The use of Pupil Premium Plus to Improve Educational Outcomes for Looked After Children
A recent paper written by Bath Spa University highlighted the variations in how different virtual schools allocate and manage Pupil Premium allocations, and the need to be able to measure and isolate the impact of PP+.
As identified in this paper, prior to the 2019-20 Academic year, each Local Authority had its own bespoke method of recording Pupil Premium Plus. From the start of the 2019-20 academic year, Welfare Call started offering an exemplar module, linking funding to targets/outcomes, and using the Education Endowment Foundation Toolkit to categorise these targets/outcomes.
How Welfare Call helps measure and evidence the impact of the use Pupil Premium Plus to improve educational outcomes for looked after children
Welfare Call links targets, Pupil Premium expenditure and interventions from the education Endowment Toolkit within its ePEP platform. As a result of the subsequent review of targets that have been agreed upon within each child/young person’s Personal Education Plan, combined with robust reporting tools, Virtual schools can thoroughly interrogate their use of PP+ and its efficiency in supporting young people.
Our successful model has been built to meet the needs of all our customers and has the degree of flexibility within our customisation options to ensure that it can work for you.
For example, as each target is created under a category and intervention type, linked to the relevant funding source, be that EHCP/PP+/Recovery Funding/school funded, then a full analysis of all aspects can be made.
All of the output is further enhanced by our immensely powerful analytics tool. Below are examples of Analytics Charts displaying Pupil Premium Spend categorised by the Categories and Interventions of the Education Endowment Foundation Toolkit, Review Status and Pupil Premium Impact.
Although predominantly used for statutory school-age children, the Pupil Premium module was designed from the start to allow for use with other cohorts within the same authority, each with a different limit to the funding.
By providing a standard model, Designated Teachers responsible for CLA from multiple authorities may be familiar with the format, even if they have not previously worked with children from a particular Local Authority. And by emphasising reporting on Pupil Premium rather than simply recording the spend, a Virtual School can easily view how Pupil Premium is deployed and which targets are the most successful, impactful, and effective.
Our module was designed from the outset with a firm eye on reporting and how it could feed into our Analytics platform.
- Outcomes/targets are not only requested via the module, they are also reviewed.
- Interactive charts within Analytics display how the funding was spent, where, on who, and the success of that funding.
- Reporting can encompass the entire cohort; it can be categorised by core data variables such as Year Group or SEN status, or by the academic year and term, it can be limited to a particular area, an Academy Trust, a single School, or a single child.
- Crucially it can also be categorised by the Review Status of the Target, and, a recent addition, the impact of the PP+.
Since its release, over 40 of our Local Authority PEP customers have adopted this module, approving over £21 million of funding for over 12,000 pupils, and 60,000+ Targets at 5,000+ Schools. £1.8 million of Pupil Premium requests for 2,500 pupils await approval.
If you’d like to find out more about how Welfare Call can help you understand how your Pupil Premium is deployed and which targets are the most successful, impactful and effective, get in touch:
Email [email protected], call +44 (0)1226 716333, drop us a line using our contact form, or contact your account manager directly for a further discussion.