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The extra dimension
Following the visit the students’ attitude to
learning has improved by at least one grade
whole weekend. A further revision weekend was delivered and
62% of the pupils who attended made three levels of progress in
English.
The mathematics department has run two residential
weekends at activity centres considering the mathematical
elements of outdoor pursuits and strategies for effective revision.
78% of the students who attended the first weekend improved
by at least one GCSE grade and 50% attained a Grade C in the
final examination. From the cohort who attended the second
weekend, 75% of the students achieved at least a Grade C and
88% attained at least one grade higher than their indicated
potential in the GCSE examination. Members of staff from
both core departments felt that the weekends definitely made a
difference to the students in both attainment and attitude.
Forty Year 8 pupils were invited to a residential weekend
covering Literacy skills which included a visit to the Harry Potter
Experience at Elstree. This has been followed up by extra sessions
being run after school and also on Saturday mornings. Building
on this, members of the English department have actively
promoted reading for pleasure with pupil premium pupils in
order to enhance literacy skills and encourage involvement in the
curriculum. The department had recognised that these pupils
were often disengaged from reading and wanted to provide
a positive experience as well as encouraging them to read for
pleasure. Curtis Jobling, a local author, the designer of Bob the
Builder and author of a series of teenage fantasy books, was
invited into school to speak about his work in animation and
also read from his books. Pupil Premium money was used to buy
each student a copy of one of Curtis Jobling’s books to promote
reading for pleasure.
The impact was definitely measurable. A member of the
English department commented on one low-ability student
who could often be unsettled. After listening to the presentation
by Curtis Jobling, she went back to see him to ask if he would
sign her book. Later in the day she had an English lesson. After
completing the set work, she asked if she could read quietly.
She was then totally absorbed in the book that she had been
given. According to the English teacher, “It’s rare to see this
child so focused and happy. It was clearly a result of this superb
initiative.” Another student told his teacher that he was “going to
get his Dad to read it to him and either buy the rest of the series
or get them out of the school library.”
Other strategies have included residential visits to universities
to raise aspirations. The students who visited the universities
participated in a range of taster sessions. One student
commented, “The visit gave me the opportunity to visit the
university and get a better understanding of how universities
work. This has given me the confidence to try harder in lessons
to try and achieve my goals so that I can go to university.”
Following the visit the students’ attitude to learning has
improved by at least one grade. The most recent visit took place
at the end of February when a targeted group of Year 11 female
students participated in a ‘Women into Physics’ seminar at
Liverpool University. As well as being committed to promoting
the value of tertiary qualifications, we are also committed to
raising our students’ aspirations. For the students who are
entitled to Pupil Premium funds we want them to seriously
consider being the first generation within their family to aspire to
higher education through consciously providing opportunities to
enable them to gain further awareness.
Targeted students entitled to Pupil Premium funds participate
in an employability course, which includes further work
experience. We do this to enable the students have the best
opportunities and also to ensure they do not appear on NEET
statistics. The entire cohort found the experience beneficial in
supporting them for their proposed college course and I am
delighted to say that all students have now gained college places
for when they leave Wade Deacon. As this course has been so
successful, we are running it with specific students in Years 9 and
10 during this current academic year to develop learning skills
that will support them in their career choices. The students all
agree that they now feel more confident about their future and
the range of choices that are open to them.
Whilst the gap in attainment for those Wade Deacon students
entitled to the Pupil Premium is lower than the national average,
all members of staff, under the leadership of the Vice-Principal,
are committed to reduce it further to ensure indicated potential
is attained.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that the Pupil Premium
provides us with golden opportunities to make a solid and
sustained difference to and for our disadvantaged students. It is
incumbent on us as professionals to ensure that every student
has the best possible opportunity to succeed. One of my key
philosophies is that every child only gets one chance at their
education, so it is imperative we ensure a consistently high
quality educational experience for all. Whilst the majority of our
Pupil Premium funding supports academic attainment through
targeted coaching and mentoring, the extra, creative dimension
that we have added at Wade Deacon has definitely raised the
students’ aspirations and ambitions.
Summer 2014 | 65