How to challenge school support and pupil premium use for adopted child?

[Itsrainingdogsandcats]

School have said (for the 2nd parents evening) that son (age 8) is behind on maths, reading and spelling.
Meeting was also cut short as she ‘didn’t want to get behind’ with everyone else, so we don’t know what they’re doing in school to help him, or what we can do at home - other than read, maths and spelling (but don’t know what they do to ensure we support this and do the same thing).

They claim he reads 40 wpm (they say he should be reading 100 wpm), but we have timed him at home and he averages 76 wpm.
We also don’t understand why reading fast is a thing?

Previously I asked what the pupil premium they receive for him was being used on and they emailed a very short reply saying it’s been allocated to ‘teacher training’, and attached a copied and pasted article saying PP doesn’t go towards the child.

Whilst I understand this, surely if he is now needing additional support why is that not being used to help him?

I emailed over a week ago asking for a meeting, no response.
And emailed again yesterday asking for a meeting after the Easter holidays.

I just don’t know what to do…. We want to support our son but feel the school isn’t helping him, and we don’t know the rules on PP or even education to a point, so don’t know how much we can push back on….

I think it's worth asking for another meeting to focus on his needs, not the pupil premium

However if they don't think he is drastically behind or it' just one area of improvement to focus on, they might just be telling you so you can encourage your child at home. Reading at home is one of the best ways to improve reading speed. It isn't necessarily something they can facilitate in a classroom without taking time away from other lessons.

Many children have at least one area of improvement.

If they suspect there's more to it, then perhaps this can start the pathway for a needs assessment.

Do you have any involvement with the senco? Maybe ask for a meeting.

There is a threshold for getting extra help and it may be that your son is below average but doesnt qualify. If he sits quietly in vlasd btw it's easy fir the school to leave him alone and throw resources at any more challenging children.

Yes, PP is often spent on wider school initiatives. There is no requirement for them to spend it directly on the qualifying child.

It may be that you are in a relatively high achieving school and your son is standing out as being below average - that was our experience at primary re my younger daughter. Or maybe school is just being proactive with below average students.

If he does better at home, that might mean he can't focus as well in school. He might be hypervigilant for example - this was my daughter.

You might want to get him privately assessed by an Ed psych to work out his potential and any barriers to learning.

While PPP does not have to be spend solely on the child in receipt of it, the child does have to benefit from it.

ChatGPT:

What the rules say
PPP is intended to improve educational outcomes and support for disadvantaged pupils, not just general school improvement.
That means training is allowed if it:

• Directly improves how staff support PPP pupils
• Targets identified needs (e.g. trauma, attachment, SEND, literacy gaps)
• Leads to measurable impact on those pupils’ progress or wellbeing

Examples of acceptable spending ✔️ Training teachers on:

• Trauma-informed practice for looked-after children
• Attachment-aware teaching strategies
• Behaviour or emotional support approaches
• Targeted literacy/numeracy interventions

✔️ Coaching or CPD focused on:

• Improving outcomes for specific PPP pupils
• Strategies backed by evidence (e.g. from the Education Endowment Foundation)

What’s not OK ❌ General whole-school CPD with no clear link to PPP pupils ❌ Training that doesn’t address identified needs of eligible children ❌ Spending that can’t show impact or value for

You might want to check that.

Is your son possibly dyslexic? That would be worth picking up and diagnosing. Reading impacts everything else, so I would try to find out the reasons behind his slow reading speed.

Have you tried speaking to the Virtual School? It obviously varies by County but ours have been very helpful over the years in helping us advocate for us with school

Pupil premium is usually combined and used for something that will benefit all children recieving it so teacher training that addresses specific needs would count. It's not enough per child to pay for extra support and it's about 1000 per year.
However that doesn't mean you can't ask the school for more support. Speak to the Sendco

He gets Pupil Premium Plus, which is currently £2,630 in England. PPP should be more personalised than PP. So teacher training would count if it is training on trauma-informed practice. I would ask what training that was.