Pathways School

Detail

Data

School name

Pathways School

Number of pupils in school

57

Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils

81%

Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers

2021-2024

Date this statement was published

September 2023

Date on which it will be reviewed

September 2024

Statement authorised by

Tasha Roby

Pupil premium lead

Tasha Roby

Governor / Trustee lead

Katie Johnson

Chair of LGB

Detail

Amount

Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year

£29,625

Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year

£0

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

£29,625

At Pathways School, we aim for all disadvantaged pupils to achieve recognised qualifications, including GCSE English and Maths, by the end of KS4. This means throughout their time at Pathways School they need to make rapid and accelerated progress. Whilst the school has had a number of challenges, which were made more significant through the pandemic, this aspiration remains because we know that it will have the greatest impact on pupils’ life chances.

Our current strategy is focused on: developing our teaching so that all pupils’ learning improves; using targeted academic support, such as interventions and booster groups to improve attainment; and other strategies which focus on improving behaviour and wellbeing.  Our aim is for the balance of these strategies to ensure that disadvantaged pupils have the best possible chances of success. 

Challenge number

Detail of challenge

1

Disadvantaged pupils generally attain less well in reading; they do not read often enough outside of school and find comprehension tasks challenging.  Pupils’ limited experiences impacts on their vocabulary and understanding.

2

Disadvantaged pupils generally have other social care needs and therefore many come into school hungry or having had an inappropriate breakfast.

3

All of our disadvantaged pupils are on the SEN register and have EHCPs in place. Their primary need has been identified as SEMH. This poses other barriers to learning; some come to school dysregulated; some have social and communication barriers; and some have low self-esteem and/or low aspirations for themselves.

4

Erratic attendance due to changing or challenging home circumstances.

5

Disadvantaged pupils potentially have other undiagnosed learning needs that have previously been masked.

6

Disadvantaged pupils tend to have less access to activities and opportunities outside of school to enrich their lives and raise their career aspirations.

Intended outcome

Success criteria

Improve reading by the end of KS2 and KS3, focusing on pupils' decoding, their enjoyment of reading and their comprehension.

Pupils will make accelerated progress in reading so that the disadvantaged pupils make at least 18 months progress in their reading age.

EHCPs clearly summarise a pupils needs and as a result they are well supported to meet their outcomes.

Pathways School has an established positive culture to support pupils with their SEMH needs that is routed in a trauma informed approach.

Pathways School  is therefore recognised as a trauma informed school.

Pupils have speech and language needs clearly identified and support in is place for this.

Staff have all been trained in trauma and the impact this has on pupils as well has have a bank of classroom strategies to use to support pupils.

Thrive sessions are running as an intervention to support this.

Attendance is above national average for special schools

Attendance is at least 85% with persistent absence below 20%

Identified social and emotional barriers to learning are addressed for individual pupils.

Pupils with identified needs will be supported to overcome barriers to learning and make good progress socially, emotionally and academically.  No pupil will start school feeling hungry.

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Quality First Teaching through effective support, including through planning, monitoring and coaching

We want to improve all pupils’ access to Quality First Teaching through effective support and development for all teachers, recognising that ‘the quality of teaching is the most powerful school level influence on student outcomes’ (Muijs & Reynolds 2011).  This element of the strategy includes: weekly support with planning from school leaders; ongoing support through appraisal, on tours, 1:1s and other monitoring activities.  This is based on research and ongoing work with Ambition Institute through a trust-wide bespoke Teacher Educator Programme and the Early Career Framework.

Challenge 1, 3

High quality CPD

Improve all pupils’ access to Quality First Teaching through high quality CPD, focusing on teachers’ understanding of cognitive science, curriculum design and effective pedagogy.

Challenge 1 & 3

Phonics (RWI)

(£3,000)

A whole school phonics approach is an effective way of ensuring that early reading development is successful (EEF toolkit), and is indicated by the proportion of children achieving the expected standard in the Y1 Phonics Screening Check.  The school has invested in Read Write Inc, and will work with other trust schools to develop and embed the practice. Initial screening of KS2 and Y7 showed that 0% of pupils reached the expected standard at the end of Y1.

Challenge 1

GL Assessment

(£3,000)

A whole school reading approach that compliments and builds on from RWI is an effective way of ensuring reading skills continue to be developed to ensure pupils are making accelerated progress towards their reading age. Initial screen showed 67% of pupils are in need of urgent intervention.

