Detail

Data

School name

Banwell Primary School

Number of pupils in school 

134

Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible pupils

36

Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3 year plans are recommended)

2025-2027

Date this statement was published

31/12/2025

Date on which it will be reviewed by

31/12/2026

Statement authorised by

Roxanne Simpson

Executive Headteacher

Pupil premium lead

Roxanne Simpson

Executive Headteacher

Governor / Trustee lead

Mrs Caroline Walker

Detail

Amount

Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year

£42 287

Recovery premium funding allocation this academic year

£0

Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable)

£0

Total budget for this academic year

If your school is an academy in a trust that pools this funding, state the amount available to your school this academic year

£42 287

At Banwell Primary School, we are collectively committed to fostering a sense of belonging for every pupil and family in our school community. It is our intention is that all pupils, irrespective of their background or the challenges they face, make good progress and achieve highly across all subjects and aspects of school life. The focus of our pupil premium strategy is to support pupils who experience disadvantage to achieve in line with their non-disadvantaged peers. 

Expectations are high for all pupils -

The trend over the time at Banwell has seen a fluctuating number of Pupil Premium (PP) pupils as a percentage of the school’s demographic and falling roll. Despite this, the percentage number of pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding (36 pupils) is below the national average. Our school is located within a small, rural town with the majority of children living within the catchment or in nearby villages. We consider the individual challenges faced by our disadvantaged pupils and their families. We understand the challenge of growing up as a child facing disadvantage, so we strive to ensure all pupils in our school have access to high quality teaching and language skills. The provision we have outlined in this statement is also intended to support each child’s needs, regardless of whether they face disadvantage or not. 

Our strategy aligns with our school’s values and our school’s ethos of Believe, Belong and Achieve. Through our three-tiered approach, quality-first teaching is at the heart of our strategy, with a focus on areas in which disadvantaged pupils require the most support. Curriculum equity is prioritized. All pupils have an equitable access to a rich, broad and balanced curriculum where interventions are strategically selected to target key issues. This is proven to have the greatest impact on closing the disadvantage attainment gap and at the same time will benefit the non-disadvantaged pupils in our school. Implicit in the intended outcomes detailed below, is the intention that non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment will be sustained and improved alongside progress for their disadvantaged peers. We are committed to targeting our interventions to combat the barriers to all pupil’s learning and therefore, wider success. Our approach will be responsive to individual needs and challenges, rooted in robust diagnostic assessment. Assessment not assumptions drives our strategy identifying tightly focused improvement priorities. The approaches we have adopted complement each other to help pupils achieve.

To ensure they are effective we will: 

•       prioritise our pupils’ emotional needs, first and foremost, so that they have the right attitudes for learning (self-esteem, resilience, positive relationship building) 

•       adopt a whole school approach with clear systems and processes for inclusion which will consider the teaching and learning, academic intervention and wider approaches to support pupils. 

•       set clear outcomes for the impact of disadvantaged strategies and monitor progress and quality of teaching using robust and pragmatic measures 

•       rigorously monitor pupil progress to ensure provision is effective 

•       involve parents in their child’s learning and progress so we can work in partnership to build positive relationships and ultimately accelerate learning and well-being for our pupils.

•       ensure that all staff take responsibility for pupil’s outcomes, particularly those who experience or face disadvantage.

Challenge number

Detail of challenge 

1

Assessments and observations with pupils indicate underdeveloped oral language skills and vocabulary gaps among many disadvantaged pupils. These are evident from Reception through to KS2 and in general, are more prevalent among our disadvantaged pupils than their peers.

2

Assessments, analysis and observations indicate that disadvantaged pupils generally achieve lower outcomes in reading, writing and maths than their non disadvantaged peers.  

3

Our observations and discussions with pupils and families indicate that disadvantaged families were impacted by restricted access to school / school closures because of the pandemic in 2020-21.  This continues to have a varied impact.

For many of our younger children, there was reduced interaction with peers and adults at a critical time for the development of language and socialisation skills.  The consequence in school is that peer to peer relationship issues are less easily resolved without adult intervention than previously.

