Use of PAGS? to Reduce the Attainment gaps Among Learners on Pupil Premium by Nazia Ansari

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds experience a range of challenges including academically, socially, emotionally and mentally. This impacts their schooling experience which can be resolved by effective use of the Pupil Premium. Find out how PAGS, a continuous online profiling can support these students in overcoming these challenges to better prepare them for adult life and to enable them to access the same opportunities as their peers with the possibility of pursuing productive career paths.

The article is written by Nazia Ansari, an Inclusive Education Consultant with 14 years experience in the field of special education. She has taken on leadership roles in a variety of settings and has been actively involved in the development of resources aimed at improving assessment and goal setting for neurodiverse learners. Nazia works directly with students in order to ensure that they are being supported and also has experience in training preservice and in service general education teachers. Nazia is passionate about inclusion and believes that with the right strategies- neurodiverse learners can gain meaningfully from the mainstream curriculum.

"Students from disadvantaged backgrounds experience a range of challenges that impact their schooling experience. It is vital to support these students in overcoming these challenges to better prepare them for adult life and to enable them to access the same opportunities as their peers with the possibility of pursuing productive career paths.

In the UK, Pupil Premium (PP) is a fund that is available for schools to utilise in supporting learners from disadvantaged backgrounds which include those from low-income families, those who are currently or have been in care and those who act as carers (Department of Education, 2019). Students in these circumstances present with challenges that interfere with their academic achievement while in school. Studies show that some of the challenges disadvantaged students face are poor communication, low self-confidence, low self-esteem, low attendance, poor attitudes to learning, difficulties with developing resilience, aspiration and ambition; conduct problems and poor student-teacher relationships (The School Run, n.d., Kes Academy, n.d.). 

PP is aimed at enabling schools to close the attainment gap by putting strategies in place to support disadvantaged pupils in maximising the benefits they can gain from schooling as much as their peers do (Department of Education, 2019). Of utmost importance is how the funds are used (Education Endowment Fund, n.d.); schools can utilise PP in providing one-to-one support for learners, setting up catch-up learning sessions, providing extra tutoring, investing in electronics that will boost learning, providing extracurricular activities and running breakfast clubs among others (Department of Education, 2019). PP, though, is not only aimed at targeting academic outcomes, but also in ensuring that strategies are put in place to support non-academic outcomes such as securing a learner’s social, emotional and mental wellbeing and promoting positive behavioural skills (Department of Education, 2019). 

PAGS? is an online tool that supports the development of a learner across 4 areas: cognitive, social, communication and self-regulation. Using the tool involves a few simple steps:

1. Completion of a questionnaire which enables teachers and parents to gain a holistic view of a learners’ strengths, areas requiring development and highlights gaps that a student may have developed. 
2. Selection of targets to support the holistic development of the learner
3. Implementation of suggested strategies
4. Updating of targets once achieved
5. Re-assessment of a learner which generates a report showing where they have progressed or regressed thus allowing for next steps to be decided upon and established

PP takes a 3-tiered approach (Department of Education, 2019) all of which are supported by PAGS?

1. Improving the quality of teaching
2. Using a targeted approach
3. Using wider strategies that involve selecting non-academic skills leading to holistic development.

Academically, PAGS? focusses on building general academic skills such as recalling information, building research skills, teaching sequencing and ordering, developing memorisation strategies; building mathematical skills such as understanding number value, understanding number operations and fractions, multiplication and division; building language skills by improving vocabulary, comprehension and expressive skills. PAGS? also builds essential non-academic skills directly related to classroom learning which include developing functional listening skills, improving executive functioning and building attention. 

Wider strategies that PAGS? targets to improve emotional and mental wellbeing are supporting students to cope with change, supporting the development of positive attitudes about one’s self and one’s surroundings, dealing with bullying, being able to appropriately apply assertiveness and to be able to manage stress. Socially, PAGS? targets skills that improve peer interaction, develop an awareness of privacy and safety, understanding the impact of peer influence, initiating conversations and building relationships as well as enabling a student to maintain varying degrees of closeness as appropriate among their peers and family members. 