Challenge 1

SaLT specific assessments, training and input

(£6,500)

Pupils at Pathways have a number of undiagnosed communication and language difficulties. A specialist SaLT will provide assessments and both generic and specific input so that pupils are better supported and can therefore meet their academic and EHCP outcomes. They will also deliver half termly CPD and liaise with the allocated SaLT TA to embed practice across the school.

Challenge 3&5

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Book Talk additional sessions

(£2,500)

To improve reading specifically, reading booster groups are being planned and delivered with specific pupils following the implementation of Book Talk.  These sessions take place before and during school and provide pupils with additional opportunities to develop their decoding, fluency and comprehension skills.

Challenge 1

Y11 Tutoring

(£3,000)

To support Y11 pupils to achieve functional skills or GCSE qualifications a 1:1 tutor program will be implemented. These sessions with take during the school day.

Challenge 1&2

Activity

Evidence that supports this approach

Challenge number(s) addressed

Breakfast Club

(£3,125)

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the school has identified an increasing number of children who are arriving at school hungry, having not eaten breakfast.  There is strong evidence of the impact of hunger on learning, and therefore, we are determined to ensure that no child at Pathways School starts their day feeling hungry through the provision of a free breakfast club.  This will provide all pupils with the chance to start their day positively, and to engage in other activities related to learning and wellbeing.

Challenge 2& 4

Enrichment Opportunities

(£3,000)

Through discussions with pupils it is apparent that lockdown has substantially decreased their engagement in clubs and activities as well as reduced their access to experiences to support career choices. Through well planned, purposeful enrichment activities pupils will have access to a wide range of activities that develop their health and wellbeing as well as give them an insight into potential careers.

Enrichment opportunities will include swimming as we believe all pupils should leave Pathways with a basic understanding of water safety and being able to swim at least 25m.

Challenge 4&6

Work Experience Opportunities

(£2,000)

To further develop pupil engagement and increase aspirations in regards to future career paths work experience opportunities with the local community will be available for pupils. All Y11 and Y10 pupils will have had the opportunity to participate in at least a one week placement or equivalent.

Challenge 4&6

Attendance (£3,500)

To further increase our students outcomes we have a key focus on attendance, as without good attendance to school, rapid progress cannot be made. We have invested in BDSIP attendance advisory service to best support our students and their families tackle any barriers to attendance.

Challenge 4

Pupils will make accelerated progress in reading so that the disadvantaged pupils make at least 18 months progress in their reading age.

Pupils have speech and language needs clearly identified by the SaLT team and this has allowed identified strategies to be put in place for this.  Staff have received TIP training and the impact this has on pupils. In addition, they have received training and guidance of classroom strategies to use to support pupils in a trauma informed way. Thrive sessions are running as an intervention to support the students SEMH needs.

Attendance is at least 85% with persistent absence below 20%.

Pupils with identified needs will be supported to overcome barriers to learning and make good progress socially, emotionally and academically. 

• AT KS3 61 % of pupils have maintained or made progress in their reading ages. Just over half of these are pupil premium. The school average reading age has increased by 13 months over the academic year.
• At KS3 57% of pupils have improved on their PIRA scores with completion rates up on previous year
• Staff are trained in running Read Write Inc. and intervention is running for KS3 pupils. 
• Identified pupils are receiving focused teaching round Word, Grammar and comprehension at KS3 following Lexia assessments. 
• On tours show that all staff are running Book Talk sessions across the school and engagement in class with reading has improved.
• There are curriculum links to PSHE / RSE in book choices with pupils having a voice in what they read. 
• Pupils are ready to learn and have shown an increase in their resilience in completing tasks.  
• AT KS4 66% of pupils achieved a grade at GCSE English
• The reading lead is a Primary specialist and is filling literacy gaps as part of her school wide responsibilities.  
• All EHCPs have an up to date Section A and B, giving a true reflection of the pupil; negative behaviours are better understood and diffusion and de-escalation strategies are being used so pupils are able to re-engage in learning. 
• The Behaviour Policy has been updated to include the Trauma Informed Approach. 
• Positive Behaviour Support Plans are being written with pupils and parents
• The School is on the working party with the local authority to improve EHCP annual review paperwork. 
• Close networks have been built with secondary schools to allow pupils to access secondary mainstream opportunities with two students successfully integrating into Year 7 and 8. 
• Speech and Language provision on EHCPs has been written by the Speech and Language Therapist and is being delivered by trained Communication Leads. 
• Assessments by the SALT to inform EHCPs and to support further referrals have led to 2 students being diagnosed as having ASC. 
• Assessments are being used to update Section E and F of EHCPs to ensure that outcomes are appropriate to pupil needs 
• The SENCo is working with staff to quality assure scaffolding is being linked to EHCP outcomes and progress towards outcomes is being measured. 
• All students are given breakfast and food is available for pupils if they arrive late or need a snack during the day, having led to a fall in incidents and increased engagement in lessons. 
• Pupils have an established routine in the mornings and tutor time  begins at 9am with the majority of pupils in class. 
• The KS4 Curriculum incorporates work experience with Emerald Mindset, a local social enterprise,  working to prepare pupils for the world of work. 
• All Year 10 pupils completed some work experience in 2022/23
• All pupils are tracked and Local Authority Attendance procedures have taken place with those not attending, this has included 2 families being fined. 
• Persistent Absentees are tracked and joint commissioning work with professionals takes place promptly to re engage pupils with education. 
• The Enrichment Curriculum is focused on skill building and pupils are completing programmes of study during the sessions. 
• The number of behaviour incidents during Enrichment has fallen significantly.