For older children there may be knowledge gaps caused by missed learning during the pandemic.

4

A broad and balanced curriculum is especially important for those pupils who come from a disadvantaged background. A narrow curriculum may limit opportunities and life choices.

5

Our attendance data from 01/09/2024 – 18/12/2024 indicates that attendance among disadvantaged pupils remains lower than for non-disadvantaged pupils.  Attendance for all children is 93.74% (just slightly below the national average attendance), whilst for children in receipt of Pupil Premium funding, attendance is 88%.  A very small group of pupils account for much of this gap.  

Our assessments and observations indicate that absenteeism is negatively impacting disadvantaged pupils’ progress.

Challenge number

Detail of Challenge

1

Attainment in Writing, Reading and Maths

Assessment data from 2025-2026 indicates that attainment is lower among pupil premium and disadvantaged pupils in comparison to their peers. Observations, moderation of work and internal assessment and monitoring indicate that the key barriers across KS1 and KS2 are:

•             Handwriting and fine-motor development impacting writing outcomes in EYFS and KS1

•             Arithmetic and Multiplication knowledge

•             Comprehension skills – retrieval, inference and summarizing

•             Sustaining rapid progress in phonic knowledge and application.

2

Poverty of language

Assessments, observations, and discussions with pupils indicate underdeveloped oral language skills, vocabulary gaps and poor written communication skill among many disadvantaged pupils. These are evident from Reception through to KS2 and in general, are more prevalent among our disadvantaged pupils than their peers

3

Supporting wellbeing and promoting positive mental health

Our assessments, observations and discussions with pupils and families have identified various SEMH issues across the school that have an impact on the pupil’s wellbeing, engagement, social skills and levels of happiness. These challenges particularly affect our disadvantaged pupils

4

Implementing an ambition curriculum with powerful knowledge

Banwell is a rural North Somerset school, with most pupils coming from the town or surrounding villages. We wish to ensure our disadvantaged learners have exposure to a variety of different cultures, beliefs, experiences, viewpoints, a knowledge rich curriculum including wider curriculum opportunities, that would otherwise be out of reach. All of our pupils, including our most disadvantaged, must experience a rich, varied and inspirational school offer, which includes greater participation in clubs and extra-curricular opportunities.

Intended outcome  

Success criteria  

Our PP pupils will be able to chunk learning into manageable steps to achieve perceived difficult tasks.   

Children will be able to achieve tasks which are consider hard by putting strategies into place. 

Mental maths knowledge and number awareness will be increased and secured. 

The number of sole-PP pupils achieving ARE in maths will be closer to the numbers of non-PP pupils achieving ARE in maths. 

Our PP pupils lack the stamina and resilience needed for writing. 

The number of sole-PP pupils achieving ARE in writing will be closer to the numbers of non-PP pupils achieving ARE in writing. 

Pupils will have strategies for dealing with conflict in peer relationships and have a range of positive strategies for regulating emotion.

Behaviour of PP pupils will improve especially during break and lunch times. 

Parents/carers of PP pupils will feel more welcome in actively engaging in school and supporting their children to achieve and reach their potential. This will result in improved progress, higher attainment, higher attendance and less lateness  

Parent will be supported by the pastoral staff   

Teachers will provide advice and strategies for parents to support pupils at home Breakfast club will enable pupils to have a calm start to the day  

PP attendance is in line with non-pp attendance  

Activity  

Evidence that supports this approach  

Challenge number(s) addressed  

Mastering number programme in

EYFS and

KS1 

A report by the Fair Education Alliance looks at schools with good outcomes for disadvantaged children in maths. Investigating 20 schools and Early Years providers, it pinpoints the factors in their success. Many of the schools cite teaching for mastery as a key factor. NCTEM 

2 

Embedding

dialogic

activities across the school curriculum.

(Bucket time and development of core books and poetry)

These support pupils to articulate key ideas,

Consolidate understanding and extend vocabulary.

