Page 10 - Athelstan Argus - May 2022

PUPIL PREMIUM UPDATE

At THE DEAN ACADEMY we utilise Performing Arts to significantly support and develop our
pupil premium students. In KS3 and KS4 PP students have continued to take advantage of free
peripatetic lessons in a range of instruments and singing. Music has been shown to enrich school
life, improve behaviour, and develop important skills such as resilience and teamwork. By giving
children the chance to learn an instrument as individuals or as a group, we are aiming to boost
academic achievement as it is proven that learning to play increases cognitive ability but also
gives them the right environment to improve wellbeing and confidence too.

In October we were very fortunate that a large group
of KS3 and 4 PP students participated in a Performing
Arts event at the ICC Wales where they got to dance
with students from dance schools across South Wales
and the West. Students had a fabulous time and got
to perform and visit a prestigious venue. Throughout
the year we have had several external guests visit our
Performing Arts department to do dance and music
workshops to support our students with their option
choices, develop pieces for coursework and more,
such as whole Y7 classes learning to play brass
instruments in partnership with Gloucestershire
Music. In March we also took many of our PP
students to London to watch ‘Frozen The Musical’.

In September we invited the London based charity The Brilliant Club into school for a term long
programme for our PP Y10 students to allow them to experience university style learning in small
group tutorials. This programme allowed them to develop key university-preparedness
skills including critical thinking, researching, subject knowledge, written communication and more.
The programme is highly rated by Ofsted for having an impact on PP students. Students explored
and developed ideas relating to wearable technology and had to write a 1500 word evaluation. It
was great to see such aspiration and forward thinking! We also had many of our PP students
engaged with the National Tutoring Programme on a 1-1 basis across Y7-Y10 to close the
learning gaps created by Covid. Students found this really useful in helping them to engage with
learning content in the classroom as they could more readily make links.

To support our students academically we have had a big push on Period 6
and ‘Victory Hour’ sessions for our Y11s to ensure we provide students with
access to all materials that they may not have access to at home and a
suitable learning environment. We launched our new Y10 ‘Extra Mile’
initiative that saw groups of students working together to develop their
revision techniques together with support from staff. This was a massive
success in the run up to their mocks and PP students felt it had a big
impact on preparing them; they have just finished the exams so we will see
the results soon!

In March we welcomed the Royal Institute of Philosophy into school to
deliver a series of workshops over 10 weeks with our Y10 Philosophy and
Ethics students that we were able to secure due to the number of PP
students studying this subject. The workshops engaged our students in fun and enriching
philosophical discussion and debate. This helped develop our student’s cultural capital and oracy
skills that they can take with them into other areas of the school.

At The Dean Academy we endeavour to include as many exciting and aspirational trips, visits
and opportunities as possible to enrich the lives of all our young people especially our PP
students. In September we launched our House System, part of its purpose was to increase
extracurricular opportunities in all subjects for all students. As part of this our PP students have
had opportunities to take part in interhouse sporting events, art competitions, poetry
competitions, baking events and more. Students have embraced this new system and are eager
to try out activities they may never have experienced before and earn points for their house along
the way.

This term our raising aspirations and careers focus continues with many trips to local universities
planned for all year groups to experience. We also continue our work to remove barriers such as
providing DofE equipment or purchasing revision materials for our PP students.