Pupil Premium
Please read the information below which gives details of our Pupil Premium Grant and how we allocate the funding.
This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2023 to 2024 academic year) funding to help improve the attainment of our disadvantaged pupils.
It outlines our pupil premium strategy, how we intend to spend the funding in this academic year and the effect that last year’s spending of pupil premium had within our school.
School overview
Detail | Data |
School name | Frenchwood Community Primary School |
Number of pupils in school | 343 |
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils | 25% |
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended) | 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 |
Date this statement was published | 29.09.2025 |
Date on which it will be reviewed | September 2025 |
Statement authorised by | Cathryn Antwis, Headteacher |
Pupil premium lead | Susan Wilkinson, SENDCo |
Governor / Trustee lead | Muhammad Isap, Pupil Premium Link Governor |
Funding overview
Detail | Amount |
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year | £113,960 |
Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year | £5,691 |
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 | £119,651 |
Pupil premium strategy plan
Statement of intent
Context Frenchwood Community Primary School is a larger than average primary school. Stability of 71% is low in comparison to the national figure of 80.1% (as at January 2023), due to movement in the local housing rental market, pupils new to the country, and pupils from the local women’s refuge. The school serves an increasingly culturally diverse population. Approximately 25% of the school population identify as Indian, but a wide range of ethnicities are represented in school (16/17 possible ethnic groups), predominantly from west Asia, but increasingly from Africa and eastern European countries. Approximately 60% of the pupils speak English as an additional language (our families have 32 other languages between them), and many of these children are either new to English or at the earliest stages of English acquisition. In the latest census, the school location deprivation indicator was in quintile 4 (more deprived) of all schools and the pupil base also is in quintile 4 (more deprived) of all schools in terms of deprivation. The school serves almost the full range of socio-economic households from A (between 75% and 95% least deprived) to E* (the 5% most deprived). Key Principles At Frenchwood Community Primary School we aim for all our learners to achieve their full potential, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face. We endeavour to understand the individual needs of each pupil, discover their talents and challenges, and put provision in place that will enable them to achieve success. The Pupil Premium (PP) funding that is received by school annually is used in a variety of ways in order to improve pupil attainment and help overcome barriers to learning. In making provision for socially disadvantaged pupils, we recognise that not all our pupils who receive Free School meals (FSM) will be socially disadvantaged. We also recognise that not all pupils who are socially disadvantaged are registered or qualify for PP. We therefore allocate the PP funding to support any pupil or groups of pupils we have identified as being at social disadvantage. Quality first teaching in every classroom is the primary driver for success in our school, alongside careful assessment of need. Well trained staff and consistency in our approach to learning is integral to our strategy. Our school is organised into four phases with staff teams working closely together to offer the best we can to all our learners by utilising the range of expertise within our team. This offers a flexible model that enables us to make adjustments when circumstances change. High priority is given to supporting good mental health, building resilience and developing positive learning behaviours. Ultimate Objectives
|
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.
Challenge number | Detail of challenge |
1 | Baseline assessments, observations and screening of expressive and receptive language skills show that the majority of pupils enter EYFS with communication skills significantly below age expected levels. |
2 | Assessments, observations and screening of expressive and receptive language skills show that the many pupils enter KS1 and KS2 with communication skills significantly below age expected levels. |
3 | Assessments show that the many pupils enter KS1 and KS2 with reading, writing and maths skills below age expected levels. |
4 | Phonic screening shows that significant numbers of pupils do not achieve the expected level in Year 1. |
5 | Many pupils arriving later than the usual starting point have limited experience of formal learning and often are new to English. |
6 | Few pupils achieve greater depth at the end of KS2 |
7 | Many pupils arriving later than the usual starting point have experienced trauma and disruption. |
8 | Increased number of pupils unable to self-regulate and manage emotions in an age appropriate way. |
9 | Pupil attendance and punctuality has not returned to pre-pandemic levels |
Intended outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
Intended outcome | Success criteria |
Pupils to be able to communicate confidently and be able to understand and articulate their thoughts and feelings in an age-appropriate manner. | Assessments and observations indicate significantly improved oral language among disadvantaged pupils. This is evident when triangulated with other sources of evidence, including engagement in lessons, pupil book study and ongoing formative assessment. |
Pupils are ready for the next phase in their education as they are fluent and confident readers, writers and mathematicians. Their skills enable them to engage fully in a broad curriculum. | By the end of EYFS:
By the end of Year 1:
By the end of KS1:
By the end of KS2:
|
Pupils are resilient and well organised learners who are emotionally literate and able to manage themselves in a variety of circumstances. | Across school there will be high levels of wellbeing / mental health demonstrated by :
|
Pupils receive their full entitlement to education through good attendance and punctuality, giving them the best chance of success. | High levels of attendance across all phases and groups.
