The EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium

Published

Step 5

Evaluate and sustain your strategy

To secure sustained success over time, it’s vital to ensure that both new and existing staff are invested in the strategy beyond its initial launch. This might mean revisiting and adapting implementation plans, refreshing professional development, and celebrating improved outcomes with the school community. 

Sustain your strategy by making it everyone’s responsibility.

Step 5 will support you in developing ‘Part B’ of DfE’s Pupil Premium strategy template next year.

Put it into practice

Check back on your goals

Plan short-, medium-, and long-term outcomes to make sure evaluation of the strategy is ongoing. Meaningful engagement between leaders and your teams throughout the process is crucial for making changes to practice that will stick.

Collaboration is at the heart of effective school leadership. Great leaders know that their success depends on the collective effort of their teams. They promote a culture of teamwork where diverse perspectives are valued and everyone has a voice.

Stella Jones

Director of Town End Research School

Plan for sustainability

New approaches should be supported and monitored beyond the early stages of implementation. As you develop your approaches, you will be considering pupils’ individual strengths and needs.

Teachers are a reflective bunch, hardwired to constantly evolve their practice. Many crave the next new ​‘hit’ technique which might offer a marginal gain in learning…But the problem is that managing change in your classroom and managing change in an organisation are wildly different. In fact, managing organisational change may be the most challenging task a leader will face.

Tom Salomonson

ELE at London South Research School and Assistant Head at Dulwich Hamlet Junior School

Continue to monitor in an annual cycle

Effective evaluation monitoring is continuous and effective evaluation recognises that strategies that have been effective one year may not continue to be effective into another.

Change is an ongoing, cyclical process, rather than a linear procedure. The implementation of any new strategy — whether it’s a reading program or behaviour policy — requires flexibility, learning, and adaptation. We might think about this approach to leading change as heading towards the ​“next temporary better” rather than some distant and unchanging end-point.

Jon Eaton

Director of Devon Research School

A shared language around efforts for supporting disadvantaged learners is vital. From governance to the classroom to external support, staff should speak with one voice. Belief in learners matters.

Marc Rowland

Assistant Director of Unity Research School

School governors and trustees play a crucial role in improving attainment for disadvantaged pupils by providing support and challenge to school leaders. All governors should be aware of their school’s Pupil Premium strategy, ask questions, and promote a whole-school approach. We recommend all schools appoint a Pupil Premium link governor.

Take action

Do ensure evaluation of the impact of your strategy (on attainment and wider barriers to learning) is ongoing.

Don’t use just one set of data to evaluate impact.

Do ensure a range of staff is involved and engaged with ongoing delivery and improvement of the strategy.

Don’t over-rely on one individual.

Do iterate and change course as needed.

Don’t stick to an approach if it is not working.