Schools have the power to decide how best to use their PP funds and directing it toward PAGS? would achieve several benefits. The Education Endowment Fund (n.d.) discusses 5 principles surrounding PP which PAGS? meets:

1. PP allows schools to make a difference to learners from disadvantaged backgrounds. To do this, schools would need to gain a full understanding of the learners’ skills and abilities, their strengths and their weaknesses. This allows schools to take a targeted approach and ensure that their efforts are relevant and progressive for any particular student. PAGS? provides feedback on areas that a learner needs to develop to ensure they are better gaining from the school environment.
2. The PP should be spent using an evidence-based approach that PAGS? achieves through the generation of profiles that highlight skills that students are secure in, skills that are emerging and skills that are lacking. The skills included in PAGS? are both research-based and informed by years of experience from leaders in the field and therefore provide an understanding of where a student lies based on what is considered typical development. 
3. Quality teaching is another principle that is important in supporting the progress of disadvantaged pupils when using PP; PAGS? upskills teachers as it highlights important developmental milestones that are essential in enabling students to gain from the curriculum. The tool provides teachers with a unique lens to view students through and understand them better and as a result, teachers gain a deeper understanding of challenges that students may face which impacts their schooling experience. Furthermore, PAGS? continues to develop teaching skills by providing suggested strategies that improve the overall quality of teaching. This has a ripple effect on other students who can learn from upskilled, equipped and informed teachers.
4. PP is most effectively utilised when strategies are implemented, PAGS? encourages teachers to implement strategies by showing them a 4-I’s approach to intervention which is available in the PAGS? Driving Manual. Implementation is also supported as the tool allows teachers to upload evidence of tasks and report on progress.
5. PAGS? enables teachers to appreciate the unique needs of each learner and therefore is an avenue to support low to high attainers in any school setting. 

The PP is not only aimed at supporting disadvantaged students but as a result, should lead to the improvement of teaching quality which is beneficial for all students. The Department of Education (2019) explains that to raise attainment, PP funds can be used to source activities that would also benefit non-eligible students which is an outcome of one of the 4-I’s approach to intervention. By using PAGS?, teachers know what to look for and how to resolve it which occurs continually. The Education Endowment Fund (n.d.) states that PP is not only aimed at academics and advises that core skills should be developed to not only help students in accessing the curriculum but also prepare them for adult life. PAGS? promotes a whole school approach as it allows those who comprise of a student’s support network to keep updated on what the learner’s profile is, their goals and their progress thus reducing improving collaboration among school and possibly with parents and caregivers. 

The Department of Education (2019) states the importance of accountability when utilising PP funds where it explains that parents should be informed on the strategies used to support their child and governing bodies should be able to see evidence of how effective a strategy is. With PAGS? both of these branches of accountability are achievable. Parents can be added to a child’s account where they can view what targets have been chosen and what strategies are being used. They can also see teacher reports and updates on progress. Again, with the graphical information and reports, governing bodies can easily assess how effectively the strategies are being used. 

PAGS? is a unique and thoroughly thought out tool that aims at supporting all stakeholders in education. It seeks to ensure that learners are understood and catered for; facilitates the professional development of teachers and provides guidance on how they can support all learners; gives SENCOs an avenue to easily monitor the support and progress of all learners and invites parents to be actively involved in the decision making of their children. PAGS? speaks collaboration and progress and is an asset to any school setting. 

References:

?Kes Academy (n.d.) Barriers and challenges faced by disadvantaged pupils in KESA.

Available at: https://kesacademy.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Website-Barriers-and-challenges-faced-by-disadvantaged-pupils-in-KESA.pdf [Accessed 25 Dec. 2019].

?Department for Education (2019). Pupil premium. [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium#use-of-the-pupil-premium [Accessed 25 Dec. 2019].

Department for Education (2019b). Pupil premium: effective use and accountability. [online] GOV.UK. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pupil-premium-effective-use-and-accountability.

Educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk. (2019). Pupil Premium Guide. [online] Available at: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/pupil-premium-guide/ [Accessed 11 Dec. 2019].

TheSchoolRun. (2011). The parent’s guide to the pupil premium. [online] Available at: https://www.theschoolrun.com/the-parents-guide-to-the-pupil-premium. "

by Nazia Ansari, Email: nazia@PAGS?profile.com, Twitter: @Nazia4Inclusion, LinkedIn: Nazia Ansari

Call to action

Visit the PAGS? website on https://www.PAGS?profile.com/Contact a member of the PAGS? team to be taken through a demo.

Feliciea Jibson, Email: feliciea@PAGS?profile.com , @FelicieaJibson, LinkedIn: Feliciea Jibson

Dave Green Twitter: @davegreenPAGS? LinkedIn: Dave Green