Skip to content ↓

Strategic Plans

Professional Learning Grant (PLG) 2023/2024

The Welsh Government have awarded all schools in Wales with extra financial support - £37,044, to enable all teaching and learning staff to prepare for the new curriculum of Wales. Schools are required to publish their plans.

At St Joseph’s RC High School, the Professional Learning Grant will support us in realising our commitment to improving the quality of learning and teaching across the school. This means ensuring our professional learning offer for staff meets the expectations and vision set out by the Welsh Government, who consider the development of schools as learning organisations as a key means for realising the new curriculum.

 The seven key dimensions within this vision are:

  • Developing a shared vision centred on the learning of all learners.
  • Creating and supporting continuous learning opportunities for all staff.
  • Promote team learning and collaboration amongst all staff.
  • Establishing a culture of enquiry, innovation and exploration.
  • Embedding systems for collecting and exchanging knowledge for learning.
  • Learning with and from the external environment and wider learning system
  • Modelling and growing learning leadership.
Our PLG is spent in the following way for 2023-24

Appointing additional staff to allow time to:  

  • Support teachers in the effective planning, implementation, and delivery of the new curriculum.
  • Support the Seconded Assistant Headteacher to work with our primary Catholic cluster in co – constructing a plan that allows for a consistent understanding and approach to how the new curriculum is being designed and taught cross phase.
  • Support the ALNCO in attending national, regional and cluster meeting and to ensure best practice is shared in the realisation of the new ALN code.
  • Purchase a package and subscription WALKTHRU and share with staff.

Pupil Development Grant (PDG)

The school receives a grant from the Welsh Assembly Government to support pupils in receipt of free school meals (FSM). The key aim of the grant is to reduce the impact of poverty on educational attainment. This financial year (2023-2024) the school received £197,800.

The school has 1204 pupils (Years 7-11, 7/9/2023). 19.61% are in receipt of free school meals.

The grant is being used in this financial year to support the following activities / initiatives:

  • Provide 1 x Learning Coach to support and remove barriers to learning and raise pupils’ aspirations.
  • Provide 1 x Teacher to reduce class sizes in English in order to maximise the teaching and learning opportunities for the FSM pupils in English.
  • Employ a Higher-Level Teaching Assistant to provide intervention for the FSM pupils in KS3 looking at developing their literacy and numeracy skills.
  • Employ 2 full-time Cover Supervisors to enable senior leaders to provide strategic leadership to impact on the attainment of FSM pupils.

The school’s PDG grant plans are presented to and agreed annually with our Governing Body and monitored/scrutinised by the Local Authority. Spending against our agreed plan is reported regularly to the Governing Body’s Resources Committee. This same process applies to our Education Improvement Grant (EIG).

ALP (3RRRs) Learner Recovery Grant 2023-2024

The school received an ALP (3RRRs) Learner Recovery Grant from the Welsh Assembly Government in two tranches to cover the academic year (£35,992 and £50,388 and £9,572).

The grant has been used for the following purposes to aid learner recovery post COVID:

  • 1 x Assistant Headteacher (Seconded) to lead on realising the new curriculum in years 7 and 8 and design and develop a RSE Curriculum tailored to the needs of our pupils.
  • 1 x Cover Supervisor to provide cover for teaching staff to ensure staff have time to meet in AOLE’s and have a shared vison of the new curriculum.

The schools ALP’s (RRR’s) grant spending plan has been presented to and agreed by Governors and monitored/scrutinised by the South East Wales Education Advisory Service (EAS) and the Local Authority. Spending against our agreed plan is reported regularly to the Governing Body’s Resources  Committee.

Cookie Policy