Using Pupil Premium in creative ways

Published 13th May 2017

Pupil Premium is additional funding for publicly funded schools in England, given to them by the Government, to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, of all abilities and to close the gaps between them and their peers.

Research shows that children from low income families perform less well at school than their peers. Often, children who are entitled to pupil premium face challenges such as poor language and communication skills, less family support, lack of confidence and issues with attendance and punctuality. The pupil premium is intended to directly benefit the children who are eligible, helping to narrow the gap between them and their classmates.

Schools can choose how to spend their pupil premium money, as they are best placed to identify what would be of most benefit to the children who are eligible.

Schools can use their pupil premium in creative ways

Building a case for using Pupil Premium to buy D&T Association membership, Even though the money is targeted at disadvantaged pupils, often all the children in a class will reap some benefit from how the school spends its pupil premium: for example, if the money is used to fund membership to a subject association, this will benefit the whole school, as well as enabling teachers to provide one-to-one support.

• School membership of subject associations, offers exceptional support for teachers in the classroom. The information available is a valuable source of ongoing CPD. Improving teacher knowledge and skills, especially in such a fast-paced subject as D&T and Engineering, will enable teachers to narrow gaps between disadvantaged children and their peers, particularly in English and maths.
• Primary school D&T membership supports a cross curricular teaching through D&T projects. Membership offers advice and guidance to teachers, regarding how to teach English, maths and science using D&T as the vehicle for learning.
• Secondary school membership supports D&T teachers to deliver exciting D&T lessons offering a wealth of teaching resources and a broad programme of CPD. D&T effectively helps, disadvantaged pupils to put into context, what they learn in maths, English and science lessons and so offering greater understanding of the core subjects. This creates a more engaged cohort of pupils.
• The support given to a member,  by the D&T Association, enables teachers to deliver a  subject, that pupils love and which helps them to effectively consolidate learning in other subjects which they may find more difficult.
• Breakfast and after school clubs improve school attendance. – Membership supports D&T teachers with the setup of D&T and STEM clubs, enabling them to run enrichment activities such as F1 in Schools or Greenpower.  These clubs further D&T and Engineering education, enabling some pupils access to the subject and influential national competitions which they may not normally have.
• Membership will inform and direct teachers regarding how to gain a better understanding of important industry standard software, such as Autodesk and Solidworks which pupils must be able to use. This will open their eyes, to the possible career paths available to them, when leaving school to enter a creative or technical career in design, engineering  or manufacturing
• D&T is delivered in smaller classroom sizes which is ideal for pupils who benefit from extra one-to-one or small-group support.
• D& T Association membership trains and supports the broad range of D&T  teaching specialists within a department. Teachers have a continual need to train to remain current and to effectively  deliver an inspiring 21st century curriculum. Exemplar and effective D&T teaching will equip disadvantaged pupils with hard and soft skills to help them when entering the workplace