As schools begin reviewing this year’s Pupil Premium strategy and planning spend for the next academic year, one North London headteacher has shared a clear message: focus on early intervention, invest in high-quality teaching, and build a culture where evidence and collective responsibility drive every decision.
In brief
- Wilbury Primary School in Edmonton, an area of significant deprivation, is placing early intervention and language development at the centre of its Pupil Premium strategy.
- Leaders say ongoing, supportive monitoring helps refine practice, with coaching and immediate feedback embedded in daily routines.
- The school argues that implementation matters as much as the plan — with staff development seen as the key lever for impact.
Early intervention, language, and the basics
Wilbury Primary School is a large primary in Edmonton, North London, serving a community facing high levels of deprivation. Children can join the school from the age of two. Headteacher Lisa Wise describes Wilbury as a “happy and vibrant” school, but says sustained progress depends on acting early and staying relentless about what works.
The school’s priorities are clear: language development “in all its forms”, strong teaching in the core subjects, and using both internal and external evidence to continually sharpen classroom practice across the wider curriculum.
How leaders evaluate and improve teaching
Wise says the leadership team plays a central role in tracking disadvantaged pupils’ progress through consistent quality assurance — with an emphasis on it being supportive rather than punitive. Each year, the school reviews the previous year’s activities and impact, then refreshes its Pupil Premium strategy based on what the evidence shows.
That evidence is built from multiple sources: pupil assessments and data, as well as wider reports and research into educational disadvantage and effective Pupil Premium use. One of the biggest spending priorities, she explains, is strengthening high-quality teaching — because it reaches every child and every lesson.
In practice, this includes protected time for collaborative planning and teaching, plus leaders spending time in classrooms providing in-the-moment coaching, training and immediate feedback. The goal is to develop practice continuously, inside a culture where teams challenge and support each other openly.
“The practitioner is the intervention”
A defining feature of Wilbury’s approach is its rejection of labels. The school’s view is that success relies on the quality of adults across the building — and that “every moment matters”. In other words, the most powerful intervention is not a programme, but the practitioner delivering high-quality teaching and support day after day.
Professional development therefore sits at the heart of the strategy, with Wise stressing that implementation is everything. It is not only what a school chooses to do, but how it does it — the routines, expectations, coaching culture and consistency that turn plans into impact.
Top tips for tackling educational disadvantage
Wise’s advice to leaders reviewing their current strategy and planning next year’s spend centres on culture, clarity and evidence:
- Create a positive, open culture with trust, high expectations, urgency, and leadership at all levels.
- Build leadership capacity and protect time for it.
- Keep priorities simple: fewer, clearer whole-school focuses work best.
- Be explicit about why your priorities matter — and communicate the evidence to staff.
- Put language development and the core subjects first.
- Create collective responsibility for standards so everyone feels empowered to contribute.
- Celebrate success frequently and value contributions from staff at every level.
- Avoid over-focusing on labels or groups; focus on improving teaching and support daily.
- Make decisions using evidence — and never assume.
Further resources
The blog also points schools towards Department for Education guidance on Pupil Premium allocations and conditions of grant (2025 to 2026), alongside Education Endowment Foundation resources including the EEF Guide to the Pupil Premium, implementation guidance and the Teaching and Learning Toolkit. DfE webinars are also available to support strategy planning and evaluation.
Source: https://teaching.blog.gov.uk/2025/07/21/pupil-premium-whole-school-approaches/
Published by Notherelong.
