Agenda item

1.            The Chairman welcomed the two guests; Ashley Crittenden and Paula Martin to the Select Committee meeting and invited all those present to introduce themselves.

2.            Ashley Crittenden explained that she had been the Headteacher at the West Borough Primary School for the past 11 years over which time the school had gone from struggling with numbers to being full and oversubscribed.  This year the school had been asked to take on an addition class of children due to the need within the local area.  The addition of a nursery attached to the school had helped service and support a socially deprived area.  The school was passionate about their children and wanted every child to achieve well and have a positive outlook of school.

3.            Paula Martin made the Committee aware of her role as the Assistant Headteacher and the schools SENCO.  Her role also covered responsibilities for children with additional needs, Pupil Premium, attendance and student and family support.

4.            The Chairman asked for comments on how vital the early years of education were.  Ashley Crittenden explained that the nursery had grown from the changes - being more flexible with the hours offered to parents.  This had led to the nursery becoming full and had benefitted from a highly qualified teacher leading the provision with SENCO experience.  It had become essential to tap into families at an early stage and with a children centre attached to the site, they could work in partnership to identify needs for the transition period for moving into school.  They also had children eligible for the early years Pupil Premium which formed part of the school’s overall strategy although it did not see them as two separate entities.

5.            The Chairman requested a breakdown of the nursery’s early years Pupil Premium.  Ashley Crittenden informed the Committee that they had only just been allocated the funds and the overall Pupil Premium budget was £143,800 and of that £1,500 was for the early years Pupil Premium.  Some of that money was identified for children with sensory issues and funded a new sensory room.

6.             The Chairman enquired how the Pupil Premium had been used as some schools use it on an individual basis with others using it for the school as a whole.  Ashley Crittenden commented that funds had be used to benefit the many at the school and children were tracked to help identify any barriers they might have had.  They also looked at what had worked well and those that had measurable impacts on children so a decision could be made whether to continue.  Paula Martin commented that it was looked at as a whole school picture; they identified the needs of the children across the school and looked at it through pupil progress meetings.

7.            The Chairman asked whether making the parents motivated and interested made a difference when deciding on how the money was to be allocated.  Ashley Crittenden gave an example of when Pupil Premium was first introduced some of the things the money had been used for were still continuing.  The main concern was for the wellbeing of the child and parents; money could be allocated to simply allow the child to get to school on time and have a breakfast.  The school carried out workshops for those parents on areas such as phonics and maths.  The school had a Pupil Premium champion and one of the areas that had been identified were children not reading at home, and they were now working closely with parents on how best to support them. Other areas of success had been employing a behaviour and safeguarding manager and their role was to ensure behaviour within the classroom were exemplary within a conducive environment.  Through the Pupil Premium funding they had been able to second a teacher to look at the schools behaviour policy and change the approach across the school with making children more aware of their own responsibilities. 

8.            The Chairman asked if the school involved early help.  Ashley Crittenden stated that they had a Family Liaison officer and there had been a shift from previous years in terms of how help had been requested.  In the past it had been the school approaching the parents to see if they could benefit from any early intervention or help but now families were coming to the school directly.  There was an ethos within the school for parents to feel comfortable in asking for help.

9.            Mrs Bell commented that there were thirty eight languages spoken at the school and asked how this was managed and whether the Pupil Premium was used for communication?  Ashley Crittenden stated that it was very varied and there had been a shift in the community as they were now seeing a larger pool of Eastern European families.  The school had become specialist in knowing what good practises to use for children with addition languages.  The school had a teaching assistant who had been able to support teachers and there hadn’t been many children who had been eligible for funding through the Pupil Premium.  

10.         Mrs Cole asked whether more money for the early years in nursery would be beneficial; and what key aspects had helped the school such as the Sutton Trust Tool Kit.  Ashley Crittenden responded that in terms of staffing they were now stable.  Over time they had worked hard to engage with families by meeting them on an individual basis through home visits prior to them starting the nursery/reception.  This helped build a good level of understanding around expectations at the school and would often lead to questions around entitlement to any additional funding.  When universal free school meals were introduced the school suffered as not many parents applied.  The school therefore adapted their admission booklet and requested a national insurance number and date of birth to be provided.  This allowed staff to check the child eligibility for free schools meals and if they were eligible, additional support could be provided.  Making parents feel comfortable that the school was a positive place through regular meetings went a long way to provide good relationships.  Ashley Crittenden felt that a good working partnership with the school governors was paramount as they could tap into the governor’s knowledge and experience to hold the school to account.  The governors would regularly monitor Pupil Premium through meeting three times a year.  The Committee were informed that in relation to early years, it was difficult to say if more funding would have made a difference due to the flexible hours that children attended.

11.         Mrs Dean commented that the school had used the Sutton Trust tool kit and wondered what interventions they had not found effective.  Ashley Crittenden had -stopped using 1-2-1 tutoring as she found the majority of children worked better within a group situation or mixed ability groups.

12.         Mrs Dean asked for comments on virtual schools and the difficulties these may have for looked after children.  Ashley Crittenden stated that they did not have any looked after children but both herself and Paula were designated leads along with three other trained teachers.  One of these teachers would be specifically for Looked After Children.

13.         Mrs Dean asked for further details about the specialist staff appointed for behaviour and what their role was.  Ashley Crittenden explained that it had originally been under a secondment for a term and they had spent the term watching and talking to children and families to see what was working and what constituted good behaviour.  Launching a new behaviour system along with the core values, it allowed children the responsibility for their own behaviour.  She would be available at play/lunch time and would spend time with children who were struggling within the class room and help them with re-integration.  There had been children at risk of exclusion - which she worked with – resulting in exclusions reducing to zero.  Due to the overall success of the role, new responsibilities had been taken on such as attendance role which had links with behaviour. 

14.         Mrs Dean made reference to the school being well resourced and asked how it had been achieved.  Ashley Crittenden commented that as a school they were careful on how they spent their budget, a large amount went on staffing who they valued and allowed to progress.  The school building had been brought up to standard and previously funds were allocated to converting an old shelter to a music room which benefited the whole school. 

15.         Mrs Dean enquired how many children had passed the Kent Test to which Ashley Crittenden confirmed 29 sat it with 45% passing.

16.         The Chairman enquired whether the Sutton Trust tool kit was recommended to which Ashley Crittenden commented that they valued it and used it as a reference.

17.         The Chairman questioned to what extent had the Pupil Premium funding been effective in narrowing the attainment gap between vulnerable children and their peers.  Ashley Crittenden confirmed that it had been very effective when accessing an additional £140,000 which was a significant amount of money and had allowed them to access resources such as the behaviour and safeguarding member.  It was also very important to acknowledge that the attainment was cohort specific.

18.         Mrs Bell enquired if the Pupil Premium had helped close the gap in terms of results. Ashley Crittenden confirmed it had - as the previous year their Pupil Premium children in Key Stage 2 cohort out preformed in comparison to all other children nationally.

19.         Mrs Dean enquired how they raised the standards for those schools who were not achieving.  Would schools clustering be a good strategy?  Ashley Crittenden stated it would be interesting to see how that school worked with other schools already as that was often the barrier.  Kent had provided a good tool kit which the school had accessed, and they would have been able to purchase someone to come into the school to do a Pupil Premium check to see what was working.  As a school they had always been open to new ideas and have to adapt to change.

20.         The Chairman thanks both Ashley Crittenden and Paula Martin for their valued input into the session and for answering Members questions.