Thoughts on the Pupil Premium

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life.
So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind
Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time
Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial
For what it's worth it was worth all the while
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life.
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life.
It's something unpredictable, but in the end is right,
I hope you had the time of your life.

Sometimes it's important to put plans into action and theory into practice. I'm using Staffrm here to voice some plans that are in progress. Time to get beyond the rhetoric (such as 'we must trust teachers') and commit to the how it is done.

Looking after the Pupil Premium is quite a responsibility, but goes to the heart of the why I've chosen to work in state funded education in the places I have. It goes right to the heart of what education is for, even when you take away the political football that is the ring fenced funding. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the Pupil Premium TeachMeet at Oxford University and here are some of the ideas that I shared. Sir Tim Brighouse chaired the event, and challenged me on a few things. I must point out that this is a small selection of what I do.

Providing opportunities for creativity, curiosity and serendipity within structures

Expert teachers are vital and a lot of my work is targeted at changing the culture away from a 'pupil premium' champion toward individual teachers and departments driving change and taking responsibility for progress. With trust comes responsibility and accountability. I hope to help develop a range of strategies that are sustainable and lead to improvement for all students. The priorities are:

//To support accelerated academic progress for Pupil Premium Students.

// To improve the attendance of Pupil Premium Students.

// To provide cultural capital and opportunities that would otherwise be missed.

1. High quality teaching and learning

I've developed a referral form using Google Docs. Individual teachers, tutors and other staff apply for funding through the form. I'm trying to trust teachers and value their professional judgement - they are the ones working with these students everyday. With funding comes accountability for the progress.

2. Teachers talking about teaching

The Teacher Learning Communities are focused around Pupil Premium Profiles and four research bursars are currently engaged in the process of investigating what works. I'm not one to settle for 'off-the-shelf' research and this is a way to prove and develop ideas within our own school setting. The projects are focused upon homework, meta-cognition, visual teaching strategies and peer teaching.

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

David Rogers

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