Pupil Premium

Rushbrook Primary Academy

Pupil Premium Strategy Statement

 

 

 

This statement details our school’s use of pupil premium (and recovery premium for the 2021 to 2022 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	Rushbrook Primary Academy
Number of pupils in school	510
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils	60.8%
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers	2025- 2026
Date this statement was published	27.09.2025
Review date	01.09.2026
Date on which it will be reviewed	01/09/2026
Statement authorised by	Matthew Carroll
Pupil premium lead	Soraya Wallace
Governor / Trustee lead	Kate Shaw

Funding overview

Detail	Amount
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year (293 children 2024- 2025)	£426,315 + £27,830
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	£454,145

Part A: Pupil premium strategy plan

Statement of intent

The school’s strategy for the 2025/ 2026 year aims to address the following barriers to educational achievement among its pupils eligible for pupil premium. Much of the spending will benefit all pupils, and where need is identified in non-eligible pupils, spending may also be allocated to support their outcomes. Spending is reviewed at regular intervals for each objective to ensure it is in line with our expectations and the proposed plan (a percentage of funding has been left unallocated to account for fluctuations in the planned spend). Pupil premium target outcomes are set and data is tracked and analysed termly as part of pupil progress monitoring cycle.

Challenges

This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged pupils.

Challenge number	Detail of challenge
1	Lack of high-quality Reading and Writing materials in the home 67% EAL school population. Some poor parental understanding of how to support and help early reading and writing, poor language acquisition, low comprehension/ inference and deduction skills. High mobility, with low entry points (start & mid-year). High levels of deprivation & difficult home circumstances.
2	Lack of Maths materials in the home. Some poor parental understanding of how to support and help Maths’ skills development. Some parents using different mathematical methods to support children. High mobility, with low entry points (start & mid-year). High levels of deprivation & difficult home circumstances. 67% EAL school population.
3	Low Entry point/ baselines in Nursery and Reception SEND Communication and Interaction Mobility rate
4	Experiential Audit showed limited enrichment opportunities outside of school.
5	Increased numbers of pupils with SEND, with more also being eligible for FSM than their non SEND peers, requires staff training and support to ensure achievement for all pupils.

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
Raise attainment and progress in reading and writing for children eligible for PP	Termly progress and attainment monitoring shows diminished difference between PP/ non-PP
Raise attainment and progress in maths for children eligible	Termly progress and attainment monitoring shows diminished difference between PP/ non-PP. GLD, Phonics, KS1 and KS2 end of year data shows diminished difference from 2019-20 figures.
Provide a wide range of enrichment opportunities to widen aspirations of children eligible	All PP pupils to be offered place in a full funded after school club.  PP pupils Y6 to be offered a subsidised residential experience. PP pupils to have opportunities to attend Forest Schools, Nurture groups and therapeutic groups.
Raise Communication and language attainment and progress in EYFS for children eligible	Attainment and progress data shows diminished difference between PP/ non-PP
Success for pupils with SEND	Attainment monitoring shows decreasing number of pupils working ‘below’ their year group ARE.

 

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 (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)

Budgeted cost: £139,179

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
Voice21 Training external and in house. In house training delivered by 3 members of staff.	Quality of teaching is the single most important driver of pupil attainment and a range of other positive outcomes- EEF. The findings of the pilot suggest that the Voice 21 approach is promising. The programme was well received by teachers and all school staff reported some improvements to pupils’ oracy skills. Teachers also felt that the programme could be implemented in most schools. Voice 21: Improving Oracy – second pilot | EEF	1, 2, 3
Whole Class Reading/ Guided Reading development/ clipboard reading/ 1-1 reading in EYFS (English leads, developing writing curriculum, providing training opportunities for all teaching and support staff, new resources)	On average, reading comprehension approaches deliver an additional six months’ progress. Successful reading comprehension approaches allow activities to be carefully tailored to pupils’ reading capabilities, and involve activities and texts that provide an effective, but not overwhelming, challenge. EEF	1, 5
Wellcomm Language Screening, staff training and staff resource time in EYFS.   Elklan Activities in the classroom.   Bucket time Training and activities in class.	The EEF toolkit suggests communication and language approaches are effective for developing young children’s expressive vocabulary and early reading skills learning, including their spoken language skills.	1, 3, 5
NCTEM training and staff time.	The EEF toolkit suggests that mastery learning accelerates progress. Work is challenging and is particularly effective when pupils work in groups and take responsibility for supporting each other’s progress.	2, 3, 5
Phonics PLA training: SLT staff time & PLAs in all phases	Phonics has a positive impact overall (+5 months) with very extensive evidence and is an important component in the development of early reading skills, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The teaching of phonics should be explicit and systematic to support children in making connections between the sound patterns they hear in words and the way that these words are written.	1, 3, 5
Teacher and Coaching Development model – CPD program to develop reflection skills and embed new skills introduced in training.	Quality of teaching is the single most important driver of pupil attainment and a range of other positive outcomes – EEF.	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
ELKLAN for children with SEMH training	The EEF toolkit suggests communication and language approaches are effective for developing young children’s expressive vocabulary and early reading skills learning, including their spoken language skills.	1, 3, 5

Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support structured interventions)

Budgeted cost: £96,850

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
Communication Learning Assistants providing specific interventions for pupils with SLCN in each Phase.	The EEF toolkit suggests that interventions matched to specific pupils’ needs can be effective, particularly when delivered through 1:1 or through small group support.	1, 2, 3, 5
Whole school Phonics Intervention time (Including SEND Phonics)	The EEF toolkit suggests that interventions matched to specific pupils’ needs can be effective, particularly when delivered through 1:1 or through small group support. Phonics has a positive impact overall (+5 months) with very extensive evidence and is an important component in the development of early reading skills, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The teaching of phonics should be explicit and systematic to support children in making connections between the sound patterns they hear in words and the way that these words are written.	1, 3, 5
Additional classroom books for EAL children   Linguascope subscription for whole school EAL teaching	On average, reading comprehension approaches deliver an additional six months’ progress. Successful reading comprehension approaches allow activities to be carefully tailored to pupils’ reading capabilities, and involve activities and texts that provide an effective, but not overwhelming, challenge. EEF	1, 3
Imagination Library	On average, reading comprehension approaches deliver an additional six months’ progress. Successful reading comprehension approaches allow activities to be carefully tailored to pupils’ reading capabilities, and involve activities and texts that provide an effective, but not overwhelming, challenge. EEF	1, 3
Speech and language therapy. 2 days-  mainstream and Hive.	The EEF toolkit suggests that interventions matched to specific pupils’ needs can be effective, particularly when delivered through 1:1 or through small group support. On average, oral language approaches have a high impact on pupil outcomes of 6 months’ additional progress. EEF It is important that spoken language activities are matched to learners’ current stage of development, so that it extends their learning and connects with the curriculum. EEF Training can support adults to ensure they model and develop pupils’ oral language skills and vocabulary development. EEF Some pupils may struggle specifically with spoken language. Schools should consider how they will identify pupils that need additional support around oral language and articulation. It may be helpful to focus on speaking and listening activities separately where needed to meet particular needs. EEF	3, 5
Tutor Trust recovery tuition	The EEF toolkit suggests that interventions matched to specific pupils’ needs can be effective, particularly when delivered through 1:1 or through small group support.	1, 2, 3, 5

Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)

