Early years pupil premium (EYPP) funding

Alison lives with grandma due to a family breakdown. Her attendance at nursery was poor due to financial struggles. The nursery provided options for families to bring a packed lunch or pay for meals. The key person identified that grandma was struggling with both options and felt embarrassed hence keeping Alison at home. Alison's older siblings received free school meals.

Alison would benefit from consistent attendance as she was already struggling to settle in the nursery and the consistency from her key person would really help her with this.

The key person spoke to grandma about the funding and how this could be used to support attendance and provide meals for Alison when she attends. Grandma was grateful as this could really help her. The setting scrapped arrears and any outstanding costs to help the family get back on track and alleviate some of the pressure.

Alongside this the setting were able to delve deeper into the family circumstance and have been able to build a strong support network for grandma through signposting to food banks and advising on the general health and wellbeing of the children. The setting also requested the parent community to donate a Christmas present where possible to help families that were struggling, this supported Alison and her other siblings and helped grandma feel less pressure over Christmas.

Initially Alison struggled to form friendships as she had separation anxiety, she had a strong attachment to grandma and didn’t want to be left in nursery. The small changes made above have really helped Alison to settle and improve and develop friendship groups in nursery. She is able to speak about her feelings, interests and ideas. She is catching up to her peers and narrowing the gap.

Grandma understands the importance of education and the importance of regular attendance. She has a new-found support group with the nursery and uses the key person as a sounding board, talking about how she is coping, a bit of reassurance and advice when needed. Grandma is also more proactive in informing the nursery when Alison is absent usually due to sickness.

In the final term of EYPP funding the setting plan to use some of the money to offer some supported sessions over the summer so that Alison does not have a huge gap before starting school in September.

As a result, the setting has now also added further detail and sections to their all about me sheet to include child's interests at home, family make-up and family dynamics. A clearer picture of the whole family will enable the setting and in particular the key person to better support the child and family.

Janet is from a family of five children and has some speech and language delay.

The funding was used to purchase some additional resources and books to support Janet's development. The setting also used the funding to support higher adult to child ratios in particular the days Janet is attending; this enables the key person to offer additional support to Janet.

Mum struggles with anxiety and is now also paying for an additional session since seeing the benefit pre-school is having on Janet.

A group of children in receipt of the EYPP funding needed further support with pre-reading skills such as listening and attention skills. The setting recognised that some practitioners were not as confident in promoting these pre-reading skills. The variation of the children's learning and development including vulnerable learners and children with SEND.

The setting invested in training, and opportunities to refresh staff knowledge and understanding using the letters and sounds document. They reviewed the environment and opportunities it offered to support early reading skills.

The setting also purchased additional resources such as books which supported rhyming and alliteration; sensory resources to promote regulation and help with maintaining attention. They also made their own storytelling spoons, story structure game, story sacks.

Staff CPD alongside the additional resources would increase children's ability to fine tune their listening skills., extend their learning through the enhanced learning environments as well as key group time to carry out structured, meaningful learning opportunities.

Gordon has low self-esteem; he has been at the setting a while as he was in receipt of the 2 year old funding as well.

The setting decided that Gordon would benefit from the Forest School programme which was an hour a week for 8 weeks. The EYPP funding funded a member of staff for this programme, to be with Gordon and support his development.

Staff noticed that Gordon grew in confidence, the sessions helped his wellbeing which in effect helped him day to day in the setting.

Noah's parents recently separated, this had an impact on how he managed his emotions, he was restless.

Staff purchased a fidget box to help him. They noticed how this helped with his confidence, relaxed him, and helped with his emotional wellbeing.

Staff knowledge and expertise on their key children and their families enabled them to make informed choices.

A cohort of EYPP children were identified as needing new experiences, children had not experienced much further from their local community.

The setting decided to spend some of the money to purchase a hatching kit from a farm for the children to watch the process in nursery.

This opportunity provided children with a real-life experience to put their learning into context. It created awe and wonder, supported, and introduced new language, helped their personal, social and emotional development from taking care of the animals and thinking about what they have to provide from food, water and bedding.

Zak is from a large, low-income family. His parents have separated and English is an additional language. Zak is the youngest in the family and highly dependent on adults to meet his needs. When he started nursery, he was still using a dummy and in nappies. He struggles with his speech and language and as a result, finds it difficult to communicate and interact with other children and adults. His listening and attention skills are poor and he is often reluctant to do anything that requires focus.

The nursery wanted Zak to become more independent with his self-help skills such as using the toilet. They wanted to support him to improve his speech and language, and to be more engaged in learning and play. They wanted him to form positive relationships with his peers and adults.

To achieve this the nursery has put the EYPP funding towards employing an additional member of staff to assist with Zak's self-help skills. They purchased the Welcome Pack to help identify speech and language barriers and a member staff carries out interventions every day. New games have been purchased to encourage Zak to play alongside other children and enhance his speech. Zak has an interest in small world and construction, these areas have been enhanced in nursery, additional resources purchased to engage and encourage discussion and learning through play.

The additional interventions and investments have enabled Zak to be fully toilet trained, he will independently go to the toilet and understands the routine. He is still supported by a member of staff with his speech and language however learning through play and his interests has enabled him to become more willing and confident. This will be closely monitored and additional interventions may be needed as Zak transitions to school.

Selina comes from a single parent family; she was an only child and struggles socially. She struggles to interact positively with her peers, share things and can show demanding behaviour, as a result she is struggling to form relationships and mum is also finding Selina's behaviour a challenge to manage.