Impact so far (23/24 school year)

1. 1. Disadvantaged pupils generally attain less well in reading; they do not read often enough outside of school and find comprehension tasks challenging.  Pupils’ limited experiences impacts on their vocabulary and understanding – the school average reading age has increased from 10 year 6 months to 12 years 5 months, pupil engagement in reading is at an all-time high.

Key successes:

• Two pupils had an initial starting point of a reading age below 10. Both have now been retested and are reading at an age of 16. 

• One weaker reader has responded positively to receiving phonics  at school. He has chosen reading books suitable for him from the library and has begun to read independently. 
• Three pupils have an average reading score of around 10 years of age. Even though their scores are lower than expected, it has improved since their initial test which was at 7 years of age. This improvement can also been monitored within lessons. All three pupils are engaging better in lessons and are attempting long writes within class.  
• The Autumn reading age assessment shows that 30% of pupils have an above average reading age of which students have improved nearly 7 years in age since their last assessment

2. 2. Disadvantaged pupils generally have other social care needs and therefore many come into school hungry or having had an inappropriate breakfast – magic breakfast offer is embedded, all pupils receive a free breakfast everyday. Punctuality for some pupils has improved, though this still needs development.
3. All of our disadvantaged pupils are on the SEN register and have EHCPs in place. Their primary need has been identified as SEMH. This poses other barriers to learning; some come to school dysregulated; some have social and communication barriers; and some have low self-esteem and/or low aspirations for themselves – therapeutic offer has expanded and is being embedded, adapted timetables in place for pupils to ensure individual need is met, curriculum adaptations for minority groups.

4. 3. Erratic attendance due to changing or challenging home circumstances – close liaison with the attendance team, use of adapted and PTT timetables. Personal attendance plans for pupils under 50%, attendance awards have been introduced and are received half termly.

Key successes:

Three students who previously were on 1.5 hours a day in September have now increased to full time. 

One student who was on 2.5 hours in September is now attending full time.

One student has increased from 1 hour a day in September to 5 hours.

One student has increased from 4 hours to 5 hours.

5. 4. Disadvantaged pupils potentially have other undiagnosed learning needs that have previously been masked – appointment of the Therapeutic team has allowed pupils to have personalised adapted timetables, improvement in reduction of PTT’s, Multi-Disciplinary Team meetings support identifying pupils requiring intervention (plan, do, review), co-production is taking place, intervention timetable for weaker readers, SaLT and Thrive is taking place.

6. 5. Disadvantaged pupils tend to have less access to activities and opportunities outside of school to enrich their lives and raise their career aspirations – regular half term enrichment trips, (science museum, NHM, Imperial War Museum, Trewern Outdoor Centre), weekly swimming, project based learning including music, construction, hair and beauty and health and fitness. In addition, the recent establishment of the school football team has allowed our pupils to engage successfully in community events. Gridmaker established and is starting to be embedded to target need and ensure all personal development needs are met.

Programme

Provider

Measure

Details

How did you spend your service pupil premium allocation last academic year?

n/a

What was the impact of that spending on service pupil premium eligible pupils?

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