Transparency data

Kendrick School (Reading) URN: 136448

Updated 14 February 2020

This transparency data was withdrawn on 14 July 2023

The Selective Schools Expansion Fund is closed and there are no plans to run future rounds.

Applies to England

Fair access and partnership plan summary

The above school has made a commitment to deliver the following fair access and partnership plan by 2020 (and in subsequent years) as part of its successful Selective Schools Expansion Fund bid.

Admissions

The school will increase its year 7 published admission number (PAN) by 32 places to 128 for September 2020.

The school aims to have the following number of girls eligible for the pupil premium sitting the selection test:

• 2020, 50 girls
• 2021, 60 girls
• 2022, 70 girls
• 2023, 70 girls
• 2024, 70 girls

It also aims to admit the following number of girls eligible for the pupil premium:

• 2020, 8 girls
• 2021, 12 girls
• 2022, 14 girls
• 2023, 16 girls
• 2024, 16 girls

After the admission of looked after and previously looked after girls, girls eligible for the pupil premium or service premium and living within the school’s designated area will be prioritised for admission.

The qualifying score will be lowered by 5 marks for pupil premium and service premium students.

Outreach

Outreach work will focus on raising aspirations and attainment for pupil premium students, and overcoming misconceptions about grammar schools amongst pupil premium students, their parents and schools to increase applications and support pupil premium girls in achieving the qualifying score. The outreach work will be mainly targeted at identified year 1 to 5 students in Reading primary schools with high numbers of pupil premium pupils to provide tailored activities that maximise effectiveness.

Partnerships and outreach activity will initially focus on the following primary schools selected by working with the Local Authority based on, for example, their high numbers of female pupil premium students, identified high ability pupil premium students, IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) bands, SATs results and some being schools in challenging circumstances:

• All Saints Infant School
• All Saints Junior School
• Battle Primary Academy
• Caversham Primary School
• Christ the King RC (VA) Primary School
• EP Collier School, Geoffrey Field Infant School
• Geoffrey Field Junior School
• Katesgrove Primary School
• Meadow Park Academy
• Moorlands Primary School
• Park Lane Primary School
• Ranikhet Academy
• Redlands Primary School
• The Ridgeway Primary School
• Whitley Park Primary and Nursery School
• Southcote Primary School

Outreach and partnership work will continue to focus on these schools but will also include an additional 12 Reading primary schools from 2019/20 based on updated local information and the situation in July 2019, including the numbers of female pupil premium students on roll, IDACI bands, SATs results, Ofsted band and individual circumstances.

The activities to be offered, with the exact details being confirmed in discussion with the primary schools and reflecting the students’ individual needs, will include the following:

New awareness raising activities at Kendrick and local schools, to include the schools listed above. These activities are planned in discussion with primary partners but will include subject based sessions at Kendrick – e.g. science and music, with time for students to look round the school, meet Kendrick students/staff and hear more about the school – while other activity will include:

• Kendrick students/staff going to the primary school to talk about the school and lead sessions
• a year 3 to 5 event at Kendrick in March with subject based and awareness raising activity sessions for female pupil premium students including and study skills and awareness raising sessions for their parents/carer

Additional local primary schools, selected on the basis of them having large numbers of female pupil premium students on roll or being located in lower IDACI band areas, and including those listed above, being invited to use Kendrick’s facilities, including sport and science, to enrich the curriculum and to aid familiarisation with the site and promote applications.

New subject based inspirational/enrichment sessions for the schools listed to aid raising aspirations and building confidence in all participants, with a focus on identified high ability pupil premium students, to support and extend their knowledge and understanding and increase confidence, e.g. in Mathematics, English, Science, Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), Music, Physical Education (PE) and Art.

New activities with student ambassadors and staff assisting with clubs and extracurricular activities, and mentoring disadvantaged students in key skills, including literacy and numeracy.

Additional year 5 information events at Kendrick and two local schools (selected on the basis of them having among the lowest turnout of pupil premium pupils at the above events). With the agreement of the primary partner schools, Kendrick staff and students will also attend primary school events to aid awareness and overcome misconceptions with parents, staff and students.

New support for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) activities to raise aspirations and knowledge, for example in running a STEM activity to include problem solving and team building, using STEM Ambassadors to help with school based activities and talk about STEM careers.

New family inspiration activities at Kendrick to promote students working with their parents/carers at Kendrick School, for example:

• a family STEM morning where female pupil premium students work with their parents/carers and Kendrick students and staff on STEM activities to develop STEM problem solving and practical skills
• a family numeracy morning where female pupil premium students work on Maths puzzles with their parents/carers and Kendrick students and staff to develop numeracy and problem solving skills

New activities including Kendrick staff and year 7 students visiting primary schools in the spring term to give personal invitations to the Open Day to pupil premium students and to answer any queries.

New systems will be set up to offer personal guidance and support though the application process to all pupil premium applicants’ families from the Open Day until the receipt of the test results. This will include a discussion on access arrangements for the test, including transport or alternative test centres, for individual situations as required.

