Pupil premium plus - have you seen a benefit?

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

Just wondering how your schools are using this extra funding.

DS's school have not told me what they are doing with it but they did reluctantly provide counselling for his emotional issues. So I assume they have spent it on this.

DD's school wrote and asked me what I would like them to offer DD. I asked for additional support in numeracy as she is very behind.

They said they were thinking more along the lines of offering her a place at a lunchtime drama group. She already attends an after school drama group ( the same company that runs the school lunchtime club) and she also does musical theatre after school.

She has no additional needs with regards to confidence and has no obvious emotional difficulties.

She struggles academically , possibly as a result of being born drug dependant or possibly because that's just how she is but the school are reluctant to offer support.

I'd love to know how your schools are helping adopted children.

[UnderTheNameOfSanders]

I have heard nothing from either school.

Though to be fair DD1 age 14 probably takes up more than her fair share of the pastoral care time, and DD2 age 9 has been getting extra spelling support for a year or so already.

I would like DD1 to have some extra support on adding detail to her writing, and I would like DD2 to have more focussed spelling support.

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

I assume the school claimed the PPP for your children? I had to go in and tell my school to claim it.

I think I will have to request a meeting if I don't hear anything about what they are doing with the money by the end of this academic year.

[starlight1234]

My DS has pp..As far as I am aware it was to benefit the pupil but others can benefit too. My Ds has been in some small groups with TA this year..It hink his and others PP is funding this.

I have never been asked what I think or even told how it is been spent. I believe it has to be justified by head how your child has benefitted

[fasparent]

Our DD school offered too pay for PGL Trip (we declined want funds too transfer too senior school in September).
DS special needs school are having a meeting too discuss.

At a meeting with Virtual Head teacher of LA Children, they were adamant that every single LA child's premia has too be accountable for,for each individual child in care. , with detail list of how cash is spent be each school also want involvement. May be this give's an idea of criteria .

[fasparent]

Forgot too add one school has bought a computer tablet and app's for special needs child's., school and personal use along with other teaching aids, is working very well child loves it and the attention, school is mainstream . My grand child.

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

Thank you - It's really interesting to hear the different ways schools are dealing with PPP.

[FamiliesShareGerms]

I've suggested to school that they think about it before DD starts in Sept. I think I may as well have suggested that they fly her to the moon, such was the level of comprehension...

[tethersend]

The legislation on the PPP is misleading, IMO. Whilst it is not ringfenced, schools are accountable to OFSTED and parents and must show how it has been used to raise that particular child's academic attainment.

Far too many schools are absorbing it into their budget.

For LAC, the Virtual Head is now responsible for managing the PPP, and many are withholding it until agreement has been reached as to how it will be spent via the PEP.

The basic rule of thumb is that it should be used for things which are not part of the school's universal offer- additional support, tuition, laptops, extra curricular trips etc. if support can be accessed by other children who are not in receipt of the PPP (learning mentor, school counsellor etc.), then it is not a good use of the money.

Ask to see a copy of the school's provision map, and identify extra, targeted support which is relevant to the child and not featured on the provision map. The school should establish baseline data before the intervention, in order to properly evaluate its impact.

The Sutton Trust/EEF Toolkit is a useful springboard for discussion with the school about the efficacy of any planned interventions.

[AngelsWithSilverWings]

Thank you - that's really useful information.

[Devora]

What is a provision map, tethersend?

[tethersend]

A provision map is how a school documents all the support available for all its pupils- so ideally, it would map everything from withdrawal literacy classes to specialist behavioural interventions and everything in between.

All schools should have one; some even use them instead of IEPs (wrongly, IMO). If they don't, they really need to think about developing one, particularly for OFSTED.

It's very useful when explaining to a school that the PPP is for interventions and support over and above what is available for all other pupils.

Some schools also labour under the misunderstanding that they must provide the support paid for by the PPP- 1:1 tuition is a good example of this. Schools often cite the fact that they have no staff available to act as tutors outside of school hours, without realising that they can use the money to pay a private tutor or tuition agency.

[Devora]

Many thanks

[tethersend]

One more point- some schools will tell you that your child is making progress and therefore does not need the PPP funding. If this happens, challenge it.

A child does not have to be struggling in order to have their academic attainment levels raised; it's about fulfilling potential, not fixing problems.

Rant over

[fasparent]

DD's School has called us in for a meeting next week.
Still waiting for DS SEN School should be interesting as a teacher at school is in Same situation.
Will keep all posted.