Pupil Premium Interventions

01 Apr 2021

What is a pupil premium intervention?

The government introduced the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) to allocate extra funding for schools to use. The aim of this grant is to support disadvantaged pupils across publicly funded schools in England and narrow the attainment gap.

School leaders decide how the grant is used and may choose to use part of their pupil premium for intervention sessions. These interventions are short-term, targeted teaching programme with specific outcomes intended for a pupil or small group of pupils. These sessions are timetabled and targeted to pupils identified as requiring extra help to succeed in a given subject.

Intervention sessions can be delivered for disadvantaged students of any academic ability. The government identifies the most academically able disadvantaged pupils at most risk of not achieving their academic potential.

What makes a successful pupil premium intervention?

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) asserts interventions as a likely key component of an effective Pupil Premium Strategy. These intervention sessions should always be linked to classroom learning.

A successful pupil premium intervention may be planned accordingly through:

• Clear outcomes: From the outset of any school intervention strategy, a targeted plan should be mapped out. Pupils mostly likely to benefit from interventions should be identified. A clear understanding of which skills are being developed should also be observed.
• Regular intervention sessions: Regular intervention sessions, usually on a weekly basis, provides a stable foundation upon which pupils can develop their targeted skills and grow in confidence.
• Measure success and outcomes: As part of the original strategy, methods of identifying pupil’s academic development should be established. This commonly takes the form of an end of programme assessment, but wider support outcomes may also be measured through end of programme questionnaires for pupils or through classroom observation.

The Scholars Programme

The Brilliant Club has been cited by Ofsted as an ‘effective use of pupil premium funding’ through The Scholars Programme.

• The Scholars Programme fulfils the objectives of pupil premium by offering both academic support and cultural capital.
• As the programme is structured around seven tutorials and complemented by two university trips, The Scholars Programme develops lateral thinking skills key to academic learning and offers pupils an insight into a university-style standard of education.
• Targeted intervention is built into the programme as twelve pupils are included in one placement and are taught in two smaller groups of six.
• Every PhD tutor is trained by The Brilliant Club to deliver the programme where they can share their subject expertise and higher educational experience.
• The school impact report provided at the end of the programme provides a record of pupils’ progress against our university readiness competencies. The report also showcases pupil premium impact and progress against the Gatsby benchmarks.

To learn more about pupil premium, click here.

To learn about the updates made to the pupil premium, click here. 

The Brilliant Club is always looking for new schools to partner with and welcomes school enquires into running The Scholars Programme. Any enquiries can be submitted here.