We will purchase additional training and resource and fund training and release time for all staff

There is a strong evidence base that  suggests oral language interventions, including dialogic activities such as high-quality classroom discussions, are inexpensive to implement with high impact on reading:

Oral language interventions | Toolkit

Strand | Education Endowment

Foundation | EEF

1, 2 and 4

Explicit coaching with staff on the planning for, teaching of and assessment of writing in KS1 and 2

EEF report Improving writing at KS2

EEF report: Improving writing at KS1

3 and 6

Specific CPD opportunities identified for all staff to engage in developing an effective whole school approach

(narrative and culture) to dealing with challenging behaviour.

EEF Improving Behaviour

CPD training session for all staff in Term 4 to look at supporting children during free time especially with a direct focus on conflict resolution. 

•      Trauma Informed training for class teachers (ELAN INSET day)

•      Implementation of Zones of Regulation as part of a whole school narrative

•      Resourcing to ensure effective implementation  

4

Effective implementation and use of adaptive technology for all learners

EEF Using digital technology to improve learning

 All staff received training on this as well as follow-up opportunities to ensure staff have been up-skilled.  

1

3

Successfully implement Opening Worlds (wider curriculum in History,

Geography, RE and Science 

Working alongside Opening Worlds Implementation Lead, ensure staff have regular opportunities for developmental feedback and collaboration/trouble shooting 

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/news/eefblog-anchoring-curriculum-knowledge-usingmetacognitive-strategies 

1, 2, 3, and 4

Inclusion team carries out proactive and reactive work to support those with behaviour and emotional needs

•             EEF toolkits show +3 and +4 months for behaviour interventions and programmes targeting social emotional learning respectively 

•             Class teams in KS2 have identified children needing additional social and emotional support to access coaching/ social thinking group or 1:1 Mental Health First Aid 

EEF_Social_and_Emotional_Learni ng.pdf (educationendowmentfoundation .org.uk 

 1 and 3

Activity  

Evidence that supports this approach  

Challenge number(s) addressed  

Wider SEMH curriculum

EEF Social and emotional learning - the importance

KS2 have been targeted to receive support around building and maintain friendships and dealing with conflict within friendships. 

1 and 6

Bucket time training 

EEF Social and emotional learning - the importance

EYFS-focused interventions around developing attention and listening

1 and 6

Clicker8

EEF Using digital technology to improve learning

Using Clicker8 as an adaptive technology program will aim to increase PP pupils engagement with writing and remove some of barriers (spelling, transcription) associated with it to allow more success. 

1 and 3

Nessy

EEF Improving Literacy in the classroom

Spelling is vital to improving literacy, Through Nessy, support is being given to those who find this skill the hardest, thus helping to remove one of the barriers to writing successfully. 

3

Doodle

EEF Improving Mathematics in KS2

Ensuring that pupils develop fluent recall of facts in mathematics is essential to strong foundations in mathematics. 

1

Activity  

Evidence that supports this approach  

Challenge number(s) addressed  

Pupil SEMH needs supported by Learning

Mentor

EEF Social and emotional learning - the importance

4

Focussed 1:1 work or small group work led by Learning Mentor  

Monitor of attendance with attendance clinics  

EEF Attendance interventions evidence  

5

Families supported by breakfast club provision and afterschool club  

IFS researchers in collaboration with the National Children’s Bureau finds that offering relatively disadvantaged primary schools in England support to establish a universal, free, beforeschool breakfast club can improve pupils’ academic attainment.

Children who come to school hungry are less attentive, more disruptive and less likely to understand and remember the day’s lessons.  

5

Exciting trips and visits planned to enhance the curriculum including Year 6 residential -Purchase of ‘handling boxes’ to support the wider curriculum

Children who are exposed to these have an informed and contextual knowledge to enhance their understanding of the world. -It will increase ‘cultural capital’ of PP pupils exposing them to similar experiences that more advantaged peers have

3, 4, 5 and 6

Music wider opportunities through whole class music Children who are exposed to these have

an enhanced knowledge and understanding of the world. Lessons and whole class workshops

(supported by the

WEMA)

Children who are exposed to these have an enhanced knowledge and understanding of the world.

