Pupil
Premium

School-led Tutoring Grant

In 2021-22,  the school provided additional recovery tutoring for students through employment of a specialist teacher to provide catch-up literacy and numeracy development through community-based learning. The school-led tutoring grant covers a large portion of this cost, topped up with school budget and pupil premium spending.

Pupil Premium

Pupil premium is funding to improve education outcomes for disadvantaged pupils in schools in England. Evidence shows that disadvantaged children generally face additional challenges in reaching their potential at school and often do not perform as well as other pupils. The Pupil Premium is provided in order to narrow the gap between these groups of pupils.

At Northern Counties School we have chosen to use pupil premium funding to benefit our pupils in line with their own individual areas of need as identified within their Education, Health and Care Plans.

We continue to experience considerable difficulties in receiving any of the allocated amount for each eligible pupil from Local Authorities. Despite this, as a matter of principle we ensure that the needs of our pupils are fully met and have allocated funds to ensure that no pupil experiences disadvantage as a result of not receiving additional funding to which they are entitled.

Our Pupil Premium Strategy for September 2022 – July 2023 is above. This year we have four key challenges as our focus:

In it we are focusing on 4 key challenges:

  1. Communication skills: receptive, expressive and social communication skills
  2. Wellbeing: happiness and emotional regulation
  3. Independence skills: functionality in the activities of daily living
  4. Parental engagement: support parents and carers to develop skills and access resources that will help pupils to achieve their EHCP outcomes

 

Throughout the past five years Northern Counties School has used pupil premium to promote pupils’ learning in a wide range of ways:

2021-22

This year we had 7 key challenges as we continued to support students as we recover from the effects of the pandemic.

  1. Cognition and learning: academic attainment
  2. Communication skills: receptive, expressive and social communication skills
  3. Wellbeing: happiness and emotional regulation
  4. Personal development and behaviour: attendance, positive behaviour support, including capable environments
  5. Independence skills: functionality in the activities of daily living
  6. Physical and sensory: movement, mobility and medical care needs
  7. Parental engagement: support parents and carers to develop skills and access resources that will help pupils to achieve their EHCP outcomes

2020-21

  • A second magic carpet – as below
  • Side by side trike – to promote emotional regulation
  • TEACHH drawers to promote independence
  • Training – Deaf studies, vocabulary development in early years, understanding stress and anxiety in autism and assessment for all
  • Signs to promote choices and communication in playgrounds
  • Motivational and sensory regulating toys and resources
  • Items to promote independence in personal care
  • Resources to promote fine and gross motor skills
  • Adaptations to a pupil’s work room

2019-20

  • Magic carpet mobile interactive projector to promote the understanding of cause and effect, social interaction, communication and physical skills
  • Science, numeracy and literacy resources
  • Sensory toys and activities
  • Sensory seating
  • Early years play resources
  • Staff training in vocabulary development in early years Deaf children, core language development and understanding stress and anxiety in autism and the impact on pupil’s behaviour
  • TEACHH resources to promote children with ASD’s independence
  • Electric tricycle to promote self-regulation
  • Deaf studies curriculum materials
  • Equipment to promote life skills
  • Lexia online writing programme

Please note that due to COVID-19, the last year for which we have full year assessment data is 2018-19 prior to 2021-22.