The nursery staff recognised that more work needs to be done to support Selina's personal, social and emotional development and communication and language to close the gap between her and her peers who have already started to create small friendship groups. Selina also shows little interest and does not like to get involved in group time. She is extremely emotional leaving mum in the morning.

The nursery has good links with the Reception class, she plans alongside the EYFS lead to deliver a curriculum accessible to all children. The nursery also has access to the schools PSHE curriculum which is taught within the weekly timetable. As a result, lessons are selected based on the needs of the children, in particular Selina. Together the nursery and reception class have set clear expectations of where they intend children to be at the end of the year before they move to reception and they closely observe this throughout the year.

During Selina's transition period into pre-school in the Autumn term there was an additional member of staff to work alongside a group of children as an additional key person and offer 1:1 support to assist children in settling and developing socially and emotionally after COVID.

The nursery have purchased additional resources such as games to encourage Selina to play alongside other children with support and modelling from her key person. More focussed activities were introduced so that Selina could join in them in smaller groups or on a 1:1 with her key person. Also, EYFS planning programmes were purchased to inspire staff with further ideas and enhance the curriculum.

Selina enjoys playdough and malleable resources. This area in nursery was a large space with lots of resources, it was overwhelming for Selina therefore the area was adapted and additional resources purchased to encourage Selina to play alongside other children during her time in the malleable area.

As time has progressed Selina now feels more comfortable speaking and getting involved in group learning time and contributes her ideas. She has shown an improvement academically in phonics, literacy and communication and language. She comes into nursery happy without feeling upset in mum leaving. She has formed relationships with others but there is still work to be done with the quality of her closest friendships which can cause conflict.

Selina's mum has since had a little boy, the change at home has resulted in Selina showing some of the behaviours from when she started. This will be closely monitored and additional measures will be put in place to support Selina as needed.

80% of children within the nursery including those in receipt of EYPP have literacy, writing and speech and language concerns. 20% of their occupancy is made up of EYPP children.

The nursery decided to invest in a physical phonics session, which was an active sports and physical exercise session which included phonics. This was basic phonics, focusing on sounding out words rather than overriding what local schools taught in Reception.

Children engaged in the session once a week and over the pandemic the company offered an online session where parents logged in and joined in the session. Engagement was high. The session encouraged participation from parents, it supported children's speech and language development especially those awaiting further support from specialist services.

The key person identified one of her children needing further support in developing independence and self-care needs. Parenting and changes to routines have affected this area. The key person hoped through working more closely with parents, providing them with more information and having frequent conversations relating to health services, their child's development would have a positive impact.

The setting shared ERIC leaflets with parent's, shared 'getting myself dressed' handouts. Purchased additional resources such as books which discussed visiting the doctors and dentist. Enhancing the role play area to include further resources such as a doctor's kit, mirrors, brushes and potty.

All this with time, and the input from the key person and partnership with parents will support school readiness.

The key person and the other colleagues in the pre-school room recognised that Ben was very reserved and reluctant to speak to others, he didn’t want join in. His speech was not clear and very limited, he very rarely said much.

The team tried to build a relationship with Ben. They discussed Ben with the SENCO who advised using some of the money to fund additional hours in the week and refer the child to SALT. The key person consulted with the parents and agreed the additional hours on a Thursday which would mean Ben attended for three consecutive days. His attendance was already good, and he used this additional session.

The additional session enabled Ben to build his confidence and create strong friendship groups, he no longer moves away when other children join his play. He is able to communicate with staff in the room when spoken to and his speech is much clearer. The parents are happy with the progress Ben is making, they highlighted they would be happy for the funding to continue to be used next term for the extra session.

The setting works through a weekly book theme. Parents receive a craft pack when they start with basic essentials such as scissors, crayons and glue sticks. Each time parents run out of resource, they bring their pack in and a staff member tops up the content.

EYPP children receive an additional weekly pack based on the story they are reading. For instance, if they were reading 'The hungry Caterpillar' they would receive some card, some felt to go with decorating or creating a caterpillar.

This is quick enough for staff to put together. Staff provide parents with some instructions such as what to do, the key themes of the book, and the words that have been used.

Some parents will upload what they created with their child or children come into the setting and talk about what they made with their parents. This simple opportunity, supports the Home Learning Environment, encourages parents to take part in children's learning which is simple and not too time consuming.

Over the pandemic the setting decided to group the EYPP funding and use the money to investment in the setting. They built a wooden ship for the outdoor play area.

This helped with interactions, communication, introduction of new language. The new ship enabled children to be creative and provided an opportunity for them to escape and take on a new role. Children also use the foot wells in the ship to sit and read books. The ship has provided lots of opportunities for all children.

The setting identified that they had limited observation and assessments on Arthur's mathematical development. They reflected on their environment and recognised that there were limited resources to support his development in this area.

Staff purchased additional resources from charity shops to enhance the mathematical opportunities. They also invested in staff training on mathematical development.

A small group of EYPP children had no specific identified need, families were progressing well and home lives were stable.

The key person focussed on the children's current interest, this particular group of three had an interest in role play, they also had a strong friendship group. Some of the funding was used to enhance resources in the home corner such as prams, dolls and curious objects.

Staff observed how the additional resources have enhanced their play, introducing new vocabulary and confidence in the children.

Peter has a medical condition which affects his whole development in particular his eyesight. The setting suspect he may also have autism. He is behind in all areas of learning and development.

To help Peter's engagement, the setting purchased a light table. The light table helps Peter visually and is more engaging for him. It helps him socially, allowing him to play with other children.

The light table has really helped to calm Peter down. The setting intends to purchase further resources to support Peter's development.