Equalities & Additional Intervention

 We believe that all children should be equally valued at Chobham. We strive to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and to develop an environment where all students can flourish and feel safe. At Chobham we value the talents of everyone and no student is allowed to fail.

Chobham Academy is committed to inclusion and part of our strategic planning involves developing cultures, policies and practices that include all learners. We aim to engender a sense of community and belonging, and to offer new opportunities to learners who may have experienced previous difficulties. At Chobham, every student is an individual and we will respond to learners in ways that take into account their varied life experiences and needs.

We believe that educational inclusion is about equal opportunities for all learners, whatever their age, gender, demographic group, ethnicity, additional need, attainment and background. We pay particular attention to the provision for and the achievement of different groups of learners:

• Students from families that are financially disadvantaged (Pupil Premium)
• Students who arrive at Chobham with below nationally expected performance in any curriculum area
• Boys and Girls
• Students from minority faiths, ethnicities, travellers, asylum seekers and refugees
• Students who have English as an additional language (EAL)
• Students who have Special Educational Needs or a disability (SEND)
• Students who are Gifted and Talented (G&T)
• Students who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT)
• Students who are Looked After Children (LAC)
• Young carers, sick children and children from families under stress

Overview

44% of students in the Chobham secondary phase are in receipt of Pupil Premium (PP) funding. PP funding is allocated to schools on the basis of the number of students they have from disadvantaged backgrounds. The purpose of the funding is to ensure that students in receipt of PP support are enabled to succeed to the same degree as their peers at school who are not from disadvantaged backgrounds.

At Chobham, we define succeeding equally as being:

• PP and non-PP students make comparable progress overall in GCSE examinations
• PP and non-PP students make comparable progress in each individual subject
• PP and non-PP students engage to the same degree in enrichment and extra-curricular activities
• All groups of students behave and learn equally well
• All groups of students have the same access to trips and visits and participate equally
• Ensuring PP students are able to take part in a range of character building activities.

The Pupil Premium spending plan for 2019-20 can be found here.

The Pupil Premium Spending plan for 2020-21 can be found here.

Year 7 Catch-Up Premium

Year 7 Catch-Up Premium is a sum of money given by the Government to schools in order to help students fully access the Year 7 curriculum. Research shows that students who fall behind in Year 7 often find it difficult to catch up with their peers. Unless effectively addressed, this learning gap can continue throughout a child’s school career and ultimately impact upon examination results.

Chobham received a sum of £14,746 in catch-up funding for the academic year 2019-20.

This sum was contributed towards two specific resources:

• Teaching Assistant (TA) provision for students not yet able to access the curriculum
• A contribution towards the cost of the LEXIA reading support programme.

Both of these investments were deemed to be successful. During the course of the academic year the majority of students initially receiving additional support became able to successfully access the curriculum without it. The majority saw above average progress in their academic subjects and in reading. The catch-up funding comprises only a small percentage of the total sum allocated by the Academy to helping students effectively access the curriculum.

The sum we will receive for Year 7 catch-up support in 2020-21 is estimated at £16,303. Again, this will be directed towards TA support with learning in lessons and towards assisting with reading. We will measure progress at least termly using our ongoing assessments across departments and evaluation of the LEXIA programme.

Catch up Premium Grant 2020-21

Catch up premium is a sum of money allocated by the government to all schools in order to help address the gaps in learning caused by the lockdown school closures in spring and summer 2020.

This money is to be spent on strategies which will assist students in all year groups to catch up with learning missed and help ensure that their progress is back on track.

Inevitably, some priority must be given to the needs of students in Years 11 and 13 who are due to take GCSE and A Level examinations respectively in 2021.  However, the catch up premium will be targeted at students in need in all year groups.

In organising the distribution of the catch up budget, we have first identified through our assessment processes those students who most need additional support in catching up.  We have also identified exactly what they need to learn and by when.

Having completed this diagnosis, we have looked at the types of additional support which will best help our students to fill their learning gaps, based upon the way that groups and individuals within the Academy learn most effectively.  The plan below sets out the types of intervention which we believe will prove most effective with our students together with the resources allocated to each.

These strategies and related expenditure will take place throughout the 2020-21 academic year.