The disadvantaged gap remains one of the most challenging issues faced by schools.

By disadvantaged the DfE means those pupils who receive Free School Meals (FSM) or are Looked After Children (LAC). Within The Learning Partnership (TLP) we extend this meaning of disadvantage to all these pupils as well as those pupils, irrespective of background, who are not thriving in school.

Research is relatively unambiguous about which strategies help to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged students with the most obvious being to improve their attendance.
Another significant barrier for disadvantaged students is the inability to read at an age-appropriate level or above. A student who struggles to read will struggle to access much of the curriculum and if this issue is not systematically addressed as early as possible their rate of progress will be diminished.

A further area is SEND where the proportion of disadvantaged students with a SEND diagnosis is higher compared to those with one who are not disadvantaged.

Research points to other strategies that help to overcome the barriers faced by disadvantaged students which include: tuition, in class support and parental engagement. If you look at the pupil premium strategies across individual schools, attendance and reading (literacy) figure prominently. This academic year, we are adopting a coordinated trust wide approach that looks systematically to harness the efforts of individual schools or to pool best practice. This is something we are working to align with a particular focus on attendance and Reading in the first instance. 

Our strategy is to implement a Trust wide strategy for both Attendance and Reading with our work on SEND being the ‘Golden Thread’ through both areas. It is also worthy of note that our work on improving writing in Primary schools also supports our schools in meeting aims outlined in their Pupil Premium strategies. 

We aim to do the following in:

Attendance

-    To ensure the attendance of all pupils (with a specific focus on disadvantaged students and closing the gap) is the focus of all stakeholders within the organisation (TLP).
-    To secure improvements in the attendance of all pupils across the organisation (TLP), including those that are classed as persistent and severely absent. 
-    To ensure ‘gaps’ are closed in the attendance of disadvantaged and SEND pupils at MAT and school level. 
-    To secure alignment in identified areas across all TLP schools. 

Reading

-    To secure alignment across our schools; ensuring a universal offer for all as well as identification for the need of intervention 
-    To build a culture which promotes a ‘Love of Reading’.
-    To ensure the weakest readers, across the organisation, are supported by access for all to evidence-based interventions which have proven impact. 

During this academic year (2024 – 2025) we have also established School Improvement Network groups for Secondary English and Maths colleagues and for Data and Assessment which directly relate to our priorities outlined in our Educational Framework.