-It will increase ‘cultural capital’ of PP pupils exposing them to similar experiences that more advantaged peers have

 -children are able to follow hobbies and passions without finance being a barrier. This will foster a love of music and raise their self-esteem.

3, 4, 5 and 6

Subject

All pupils

PP pupils

Reading

82%

(17)

50%

(2)

Writing

65%

(17)

0%

(2)

Maths

65%

(17)

0%

(2)

Activity

Impact

Learning Mentor to carry out proactive and reactive work to support those with behaviour and emotional needs

The learning mentor provided additional support for vulnerable pupils and families. This ensured that children’s wellbeing and readiness for learning was improved. The Inclusion team is made up of the Executive

Headteacher, Head of School and Learning

Mentor, who meet weekly to review vulnerable children and families. This is ensures that actions can be put in place quickly and followed up with families.

Learning Mentor to co-ordinate attendance (includes rewards for good attendance regular meetings with education welfare officer to monitor attendance and set targets)

Learning Mentor monitored attendance weekly with liaised with Trust EWP to issue attendance letters. The Learning Mentor worked with parents/carers to try to overcome barriers to good attendance. 

Exciting trips and visit planned to enhance the curriculum during Year 6 residential 

The curriculum offered to pupils in all years was enhanced by a wide range of visits and visitors to the school such as sports providers, historical experts and theatre groups. These provided pupils with opportunities to learn and experience new ways of learning. This visits provided disadvantaged pupils with opportunities which they would generally not experience. This increased pupils’ cultural capital and provided fun and engaging learning which promoted positive attitudes to learning.

Music opportunities though whole class music lessons and whole class workshops

(supported by WEMA)

Year 5 children had two terms of djembe drumming which was funded by Pupil premium. They made good progress and enjoyed these lessons. They performed a concert for parents/carers at the end of the two terms which was well attended. Other classes took part in music workshops including our end of year Music concert to promote musical engagement. These opportunities enriched the curriculum for children and supported their language as well as music development.

Programme

Provider

White Rose Maths

White Rose Maths

Nessy

Net Educational Suppliers

DOODLE

Discovery Education

TT Rockstars and Numbots

Maths Circle

TALK BOOST

I CAN

CLICKER 8

Crick Software

Measure

Details

How did you spend your service pupil premium allocation last academic year?

N/A

What was the impact of that spending on service pupil premium eligible pupils?

N/A

Pupil premium area for development

Focus area 2025    2026   2027

Pupil premium intended outcome

Teaching and targeted academic support

to invest in targeted coaching support for staff to ensure that they support the needs of pupils effectively.

Improved outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics (particularly MTC in Year 4) for pupils eligible for pupil premium.

Reading

to raise standards in phonics and reading to at least the same attainment levels as non-PP pupils (particularly in KS2) through focussed intervention and investment in high quality texts

Improved outcomes in

reading for those eligible for

PP

Close the gap between pupil premium and non-pupil premium pupils

Writing

To raise standards in writing to at least the same attainment levels as non-PP pupils nationally through quality first teaching

Improved outcomes in writing for those eligible for PP

Close the gap between pupil premium and non-pupil premium pupils

Maths

To raise the standards in maths to at least the same attainment levels as non-PP pupils nationally- intervention and coaching.

Improved outcomes in maths

for pupils eligible for pupil premium. 

Close the gap between pupil premium and non-pupil premium pupils.

Broader curriculum cultural capital 

To ensure we continue to deliver a broad and balanced that develops key skills in core and non-core subjects. This includes Humanities – Opening Words (RE, History and Geography) as well as HEP Science and the Extend

Year 1 curriculum

Improved and quality assured curriculum design which will enrich and inspire focussing on processes as well as outcome.

Attendance

To improve and maintain levels of attendance and punctuality

Improved attendance and punctuality percentages in line with national averages.