A new and free test familiarisation program will be available for female pupil premium students. This will include teacher led, KS2 group, oral and written activities. These will be teacher led, group, oral and written activities in numeracy and literacy to aid attainment at school as well as aid pupils’ understanding and confidence to be able to achieve their best in the entrance test. It will also focus on exam technique. It will also include at least 5 hours of free familiarisation activities to aid students’ time management and familiarity with test conditions in the summer term of year 5, the end of the summer break and the first week of the autumn term to support preparation for the September test.

Continued funding of all school trips, resources and support materials for pupil premium students on roll at Kendrick to overcome any barriers to integration.

Partnership

Through existing and new Reading primary and secondary school networks, opportunities will be developed for staff to shadow and work with each other to enhance knowledge, share schemes of work, lesson planning, resources and teaching strategies. This will support the implementation of a wide curriculum in all schools involved and support students achieving their maximum potential, particularly in areas of low take up/teacher shortage including Modern Foreign Languages (MFL), Mathematics and Science. There will also be non-specialist support for other subjects like the Supporting Physics Teachers model.

The primary schools above as well as all Reading secondary schools will be offered opportunities to work together with support targeted in specific areas, with the exact details being confirmed in discussion with the schools. Some examples of current work are given below:

• the Blessed Hugh Faringdon Catholic School – Kendrick has started working with the science department and will offer to work together in other new areas, including the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) subjects, as requested/identified by the school
• Cranbury College – this college has smaller numbers of students taking GCSEs. Kendrick has started to work with science and there will be new offers to work together on areas requested by the school, e.g. access to labs to complete the required practicals, subject specialists working together and support for non-specialist teachers
• the John Madejski Academy, Kendrick is already working with this school to support triple science GCSE entries and will extend the offer to work together on other subjects/areas as requested/identified by the school
• Prospect School, Kendrick is already working with the senior leadership team and has started working with the science department and will extend the offer to work together on other subjects/areas as requested/identified by the school
• Reading Girls’ School , support has previously been given to the science department, including a Kendrick teacher teaching GCSE Physics, support will continue to be offered to the science department and the offer to work together will be extended to other subjects/areas as requested/identified by the school
• UTC Reading, Kendrick is already working with the science department at this college and will extend the offer to work together on other subjects/areas as requested/ identified by the school

All new activities will be planned in discussion with the local schools. Kendrick School will also work with Reading Local Authority and modify and adapt activities in light of all discussions and local requirements.

Some examples of the activities which will be offered

New opportunities for feedback from the new GCSE and A level exams to be shared between schools to support raising attainment will be created.

Collaborative working with enrichment activities, revision lectures, STEM ambassadors, careers events, UCAS applications, mock interviews and Oxbridge work, for high potential students, will be extended. This will help raise aspirations and attainment, guide choices, aid confidence and widen horizons.

In addition to the established Mathematics and Science network meetings, new network sessions will be organised and offered to all Reading primary and secondary schools for areas identified by the group. These may include literacy, NQTs (Newly Qualified Teachers), MFL, humanities, technology, creative and expressive arts in conjunction with the Reading Teaching Schools Association (RTSA) and local multi academy trusts (MATs). The aim will be to support teachers and leaders working together to share good practice, access high quality training, standardise work and support confidence and professional training to aid retention of staff (an area of concern in Reading) and raise attainment. Meetings and training will also be arranged for clusters within Reading, as requested by these groups, working with local MATs to lead some of this work where appropriate.

New opportunities for local teachers to be trained as facilitators and lead training in their own schools and across the local area will be created. New opportunities for staff to be trained as coaches to support curriculum, teaching and leadership within and between schools thus aiding sustainability will be created.

The Reading Secondary Deputies peer review model, where local Deputy Headteachers visit each others schools and conduct observations and look at areas requested by the host school, then share their findings in a supportive way to aid the schools own self review, will be offered to be set up for local heads of department to aid self review.

New inspirational/enrichment/support activities, such as Science, Mathematics, MFL, Music, PE, Art and Mental Health will be organised and offered to schools to work together on.

New school to school support opportunities will be arranged, such as subject support for a department and individual support for 1-person departments.

A refugee club will continue to be offered to local students to support their work and attainment.

Other activities which focus on raising aspirations and attainment in Reading primary schools with an initial focus on the primary schools listed above will be offered include:

• New wider partnership activities for years 1 to 6 which focus on numeracy, literacy, MFL and science. Kendrick School’s existing outreach materials and approach will be adapted and extended in order to support and enhance the curriculum for all students involved. This will aim to support raising standards including SATs and inspire high ability pupil premium students.
• STEM Ambassadors leading new activity days in each targeted school to raise aspirations and attainment for this shortage area.
• Kendrick students will help run new activities and enrichment clubs and mentor small groups/individuals in order to raise attainment and aspirations.