Making Every Pound Count: How Welfare Call’s ePEP Optimises Pupil Premium Plus Funding
Virtual School Heads play a vital role in ensuring that looked-after children (CLA) achieve the best possible educational outcomes. A key tool in this effort is Pupil Premium Plus (PP+), funding designed to provide additional support and close the attainment gap for these vulnerable young people. But effectively tracking, measuring, and evidencing the impact of PP+ can be a significant challenge for Virtual Schools.
Our ePEP platform provides a solution by linking PP+ expenditure with clear targets and interventions from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) Toolkit. Through robust reporting and advanced analytics, Virtual Schools can fully interrogate the efficiency of their PP+ spending, demonstrating accountability and driving meaningful improvements.
Why Measuring and Evidencing Impact Matters
PP+ funding represents a critical opportunity to address barriers to learning for looked-after children. But simply allocating funding isn’t enough; Virtual Schools must ensure that it is used effectively to achieve measurable outcomes.
Key challenges include:
- Accountability: Local authorities and Virtual Schools must provide evidence of how PP+ is being used and its impact on CLA.
- Complexity: With multiple funding sources, interventions, and targets to track, manual reporting is time-consuming and prone to errors.
- Outcomes-focused reporting: It’s not just about where the money is spent but understanding whether it’s making a difference.
Welfare Call’s ePEP platform is designed to address these challenges head-on, helping Virtual Schools maximise the effectiveness of their PP+ funding.
How Welfare Call’s ePEP Platform Supports PP+ Impact Measurement
- Linking Targets, Funding, and Interventions
Welfare Call’s ePEP platform integrates PP+ expenditure with specific targets and interventions. Using the EEF Toolkit as a framework, targets can be categorised and linked to relevant funding sources, including EHCP, PP+, Recovery Funding, or school-funded initiatives.
This approach ensures that:
- Each funding source is transparently tracked.
- Interventions are aligned with evidence-based strategies.
- Virtual Schools can easily review and assess the outcomes of their investments.
- Powerful Reporting and Analytics
At the heart of the ePEP platform is its robust reporting and analytics capability. Virtual Schools can generate interactive charts that provide a detailed view of how PP+ funding is allocated and its effectiveness. Key features include:
- Customisable Reporting: Reports can be tailored to cover the entire cohort or specific groups, such as by year group, SEN status, school, or academy trust.
- Review Status Tracking: Targets are reviewed regularly, with outcomes and progress feeding directly into the analytics platform.
- Impact Analysis: New features allow Virtual Schools to categorise and evaluate targets based on their impact, providing a clear picture of what works.
Example Use Case:
Imagine a Virtual School wants to analyse how PP+ is being used to support pupils with SEN in Year 8. The ePEP platform allows them to drill down into spending data, review the success of specific interventions, and identify areas where adjustments might be needed.
- Designed for Flexibility and Scalability
The ePEP platform is built with flexibility in mind, ensuring it meets the diverse needs of local authorities. For example:
- It can accommodate multiple cohorts with different funding limits.
- Designated Teachers from different authorities can easily navigate the system due to its standardised structure.
- Reports can focus on individual children, schools, or wider geographical areas, providing insights at every level.
This scalability makes it easier for Virtual Schools to manage large volumes of data efficiently. Since its release, the module has supported over 12,000 pupils across 40 local authorities, approving £21 million in funding.
What Sets Welfare Call Apart
While many tools focus on recording PP+ expenditure, Welfare Call’s ePEP platform prioritises reporting and impact measurement. This shift from simply tracking spending to understanding outcomes is critical for Virtual Schools aiming to deliver real improvements for looked-after children.
Key advantages of Welfare Call’s approach include:
- Outcomes-Driven Design: Targets aren’t just logged; they’re reviewed and measured for impact.
- User-Friendly Interface: A consistent format ensures that Designated Teachers and Virtual School staff can easily navigate the platform, even when working across different local authorities.
- Time-Saving Automation: By linking targets, funding, and outcomes in one system, the platform eliminates the need for manual tracking and reduces administrative burdens.
Things to Consider When Evaluating PP+ Tools
When selecting tools to support PP+ management, Virtual Schools should ask:
- Does it link funding to specific, evidence-based interventions?
Look for tools that use frameworks like the EEF Toolkit to ensure funds are allocated effectively. - Can it measure and report on outcomes, not just spending?
Reporting should go beyond financial data to show the real impact on CLA’s educational outcomes. - Is it flexible and scalable?
The tool should adapt to different funding sources, cohort sizes, and reporting needs. - Does it save time and reduce complexity?
Choose a solution that simplifies workflows, freeing up staff to focus on supporting pupils.
Recommendations for Virtual Schools
- Integrate Analytics into Decision-Making
Use tools like Welfare Call’s ePEP platform to analyse what’s working and make evidence-based decisions. Regularly review targets and outcomes to refine your approach. - Collaborate with Schools and Teachers
Ensure that Designated Teachers understand how to use the platform effectively and that they’re aligned on key targets and interventions. - Focus on Transparency and Accountability
Build robust reporting into your processes to demonstrate the value of PP+ funding to stakeholders, including Ofsted. - Invest in Training and Support
Equip your team with the skills and knowledge to maximise the benefits of tools like Welfare Call’s ePEP platform.
Final Thoughts
Managing and evidencing the impact of PP+ funding is a complex task, but it’s also a critical one. By using Welfare Call’s ePEP platform, Virtual Schools can move beyond basic tracking to truly understand how their funding decisions are improving outcomes for looked-after children.
With over 60,000 targets reviewed across 40 local authorities, the ePEP platform has already proven its ability to deliver results. If your Virtual School is looking to maximise the impact of its PP+ funding, now is the time to explore how Welfare Call can help.
To find out more about how our ePEP can help your Virtual School, contact your account manager today.