Information about the school
Llwydcoed Primary School is an English-medium primary school situated in the village of Llwydcoed, near Aberdare, in Rhondda Cynon Taf local authority. The school has 125 pupils from the ages of 3 to 11 organised into five mixed-age classes. The school provides full time nursery provision from the September following the child’s third birthday. Approximately 3% are identified as having additional learning needs and all pupils use English as their first language.
Twenty-nine per cent of pupils are eligible to receive free school meals. This figure has increased significantly since the pandemic.
Context and background to the effective or innovative practice
The pandemic had a significant impact on the well-being and finances of the school’s families. The number of pupils in the school who are eligible for free school meals saw a sharp increase. For this reason, the school engaged in work with the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) to try to reduce the financial barriers that prevented pupils from fully participating in the school day. The ‘Cost of the School Day’ approach involved working with the whole-school community, including pupils, parents, teachers and school staff, to evaluate the school’s approach to identifying and reducing the financial barriers faced by pupils from low-income backgrounds. The school used the data from surveys and interviews to determine what the school was doing well and what could be improved. It produced a detailed report outlining the school’s current approach and developed an action plan outlining ways forward. The school produced a case study, outlining the actions it had taken and the improvements that had resulted.
Description of nature of strategy or activity
The school identified specific ‘Cost of the School Day Practitioners’ to lead the work on reducing the financial barriers that prevent pupils from low-income backgrounds engaging fully with school life. For three weeks during October and November 2021, the practitioners spoke to pupils from Years 1 to 6, parents, members of staff and governors. They also gathered views via online surveys. The health and well-being leader organised interviews and assisted in the evaluation process. The practitioners presented the analysed data to school staff through a feedback session and a written final report.
After being presented with the report and findings, all staff participated in developing an action plan. This focused on:
• The cost of school trips. The school already used the Pupil Development Grant (PDG) and PTA funding to heavily subsidise trips, thereby significantly reducing the cost to targeted families. However, the school’s report highlighted that many parents with more than one child, or those in single parent households, still struggled with the costs of additional activities, especially school trips. As a result, the school decided to ensure that parents were given more notice of educational visits and implemented a system of flexible payment plans to allow parents to pay for visits over time.
- Non-uniform days. There are many occasions where the children were given the opportunity to dress up or not wear uniform as part of special events or charity days. As a result of the school’s report, staff adopted innovative approaches to celebrating these, for example wearing pajamas rather than asking the parents to buy costumes for World Book Day.
- School uniform. The school adopted a sensitive and inclusive approach to uniform, removing the pressure to buy branded uniform. The school has purchased a shed and made this into a ‘Sharing Shop’ full of donated costumes, uniform and Christmas jumpers, which parents can take free of charge.School trips. The school limits the amount of spending money children are allowed to take with them on trips, so that parents from less well-off households do not feel pressured to provide their child with excessive amounts of money.
- School events. The school’s survey revealed that the cost of engaging with events, such as school discos and fayres, often placed an unrealistic financial burden on families. The school addressed this by, for example, arranging family priced tickets for discos rather than individual prices per child. It also ensured that Christmas and summer fayres have as many free activity stalls as paid for activities, so that all children can participate. In addition, the school no longer asks for physical money; instead it sends a link out directly to parents who can choose whether to contribute or not.
- Learning resources for home. The school established ‘creative stations’ full of resources that pupils can take home or use at dinner times for completion of homework tasks.
- Lunchtimes. The report feedback highlighted that pupils were separated at dinner times according to whether they were having a school dinner or packed lunch. This meant that friends could not sit together if they had a different type of meal. The result was that children eligible for free school meals were sometimes asking their parents if they could change to packed lunches to sit with their friends. The school changed these arrangements to allow pupils to sit anywhere.
In June 2022, a researcher from Newcastle University visited the school as part of the evaluation of the ‘Cost of the School Day’ project. The aim of this visit was to follow up the audit that had taken place seven months previously and explore what impact, if any, the participation had on the pupils, parents and staff. The audit concluded that the ‘Cost of the School Day’ project had a highly positive impact on increasing the engagement of pupils from families with low incomes.
What impact has this work had on provision and learners’ standards?
- Stronger relationships have been fostered between families and school based on mutual trust and respect.
- A whole school strategy is in place to eliminate the hidden cost of the school day.
- Combating poverty has given every child from a low-income household the ability to make the most of the school day.
- There has been increased engagement in learning and therefore increased overall standards for pupils from lower income households.
How have you shared good practice?
- The practice has been shared with the governing body through pupil and staff presentations.
- The school has shared the model and strategy with regional consortia and local authority.
- The model has been shared at professional learning sessions with cluster schools.