government has pledged to continue to increase pupil premium funding, to ensure that schools can afford the most effective interventions. Ofsted (2013, p.3) reported that schools that were more successful in closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers on “drew research evidence (such as the Sutton Trust Toolkit) and evidence from their own and experience to allocate the funding to the activities that were most likely to others’ have an impact on improving Common sense dictates that the same achievement”. principles apply at a classroom level. So, although teachers have little say in the allocation of funding, I have attempted to provide a response to the initial question I posed: According to the literature, what can a teacher do to maximise the progress of all pupils and close the attainment gap? Class teachers should: Know which pupils are eligible for Pupil Premium funding so that they can take responsibility for accelerating their progress. Ensure that families and students eligible for Pupil Premium funding know the resources that are available to them to progress their own learning and achievement. E.g. stationary, revision guides, transport, school uniform, educational visits, external tuition e.g. music, dance or drama lessons and for ICT hardware. Closely monitor attendance and punctuality and together with the school provide well-targeted support to improve attendance, behaviour or links with families where these are barriers to learning. pupil’s
government has pledged to continue to increase pupil premium funding, to ensure that schools can afford the most effective interventions. Ofsted (2013, p.3) reported that schools that were more successful in closing the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their more affluent peers “drew on research evidence (such as the Sutton Trust Toolkit) and evidence from their own and others’ experience to allocate the funding to the activities that were most likely to have an impact on improving achievement”. Common sense dictates that the same principles apply at a classroom level. So, although teachers have little say in the allocation of funding, I have attempted to provide a response to the initial question I posed: According to the literature, what can a teacher do to maximise the progress of all pupils and close the attainment gap? Class teachers should: Know which pupils are eligible for Pupil Premium funding so that they can take responsibility for accelerating their progress. Ensure that families and students eligible for Pupil Premium funding know the resources that are available to them to progress their own learning and achievement. E.g. stationary, revision guides, transport, school uniform, educational visits, external tuition e.g. music, dance or drama lessons and for ICT hardware. Closely monitor attendance and punctuality and together with the school provide well-targeted support to improve attendance, behaviour or links with families where these are barriers to pupil’s learning.