|
Activity in this academic year
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium (and recovery premium funding) this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
Teaching
Budgeted cost: £72,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
1:10 adult to pupil ratio in EYFS & KS1 to enable increased communication modelling and dialogue in continuous provision | Our staff have been trained in the Hanen approach to communication and language. This emphasises the importance of spoken language and verbal interaction for young children. Research shows that children’s language development benefits from approaches that explicitly support communication through talking, verbal expression, modelling language and reasoning. | 1 |
Additional TA3 employed to ensure consistency of staffing throughout the day and enable tutoring and focussed interventions to take place. Classroom staff to cover lunchtime breaks. | Positive effects have been found in studies where teaching assistants deliver high-quality structured interventions which deliver short sessions, over a finite period, and link learning to classroom teaching. All classroom staff are fully trained in Emotion Coaching and are aware of individual circumstances as they change. | 2,3,4,5,6,8 |
50% increase in SENDCo time. This is to enable effective leadership of whole school approach to self-regulation, identification of needs and timely intervention. | Research by Bath Spa University and Nasen recommends increasing SENDCo protected time to take account of numbers of children in crisis. | 1,2,5,7,8 |
Recruitment of Attendance Manager (Assistant DSL)to aid the work of our Learning Mentor | Increased need for school led support packages for families, DSL presence at multi-agency meetings. Renewed focus on reducing persistent absenteeism. | 7,8,9 |
Whole staff access to RWInc online video updates and termly visits from consultant trainer
Phonics lead in school to model phonics sessions, support new to school teachers to enable consistency and monitor teaching and assessment of phonics across EYFS and KS1. | Read Write Inc Phonics is a systematic synthetic phonics approach which, when used with fidelity, explicitly teaches pupils a comprehensive set of letter-sound relationships in a pre-planned sequence. There is extensive evidence that this benefits Key Stage 1 pupils’ learning, and also older pupils who struggle to decode. | 3,4,5 |
Commitment to being a Voice 21 Oracy School. Our two Oracy Champions will develop an action plan, become expert oracy practitioners who can model effective oracy in their teaching practice, delivering training in oracy to colleagues and provide follow-on support to empower teacher colleagues. An online learning platform and research exchange including 40 hrs of e-learning for all staff
| The Education Endowment Foundation found that oral language interventions have a very high impact for low cost, based on extensive research. In schools with a simililar intake to Frenchwood, it has been particularly successful in supporting pupils with EAL and those from socioeconomic backgrounds.
