Pupil Premium
As Rayner Stephens was formed in July 2017, financial breakdown for 2016/17 is not available. The Rayner Stephens Pupil Premium Information can be downloaded from the Policies page or directly from the links below:
Click here to view Disadvantaged Students Policy
What is pupil premium?
Pupil Premium is additional funding provided to schools by national government. It has been awarded to schools to help them to ‘narrow the gap’ in performance that exists nationally between vulnerable students and their peers. The level of funding allocated to schools is based upon the number of students who:
- are currently eligible and registered for free school meals (FSM)
- have been registered for Free School Meals (FSM) in the last six years (referred to as ‘Ever6’)
- are children whose parents were in the Armed Forces (Service Children)
- have been in local authority care for 6 months or more (now one day or more)
- have been adopted from care in England or who have left care under a Special Guardianship Order or a Residential Order (and this has been notified to the School)
Main barriers to educational achievement
Since April 2011, children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who qualify for free school meals nationally, have been supported by the government via Pupil Premium funding. The government recognised that it is unacceptable for children’s success to be determined by their social circumstances. The funding is intended to raise levels of achievement for all disadvantaged students and to close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.
Clearly, prior to this, the specific tracking of disadvantaged students had not been a priority nationally and therefore barriers have not been identified early enough to put appropriate interventions in place for these students.
The number of students on roll at Rayner Stephens is below average. The percentage of girls is higher than average at 53.5%. Disadvantaged student percentage is 46% which is significantly above national average of 28.5 % and shows that the school needs to focus on this vulnerable group as a key priority in their strategic planning. Ethnic minorities and EAL students are below national average. The majority of students and specifically the disadvantaged students are from a White British background which is the most vulnerable group of disadvantaged students for success at GCSE. In line with the number of disadvantaged students the level of deprivation is significantly higher at Rayner Stephens at 0.29% compared to 0.22 nationally. There is a 90% stability with in the school. The number of disadvantaged students has significantly increased in the past 5 years from 38% in the current Year 11 to 54% in the current Year 9. Most year groups now have a disadvantaged cohort that is approximately 50%. The number of LAC students is low at 4 students in the school. The number of students recorded as NEETS is in line with national at 0.4%. Positively the number of students accessing further education is above national. All year groups enter the school significantly below the national average.
Through national research a range of barriers have been identified that can lead to underachievement in this group of students, that is not to say that this is the case for every disadvantaged student and the school looks to support every student where needed through a bespoke package based on the students individual needs. Some barriers to learning include poor motivation, self esteem and low aspirations, previous performance and poor literacy and numeracy. Less opportunities and access to cultural experiences. For this reason interventions take place in many different forms to cater for a wide range of needs.
Please click here for the planned financial breakdown for 2017/18.