to know if a child gets free school meals?

[shoehornartth]

DH is a private tutor and a lot of his work is for parents trying to get their child into private / selective schools.

We both have a very strong moral pull to helping those from disadvantaged backgrounds and DH wants to offer his services for free to Pupil Premium families. However, I don’t know how he could go about proving it. There is a huge number of people requesting the free services (unsurprisingly) and we feel the fairest way is first come first served mixed with genuinely qualifying families.

How can we get the evidence needed? I thought getting the school to email verification? But then not sure they would.

does anyone know?

Email from the school?

I have a letter from the council which proves PP status.

You could offer it to the school to organise as a support service they could refer/ offer to pupils/ families they think might benefit.

School should not share this information with anyone, but might provide a letter if asked by the parents themselves. The parents however would have confirmation from the local authority which they could use.

Ask for a proof of benefits letter.
these are the eligible benefits

www.gov.uk/apply-free-school-meals

Could you suggest a mentoring/tutoring programme to a local school?
They might be able to identify pupils who are motivated by held back by being carers or in care etc.

I think it's a wonderful idea and good for you guys putting something back.

Doing it that way would miss out a lot of children who get FSM because their family were previously on those benefits but aren't any more. FSM and PP continue afterward if circumstances change (for a set duration, but it's years) because the effects of growing up in poverty on a child's outcomes don't magically go away when finances (often only slightly) improve.

Parents should be able to access confirmation online if they haven't got a letter somewhere with it on.

The children at our school who have free school meals receive discounted music lessons through the council music service.

There may be a similar scheme for tutoring, contact the council.

The school can confirm at the parents’ request but not otherwise.

I would set out the terms of your offer clearly. They need to be eligible for pupil premium in school to make use of your free service.

I wouldn't contact school or get involved in trying to obtain proof yourself. I would expect the parents to ask school for a letter or email that they can pass on to you.

Maybe he could write to the LEA and ask them to refer him to a Head at whichever schools on their lists which have the highest volumes of PP students. He can then reach out to the Heads at these schools and ask if they can recommend students who would most benefit. The schools may even offer up a space in their premises for this on a weekly basis and book out time with the students. Or they could reach out to parents they think would use this offer.

Another option is to contact any local Housing Associations/Social Housing Providers, as they will usually have a Community Engagement Team who then work across the area with other disciplines to deliver a broad approach to those most at need in their area. They would then reach out to parents with children who are below the poverty line and offer the services.

Not everyone will have a benefits letter, if the child is adopted they receive enhanced pupil premium which reflects their additional support needs, many would really benefit from tutoring and their parents might not be able to afford it - the parents would be able to evidence adoption and possibly get evidence from the school of pupil premium plus.

Op I really think this sort of help should be done through the school.

Set out how much time he's willing to offer, a morning per week or whatever and let the school decide which children they think will benefit most.

I think trying to target help any other way will miss the kids who are in the most need like the kids in care or the ones who's parents don't help.

Sometimes things like dyslexia run in families, the parents might struggle themselves and not be able to help the child.

Some schools have a policy of bit recommending private tuition. Largely because that's then normally only accessible to the sharp elbowed middle classes, but they probably don't have much in the way of altruistic offers.

The council will send you a letter or email containing your certificate of entitlement to FSM. Ask parents to display this as proof.

Thanks - I will go down the routes suggested.

We have decided creating our own local initiative is best. DH runs the NTP for the council and it is pretty corrupt in places. Results poor in the area too.