Detail

Data

School name

Saxon Wood School

Number of pupils in school

44

Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils

13%

Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)

2021-2022

Date this statement was published

Date on which it will be reviewed

November 2022

Statement authorised by

J. Alexander (head teacher)

Pupil premium lead

Laura Burling (interim lead – staff absence)

Governor / Trustee lead

TBC

Detail

Amount

Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year

£11,360

Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year

£1.500

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

£1,037,831

Our aim is to use pupil premium funding to help us identify individual needs as soon as possible so as to achieve and sustain the best possible outcomes for out disadvantaged pupils. Whilst socio-economic disadvantage is not the primary challenge our pupils face, when compared to their peers with similar needs a variance in outcomes can be seen particularly in terms of:

• Communication development
• Physical development
• Personal care and independence skills
• Social skills and opportunities

Our teaching approach focusses on high quality, small step teaching focussed on pupils’ individual needs. At the root of this is multi-disciplinary, diagnostic assessments of need accompanied by targeted, ongoing assessment of progress within classes. Individualised, skills based curriculum provides relevant, purposeful skills which will be of benefit pupils as they continue to develop. This in turn aims to provide foundations to be of use to them in later life.

Although this strategy focuses on needs of disadvantaged pupils, its principles will be of benefit to all pupils across the school for example through high quality, pupil focussed teaching and a relevant, aspirational curriculum.  This will enable all pupils, both disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged, to progress alongside each other.

Our strategy is integral to wider school plans for education recovery, notably through engagement with the Hampshire Inspection and Advisory Service (HIAS) with a focus on Teaching and Learning, Literacy and Mathematics. Additionally advice and support has been provided with in person visits, training sessions and virtual advice from the Hampshire Early Years Advisory Team. This has been of particular benefit to facilitating progress of disadvantaged pupils alongside their non-disadvantaged peers.  

Our strategy will be driven by the needs and strengths of each young person, based on formal and informal assessments, not assumptions or labels. This will help us to ensure that we offer them the relevant skills and experience they require to make continued progress in all areas of learning.

Challenge number

Detail of challenge

1

Through observations and conversations with pupils and their families, we find that disadvantaged pupils generally have fewer opportunities to develop cultural capital outside of school.

2

Observations and discussions with pupils and families demonstrate that the education, wellbeing and wider aspects of development of many of our disadvantaged pupils have been impacted by the pandemic to a greater extent than for other pupils. These findings are backed up by several national studies.

3

Attendance across the school can be below national average due to a significant percentage of the pupil body having complex medical needs and requiring multiple specialist appointments. Observations show that disadvantaged pupils can lack access to the specialist resources and equipment outside the school that mean school sessions missed due to appointments have a greater impact on their development.

4

Observations and discussions with pupils show that 43% of disadvantaged pupils generally have complex challenges around communicating and expressing their needs, including being non-verbal or having limited language skills and social interaction difficulties. Disadvantaged pupils often have less access to specialist resources, external therapies and additional provision when compared to non-disadvantaged peers.

Intended outcome

Success criteria

Disadvantaged pupils have greater confidence and independence to help them engage more within the classes, school and wider communities

School council

School trips

Discussions with families

Supporting families to access Direct Payments or/and Social Care support

Families of disadvantaged pupils have a clear understanding of pupils’ key targets and ways in which they can support children at home

Multidisciplinary team/Tac/CIN meetings held as appropriate

Home-school agreements formulated for therapies and core homework (such as reading)

Pupils can use a range of communication systems to aid their understanding and to develop expressive communication skills.

Through achievement of EHC plan termly outcomes.

Updating resources and sourcing specialist soft- and hardware to support pupil outcomes.

Liaison with Speech and Language Teams to ensure programmes are kept up to date and relevant with additional input as required.

Assessment of pupils’ language and communication skills shows an increase in the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils

Speech and Language Therapy outcomes are in line with school targets

Elklan training for key staff

Improved attainment for disadvantaged pupils in all subjects relative to their starting points as identified through baseline assessments.

Through achievement of improved performance, as demonstrated by our end of year assessments

Ongoing improvement evidenced through formative and summative assessment