Our pupils are premium, says award-winning school

A Whitefield primary school has won Downing Street approval in a national competition to improve disadvantaged pupils’ learning.

All Saints CE has been chosen as the North West winner of the Pupil Premium Awards – Primary School of the Year, and will now go to the UK finals on 25 June in London.

The winners will be announced by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who wrote to All Saints’ head teacher Mrs Gail Branch with the good news.

“This is a huge achievement and reflects the hard work of you, your team and your pupils,” he said. “We received nearly 200 entries this year and the standard was very high.”

The Pupil Premium was introduced in April 2011 and paid to schools to provide additional educational support to those pupils who need it most, narrowing the achievement gap between them and their
peers.

Mrs Branch said that everyone at All Saints was delighted with the news. “Our vision is to provide a supportive learning environment and a stimulating, fun, creative curriculum,” she said. “We believe that we have effectively used our pupil premium money, having a clear focus on our objectives and putting it to a variety of different uses. We have not simply concentrated on improving academic achievement but also on raising the self-esteem of the children and improving their attitude to learning, which has been described as ‘exceptionally positive’ by Ofsted.

“Through careful and innovative use of the money, in 2013 we did not only completely close the gap in attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 but the ‘value added’ scores for all areas show that
underprivileged pupils who have benefitted from this money have outperformed the rest of the cohort.”

The school looked at the needs of each pupil and:

 
• Invested a significant amount of the funding into additional staffing to ensure these pupils’ needs are met. Teaching assistant support has been increased to ensure children have access to effective intervention programmes. A reading programme ensures children read with an adult on a 1:1 basis. In addition, an additional experienced teacher gives 1:1 support to address
       any issues the individuals are having with their learning.
• Provided disadvantaged pupils, who do not have the resources at home, with access to their own laptop in school so they can complete online tasks and carry out research for their work. Study guides and other essential resources are provided.
• Worked with parents on the Achievement for All project. This gives staff and parents coaching to help them work together to ensure that barriers to pupils’ learning can be broken down.
• Improved the self-esteem of pupils by providing them with opportunities and resources to be successful in school and at home.
  

Mrs Branch added: “The results of all this investment are there for all to see. At All Saints, pupils who benefitted from the pupil premium have scored much higher marks than the national average for similar children – in all subjects, whether that be in reading, writing or maths, and at both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

“More than that, to see the pupils believing in themselves, achieving, enjoying their learning, makes us feel that at All Saints every last penny spent has been worth it.

“We are planning even more initiatives, funded by the pupil premium, for the next school year to ensure that our youngsters continue to get the best possible education, regardless of their background or family circumstances.”

The national winners will be awarded £10,000 in recognition of the work they do to boost the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, with the runner-up received £3,000.

Councillor Gill Campbell, Bury Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “This is a truly tremendous achievement for All Saints and the many pupils who can look forward to a brighter future than might otherwise have been the case. Congratulations to everyone at the school, and the best of luck at the national finals on 25 June.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 2 June 2014.

Picture: Pupils in last year’s Year 6 at All Saints Primary School.