Helen has experience supporting various staff within her department and also leads “aspirations” within her school with a focus on supporting Disadvantaged pupils. She has gathered information about how best to support disadvantaged pupils and close the attainment gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. She has also disseminated this via CPD.
I have a keen interest in the use of Pupil Premium Funding to boost the progress and attainment of children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and work tirelessly to try to reduce the gap between those pupils who experience disadvantage and those that do not. Having worked successfully with two Trust schools to push this vision, I am keen to share my experiences with other schools.
I have been teaching English at secondary and A level for 23 years, starting in Wolverhampton and the Black Country, moving to Telford and eventually to Thomas Adams School, in Wem, where I have been for the past 15 years. During that time, I have taken on Second in English and Aspirations Lead for the school. I also took on the Trust post of ‘Closing the Gap’ co-ordinator for a period of time. I work very closely with our Free School Meals pupils, LAC/PLAC and Services pupils to ensure the academic and extracurricular opportunities they experience are as close to those pupils with no disadvantage as possible. I have two children of my own: our birth daughter and our son, who was adopted. Seeing the possibilities and opportunities open to him through the use of Pupil Premium funding has spurred me on to try and create this provision for other pupils.