Budgeted cost: £219,279

Activity	Evidence that supports this approach	Challenge number(s) addressed
Parent education programme, including Riding the Rapids- staff resource time.	Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children’s learning, and levels of parental engagement are consistently associated with children’s academic outcomes.- EEF    Parental engagement has a positive impact on average of 4 months’ additional progress. It is crucial to consider how to engage with all parents to avoid widening attainment gaps. EEF	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Minibuses to enable enrichment offer (vocabulary trips) – PP pupil allocation.	Adventure education usually involves collaborative learning experiences with a high level of physical (and often emotional) challenge. Practical problem-solving, explicit reflection and discussion of thinking and emotion (see also Metacognition and self–regulation) may also be involved. All the above have been shown to have a positive impact on outcomes- EEF	1, 4
Subsidising of Residential Offer for Year 6 & Year 5.	Adventure education usually involves collaborative learning experiences with a high level of physical (and often emotional) challenge. Practical problem-solving, explicit reflection and discussion of thinking and emotion (see also Metacognition and self–regulation) may also be involved. All the above have been shown to have a positive impact on outcomes- EEF	1, 4
Subsidising of Residential Offer for Hive residential trip.	Adventure education usually involves collaborative learning experiences with a high level of physical (and often emotional) challenge. Practical problem-solving, explicit reflection and discussion of thinking and emotion (see also Metacognition and self–regulation) may also be involved. All the above have been shown to have a positive impact on outcomes- EEF
Nurture interventions Senior Pastoral Lead & Nurture PLAs 0.5 x 2 SEND coordinators time Resilience coach, developing teachers to support the self- regulation and resilience of the children in order for them to access learning. Family Nurture groups. Outside the Box intervention. Dream Big Sports.	The potential impact of metacognition and self-regulation approaches is high (+7 months additional progress), although it can be difficult to realise this impact in practice as such methods require pupils to take greater responsibility for their learning and develop their understanding of what is required to succeed. EEF Social and emotional learning approaches have a positive impact, on average, of 4 months’ additional progress in academic outcomes over the course of an academic year. This finding, however, has very low security, so schools should be especially careful to monitor the efficacy of SEL approaches in their settings. EEF The studies in the Toolkit focus primarily on academic outcomes, but it is important to consider the other benefits of SEL interventions. Being able to effectively manage emotions will be beneficial to children and young people even if it does not translate to reading or maths scores. EEF	1, 2, 3, 4
Self-regulation (1 hour weekly) Talking and drawing (2 x 1 hour weekly)	The potential impact of metacognition and self-regulation approaches is high (+7 months additional progress), although it can be difficult to realise this impact in practice as such methods require pupils to take greater responsibility for their learning and develop their understanding of what is required to succeed. The evidence indicates that explicitly teaching strategies to help plan, monitor and evaluate specific aspects of their learning can be effective. These approaches are more effective when they are applied to challenging tasks rooted in the usual curriculum content. Teachers can demonstrate effective use of metacognitive and self-regulatory strategies by modelling their own thought processes. For example, teachers might explain their thinking when interpreting a text or solving a mathematical task, alongside promoting and developing metacognitive talk related to lesson objectives. Professional development can be used to develop a mental model of metacognition and self-regulation, alongside an understanding of teaching metacognitive strategies.	1, 2, 3, 4
Forest School teacher (0.25) &  PLA (0.25) & PLA (0.4)	Outdoor Adventure Learning might provide opportunities for disadvantaged pupils to participate in activities that they otherwise might not be able to access. Through participation in these challenging physical and emotional activities, outdoor adventure learning interventions can support pupils to develop non-cognitive skills such as resilience, self-confidence and motivation. EEF The application of these non-cognitive skills in the classroom may in turn have a positive effect on academic outcomes. However, the evidence base linking non-cognitive skills and pupil attainment is weak and schools should therefore carefully evaluate the impact of outdoor learning interventions on pupil achievement, if this is the intended outcome. EEF	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Music & Choir	Due to financial constraints, many children may not have the opportunity to learn to play an instrument. In providing free music tuition and the performance experiences that go with it, we aim to help widen pupils’ life experiences and raise their aspirations.	4
Breakfast club staff	The context of the school is such that many parents/ carers, including children with CP/ CIN/ EHA plans or CLA children are in need of support to provide for their basic needs. Children should be offered access to breakfast club and it’s provision of a free meal. All attending children will be provided with a breakfast/ morning snack of fruit, toast, yogurt and milk.	1, 2, 3, 4
After school clubs (various clubs throughout the year) Breakfast club sports provision.	Due to financial constraints, many children may not have the opportunity to join out of school sports clubs/ activities. In providing free after school clubs, we aim to help widen pupils’ life experiences and raise their aspirations.	1, 2, 3, 4
Additional PLA x2  support in Phase 1 and Phase 2.	Tuition targeted at specific needs and knowledge gaps can be an effective method to support low attaining pupils or those falling behind, both one to-one: One to one tuition | EEF (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk) And in small groups: small group tuition | Toolkit Strand | Education Endowment Foundation | EEF
SEND consultancy with Sycamore SEND Consultant.	It is important that spoken language activities are matched to learners’ current stage of development, so that it extends their learning and connects with the curriculum. EEF Training can support adults to ensure they model and develop pupils’ oral language skills and vocabulary development. EEF

Total budgeted cost: £455,308

Part B: Review of outcomes in the previous academic year

Pupil premium strategy outcomes

This details the impact that our pupil premium activity had on pupils’ attainment in the 2024 to 2025 academic year. The tables below display the % of children (All, PP and Non- PP) at ARE (Age Related Expectations).  

Reading
	All	PP	Non-PP
Reception	60.4%	59.1%	61.5%
Y2	52%	54%	50%
Y6	66.7%	64.5%	71%

Writing
	All	PP	Non-PP
Reception	52.1%	54.5%	50%
Y2	53%	54%	51%
Y6	78%	76.7%	80.6%

Maths
	All	PP	Non-PP
Reception	58.3%	63.6%	53.8%
Y2	62%	60%	62%
Y6	66.7%	62.9%	74.2%

As the data above shows pupils eligible for pupil premium performed less well than those ineligible for pupil premium in all subjects in Y6.

Intended outcome	Success criteria
Lack of high-quality Reading and Writing materials in the home 67% EAL school population. Some poor parental understanding of how to support and help early reading and writing, poor language acquisition, low comprehension/ inference and deduction skills. High mobility, with low entry points (start & mid-year). High levels of deprivation & difficult home circumstances.	Moderation of writing shows improved use of vocabulary. Writing data shows that children eligible for PP perform better than non PP in both Reception and Y2.
Lack of Maths materials in the home. Some poor parental understanding of how to support and help Maths’ skills development. Some parents using different mathematical methods to support children. High mobility, with low entry points (start & mid-year). High levels of deprivation & difficult home circumstances. 67% EAL school population.	As the data above shows, Maths outcomes for pupils eligible for pupil premium were considerably higher in Reception, but lower in Y2 and Y6.
Low Entry point/ baselines in Nursery and Reception SEND Communication and Interaction Mobility rate	EYFS data shows that children eligible for PP perform better in Writing and Maths than non PP children.
Experiential Audit showed limited enrichment opportunities outside of school.	CPOMS incidents for mental health have reduced from 2024 figures. All after school clubs are attended by pupils eligible for FSM. Y5/ Y6 residential was attended by 88% FSM

To see copies of the latest Bright Futures Educational Trust Financial Statements please click here.