
What
Our Guide offers easy links to reliable sources of research evidence which you can use alongside knowledge of your context and your pupils, to inform choices about spending on interventions and approaches.
How?
Our Guide offers a tiered approach to activity, focusing Pupil Premium spending in three key areas. These areas should link well to your wider school development plans and respond to your diagnosis of pupil strengths and needs.
High-quality teaching
Making sure an effective teacher is in front of every class, and that every teacher is supported to keep improving, is especially important.
Targeted academic support
High quality teaching should reduce the need for extra support for all pupils. However, it is likely that some pupils will require additional support in the form of high quality, structured interventions to make progress, or to catch up with their peers. This could include tutoring or specific literacy interventions for example.
Wider strategies
Significant non-academic challenges – such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional learning – can have a negative impact on outcomes for some disadvantaged pupils. Addressing these wider barriers to learning is an important part of any Pupil Premium strategy.
The Pupil Premium is one of the most powerful tools we have for supporting education equity. An effective Pupil Premium strategy allows schools to intervene early, prevent attainment gaps from widening and support all pupils to reach their full potential.
Our updated Guide also offers quotes and short videos from school leaders and their learning from putting Pupil Premium into practice and we thank all those practitioners for sharing their insights.
Explore the guide here: The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium | EEF
Rowland, M. (2023) Disadvantaged learners in our schools are not a‘problem’ to be solved. They are part of our school community and it’s for us to get better at what we do. Unity Research School blog, 24 Sept 2024.
Jones, S. (2024) Exceptional leaders: building teams, culture and lifelong learning. Town End Research School blog, 20 Sept 2024.
Salomonson, T. (2022) How not to implement change. London South Research School blog, 30 Sept 2022.
Eaton, J. (2024) Next Temporary Better: School Leadership in a Complex System. Devon Research School blog, 25 Sept 2024.