https://voice21.org/impacts/a-spotlight-on-st-james-church-of-england-primary-school/
|
|
Staff training and purchase of Red Rose Maths materials | Red Rose Maths is a mastery learning programme developed and extensively tested by maths subject leaders supported by specialist advisers. EEF Maths Evidence Review shows strong evidence in favour of concrete manipulatives as an integral part of the programme enabling learners to engage with mathematical ideas. The programme supports teachers making informed choices about which, and how many, representations to use and when. | 3,6 |
Termly whole staff Emotion Coaching training/update | A mixed-method study at Bath Spa University demonstrated that emotion coaching can be an important tool in improving relationships and self-regulation in a variety of settings – schools, youth and children’s centres (Gilbert et al, forthcoming; Rose et al, 2012, Rose et al, forthcoming). Emotion Coaching offers a relational model for behavioural management and provides parents and practitioners with strategies to help children to self-regulate their emotions by triggering a calmer response through:
| 5,7,8,9 |
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £68,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Wellcomm Early Years assessment used with all EYFS pupils to identify communication / language baselines, tailor intervention and to measure progress made. | Communication and language approaches emphasise the importance of spoken language and verbal interaction for young children. They are based on the idea that children’s language development benefits from approaches that explicitly support communication through talking, verbal expression, modelling language and reasoning. | 1 |
Wellcomm Primary assessment used with all pupils in Y1 (or on arrival if later) to identify communication / language baselines, tailor intervention and to measure progress made | Oral language interventions with frequent sessions (3 times a week or more) over a sustained period appear to be most successful. Wellcome Primary includes structured activities for use 1:1 or in small groups to support progress. | 2 |
Pupils with English as an additional language assessed for English language proficiency in Y3 (or on arrival if later) to identify language baseline, tailor intervention and to measure progress made. | EAL learners at all levels need to be given opportunities to grow their English vocabulary range. This could be done by taking advantage of their first language(s) through translation, the use of flashcards and images. It is important to remember to develop the learner’s academic language skills, for instance by focusing on the differences between formal and informal vocabulary. | 5 |
Pupils with possible specific learning difficulty in reading screened in Y4 to identify barriers, tailor intervention and to measure progress made. | There is a strong and consistent body of evidence demonstrating the benefit of structured interventions for pupils who are struggling with their literacy. The first step should be to accurately diagnose capabilities and difficulties in order to match pupils to appropriate, evidence-informed interventions that target specific areas of difficulty. | 3,4 |
1:1 and small group interventions delivered and measured using SMART plans:
| Investing in professional development for teaching assistants to deliver structured interventions can be a cost-effective approach to improving learner outcomes. Our TAs are trained in specific interventions that they deliver and measure. These interventions are monitored and reviewed by SENDCo and during pupil progress meetings. | 3,4,6,7,8 |
Online support interventions that can be accessed independently:
| Flash Academy offers individualised language learning and vocabulary development with home languages Lifting Barriers This study included around 1,200 students and confirmed that IDL produces significantly faster reading and spelling related improvements than non-specialist teaching methods – with an average 10 months improvement in reading and 11 months improvement in spelling after just 26 hours on the IDL programme. IDL Maths Trial – positive results showing 94% of pupils made accelerated progress from individual starting points. | 3,4,5 |
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £ 65,000
Activity | Evidence that supports this approach | Challenge number(s) addressed |
Counsellor with specific qualification in treating childhood trauma available weekly to those pupils in most need. | Pupils who are known to have experienced significant trauma and/or present with very challenging behaviours are assessed using Boxall profile and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) prior to intervention so specific needs are identified. | 7,8 |
