Pupil premium use

[Suchabigsleepyhead]

I know it varies widely from school to school but do people agree funding should go straight to the school?
As far as I am concerned the money only goes to the school because my DC goes there. Yet the money goes for a wider group and other children and programmes that the school want to do. Not actually a consideration for what DC needs. Am spending a fortune on therapy that school won't contribute to. We can't keep affording to pay for it for kuch longer. As far as we can see being a bit behind isn't her barrier to learning, her trauma is. What can I do? Do I write to the secretary of education? Is ther any point. I don't feel it's right that our children have gone through so much which is recognised by funding which then doesn't really have to be used for them at all. It makes no sense.
Sorry, am frustrated and obviously want the best for her. Feel she's able to work through some stuff with the therapy but her school won't use the funding and post adoption not interested cos really it ain't bad enough. Anyone else feeling frustrated? Might just help to know we're not alone.

My children are no longer at school but from my experience of when they were pupil premium was a total waste of time. Despite repeatedly asking what it was being spent on no one ever gave me a convincing answer. Both my children had terrible experiences at school and were not properly supported.
If you are in England have you applied for an assessment from the post adoption support fund? I know a lot of families have a poor experience of trying to access it but we have had money for long term therapy for our daughter. If you make a request they are obliged to assess so it is worth persevering with it.

I don’t know what to do about it but our experience has been exactly the same. The money has never been used for my child and the school have never said what it used for.

Sad isn't it, schools get it because of our children but they don't have to use it for them.
We have previously tried post adoption support but basically told we seemed to be managing okay. It seemed like things weren't quite bad enough to get her support and not about what would benefit her. I will probably still try again as it getting too much to pay ourselves.

PPP is best seen as a funding formula for schools. It isn't a per child funding like an ehc plan. But school should listen to suggestions about how to spend the money. What would you find useful?

Re asf, did you make a formal request which was assessed and turned down or did you just chat to a sw?

I would suggest you ask for a formal assessment for the ASF, they do have an obligation to assess you if you make a request.

I chatted to a sw who felt it didn't need to go to further assessment but perhaps talking to another one now it's a bit later may get a bit further. Worth a go.

It is a requirement that a school posts their Pupil Premium Statement on the school website so you should be able to find out how it is spent there.

You can use the Pupil Premium Statement to see what additional things your school pays for (Forest Schools, support TAs etc) and ask for your daughter to be access that specifically if you think it will benefit her.

The success of PP spending is based on the outcomes for every child on PP, not just one pupil. EG: ‘83% of PP pupil’s improved their attendance because we spent the money on XYZ’, ‘78% of PP Pupils improved their attainment because of ABC.’ would be seen as a positive outcome for PP spending. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help the ones that it doesn’t impact.

I would definitely advise going down the post adoption support route and then have a meeting with the school’s SENCo. You can get EHCPs for Social, Emotional and Mental Health and then the funding and support for that is much more specific and direct for an individual pupil.

PP+ is supposed to be spent on the cohort of children in school who are LAC and PLAC to help meet their needs.

We've experienced the same as others here - that it's impossible to get an answer from schools about how it has been used to support this particular group of children. I think our school just puts it into the general SEN budget which is so frustrating. Schools have to explain a bit more for LAC as funding comes through the virtual school but once children are PLAC there is no requirement for schools to explain their spending.

My school is very open with Pupil Premium and if I ask they are always ready to give me the information.
My son has had speech and language therapy at the start of school.
Some play therapy and currently music lessons too.
I also have had therapy via the ASF for us as a family.
Unfortunately every area , school, social worker is different and I find a lack of consistency across the board which seems unfair.
I think the only thing you can do is ask the school to see the premium, arrange a meeting with the Head , child's teacher etc and make applications for ASF.

I'm so confused, ive just done extra training and was told so many times that ppp unlike pp, has to be spent on the child its paid to and the school has to tell you what its spent on when you ask?

Absolutely not. The gov guidelines make it clear it's not a personal budget https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium#:~:text=Pupil%20premium%20is%20not%20a,who%20act%20as%20a%20carer

I've just had a looksy. I'm really shocked, I've been told the complete opposite.

I've always told school directly what i want them to buy my daughter, ie an iPad. They find it hard to wriggle out of it or find a suitable excuse not to buy it when you are so direct!

Pupil Premium and Pupil Premium Plus are different so you may wish to Google the one that your child is entitled to, as there are different spending criteria.

There is too much freedom on how this money can be spent. One of my daughters did not benefit from it at all. At the time I checked what their primary spent PP/PPP on and amongst the spending was a "math club for high achievers". So the school used some of the money intended for disadvantaged children to support their very large cohort of top achievers in order to further climb the school ranking. That should not be possible.

The DfE does make it clear that, although the money is not ring-fenced to the child, schools must be able to show how the child benefits from it and that they should engage in discussions with parents/carers about how the money is spent. The guidelines suggest it should be a partnership between school and families.

@FloppySarnie That is the theory, but often not the practice. I have never been approached by a school to discuss how to spend PPP, and the primary head shut me down immediately when I dared to ask. She refused to talk to any parent about PPP.

Thanks for all your responses. It'd at least comforting to didn't others in the same boat. Head brushes it off, gives me a vague list of what she gets which mostly is just down to good teaching. Luckily the teachers so far have been great, head less so. She sees it as her pot and doesn't engage with what DC actually needs, not really interested.
I've tried to do partnership it's not, just what they want and with schools so short on money it's not in their best interest I guess. Though I do know schools that use the money amazingly for children that need it. Just unfortunately not this one.

Have you tried contacting your Virtual School? I know the support varies across local authorities but when I was having this issue I found the Virtual School really helpful and they advocated for me with the school and arranged meetings and offered guidance and training to the school on how PP+ could be used to specifically benefit my children.

Depending on your local authority you should have a regular meeting (termly) where targets for your child are agreed and there is an explanation on how the pupil premium is benefiting your child. In my area these are called ESP (Education Support Plan) and are for previously looked after children. The virtual school will be able to advise however you might need to push the school to hold the meeting based on experience.