Learning mentor trained as Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) offers personalised support packages and liaises with parents of pupils receiving ELSA interventions. | Shotton and Burton (2019) suggest that schools should recognise the need to plan additional support to address the emotional needs of students in the same way that support would be provided to enhance academic learning for children experiencing learning difficulties. ELSAs are trained to develop interventions in the areas of:
| 7,8 |
Free breakfast club for pupils who attract FSM funding. After-school sports clubs offered daily. | Some pupils are invited to attend to support attendance or encourage engagement in physical activity. | 7,8,9 |
Embedding principles of good practice set out in the DfE’s Improving School Attendance advice. This will involve training and release time for staff to develop and implement new procedures and appointing attendance/support officers to improve attendance. | The DfE guidance has been informed by engagement with schools that have significantly reduced levels of absence and persistent absence. | 9 |
Dual code all in-school signage and visual timetables using Widgit symbol software. Some learning materials may also be enhanced for those pupils with SEND or who are new to English. | Research shows that the benefits of using Symbol software can offer inclusivity for a mainstream school, where it can support pupils with EAL, those who have neurodevelopmental differences such as autism or dyslexia, and pupils who have experienced trauma. This strategy has been shown to provide a way to introduce students to a new language or new words. In mainstream primary schools, it has been found to reduce anxiety, cues pupils into daily events and aids general communication. | 1,2,5,7,8 |
All staff to participate in Therapeutic Teaching Award. | Relational approaches and building supportive relationships through the school community including auxiliary staff, pupils and parents benefitted the students and led to teachers offering each other more peer support (Howell et al., 2019). TIP training which included more methods for responding to trauma reduced numbers of students being referred to special education and being categorised as troublesome students (Banks and Meyer, 2017; Pemberton and Edeburn, 2021). Practices which included non-verbal approaches to self-regulation and innovative teaching methods such as creative and outdoor materials supported students in building trust and reduction of trauma responses (Mulholland and O’Toole, 2021). | 7,8 |
Nurture Spaces to be developed. | 7,8 |
Total budgeted cost: | £ 210,000 |
PPG and Recovery funding allocation | £119,651 |
Additional allocation from school budget | £90,349 |
Review of outcomes in the previous academic year
Pupil premium strategy outcomes
Success criteria | Outcomes 2024 |
Pupils to be able to communicate confidently and be able to understand and articulate their thoughts and feelings in an age-appropriate manner. | |
Assessments and observations indicate significantly improved oral language among disadvantaged pupils. This is evident when triangulated with other sources of evidence, including engagement in lessons, pupil book study and ongoing formative assessment. | Classroom observations by Oracy Lead show consistency of approach that is beginning to have an impact on classroom discussions, particularly in UKS2. |
Pupils are ready for the next phase in their education as they are fluent and confident readers, writers and mathematicians. Their skills enable them to engage fully in a broad curriculum. | |
By the end of EYFS:
By the end of Year 1:
By the end of KS1:
By the end of KS2:
| Early Years Profile:
Year 1 Phonics check:
All pupils meeting expected standards at the end of KS1:
Disadvantaged pupils:
KS1 pupils have been disproportionately impacted by the past years of disruption and will continue to receive additional interventions as required. Key Stage 2 SATs results (All): Expected + Reading – 77% (104) Writing – 56% Maths – 73% (103) GPS – 79% (107) Greater Depth Reading – 23% Writing – 0% Maths – 17% GPS – 42% Combined (Expected +) – 51%
Key Stage 2 SATs results (Disadvantaged): Expected + Reading – 75% Writing – 44% Maths – 56% GPS – 69% Greater Depth (awaiting confirmation) Reading – 25% Writing – 0% Maths – 6% GPS – 25% Combined – 38%
|
Pupils are resilient and well organised learners who are emotionally literate and able to manage themselves in a variety of circumstances. | |
Across school there will be high levels of wellbeing / mental health demonstrated by :
|
|
Pupils receive their full entitlement to education through good attendance and punctuality, giving them the best chance of success. | |
High levels of attendance across all phases and groups.
| Attendance excludes non-compulsory age pupils Whole school: Attendance 92.9% Disadvantaged pupils: Attendance 91.3% Not disadvantaged pupils: Attendance 93.5%
Gap reduced by 3.1pp in 2022-23 Gap reduced by a further 2.2pp in 2023-24
|
Externally provided programmes
Programme | Provider |
Wellcome Early Years | GL Assessment |
Flash Academy | Language Labs |
LASS 8-11 | GL Assessment |
IDL Literacy | IDL/Ascentis |
IDL Maths | IDL/Ascentis |
RWInc Phonics | Oxford University Press |