School catch up fund

[Splinkyplonk]

Try and focus on the bigger picture here, I'm not being goady.

So the plan so far seems to be that of the 6.7 million school children, 2 million of the most disadvantaged (ie those with hopeless parents or low achievement anyway) will get extra one on one tutoring partly paid for by an extra pot of gov money.

What about the majority of kids who all have missed vital stages of learning. Is the truth its just up to schools and parents to make the effort and muddle along?

Clearly those who can pay for tutoring privately and have the capacity to supervise their children will just sort that out themselves in the absence of anything from government.

The result will just be a deeper divide in education standards between the haves and have nots.

And do you seriously think that schools will do a survey to find out which children have key worker parents who havent been able to do online learning every day because they have been working so hard.... Or which children haven't had exclusive access to a laptop... I very much doubt it.

Why not? My school have. Along with surveys on students emotional wellbeing and to determine which families may need financial assistance (which we can help them to access) due to changes in their circumstances since lockdown.

So the additional funding will be spread very thinly.

There is also a time lag in PP funding

@greentulips

My school does provide extra tuition for those pupils who are being so whilst not all schools do this, there are done that do.

Regarding schools having to use the money for PP children only, I'd imagine schools are creative with who goes to catch up sessions - I know we are so we might have the one PP pupil who attends but will also add a few more pupils to the group who wouldn't necessarily have qualified but desperately needed the support too.

Now I've read that schools will have to find some of this it won't simply happen. We have flipping papergate every single year and many of us spend our own money on basic things like glue sticks so there's no way we can afford to fund it ourselves.

I'm cross now as I really thought this was something that would make a difference.

And if schools don't provide it parents will be in uproar saying 'but the Government have given you money to pay for it'!

And if schools don't provide it parents will be in uproar

They don’t provide it now - parents are already in ‘uproar’

So now it impacts more children and schools will have to listen because the voice is louder??

2 million of the most disadvantaged (ie those with hopeless parents or low achievement anyway)

You sound lovely

Our school provides intervention groups which are primarily PP pupils but also include other pupils who need the extra support. However, I am wondering that as these tutors will come heavily subsidised that there will be more restrictions and that only named PP pupils will be allowed to access them.

However, as has been mentioned as schools have to foot some of the bill they won't be happening anyway. It would be ironic that we would pay for a tutor for a number of pupils when we have had to make their class teacher redundant as we can't afford to have a teacher for each class.

I think they are calling them tutors as it sounds like they wont have to have any particular qualifications. Which makes no difference to academy schools as they can do this anyway, employ who they like regardless of qualifications

All schools can employ unqualified teachers - and some have for many years in subject shortage areas. Having said that, in my experience even private schools seek to have qualified teachers in their classrooms.

Any idiot with a bit of gumption can call themselves a tutor. Some excellent ones out there but many just trying to capitalise on an ability to do something well. I teach - and also tutor - and it never ceases to amaze me the damage some tutors do because they can't be bothered to even read up on an exam spec and understand what a student actually needs to know/doesn't need to know. This is a minefield.

I hope, however, as a former supply teacher, that this gives some work opportunity for supply staff who have been badly affected by the pandemic with no real idea of how things will work for them next year. This could give some of them some security if nothing else.

@Splinkyplonk

I very much doubt that any really bright children will fall into the 'most disadvantaged' group

Trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, what do you mean by this?

Maybe us for example. We have a year 9 child who is adopted, suffers from attachment disorder and has SEN. In the bottom sets for all subjects due to learning issues. No EHCP. Needs learning support in school to differentiate learning and some scribing . Would you begrudge this child benefitting from some help?

I very much doubt that any really bright children will fall into the 'most disadvantaged' group

So by that reasoning, grammar schools won't need any extra funding?

Sorry... what is PP pupil?

I very much doubt that any really bright children will fall into the 'most disadvantaged' group

Why?

Appart from the discussion on who “deserved” it (all!), somewhere in the news it said that this equals about £14 000 per school. That is nothing, especially since the money is probably having to be spend with preferred suppliers etc, so half gets lost anyway.

101jobs Roughly speaking, a pupil qualifies for Pupil Premium is they have qualified for free school meals in the past 6 years, or if they are forces children, or if they are Looked After or ex-Looked After, now adopted. Some rates are higher than others. The aim of PP is to close the gap between attainment of these children and other children. PP has to be spent on the cohort of PP kids, PP+ (higher rate for LA/adopted) is meant to be ringfenced for those specific children. These were picked as data showed a drop off in attainment for the qualifying kids as a cohort. It was introduced as part of the coalition government iirc.

(some details may be wrong but the gist is correct).

And you absolutely can be bright and disadvantaged simultaneously.

Sorry, Pupil Premium is extra government funding given to the school for each qualifying child. It comes at a standard rate and an enhanced rate. Can't remember how much, in the range ~£500-£1500 per child per year I think.
Can be spent on eg maths/literacy intervention, revision guides, etc. Some schools are better at spending sensibly than others.

@TeenPlusTwenties

101jobs Roughly speaking, a pupil qualifies for Pupil Premium is they have qualified for free school meals in the past 6 years, or if they are forces children, or if they are Looked After or ex-Looked After, now adopted. Some rates are higher than others. The aim of PP is to close the gap between attainment of these children and other children. PP has to be spent on the cohort of PP kids, PP+ (higher rate for LA/adopted) is meant to be ringfenced for those specific children. These were picked as data showed a drop off in attainment for the qualifying kids as a cohort. It was introduced as part of the coalition government iirc.

(some details may be wrong but the gist is correct).

And you absolutely can be bright and disadvantaged simultaneously.

Thank you for explaining, so detailed, what a PP pupil is

Surely MOST children will need extra help or what's the point of going to school in normal times?

@101jobs all schools have to show what they are spending their PP on, they have to have a report on their website. Also very hot topic for Ofsted. Can sometimes be tricky to show how you are closing the gap, especially if a child receiving PP is academic.

eg a child in DS's class when he was at Primary was exceptionally bright. Mum was SAHM, dad had a good job, so no free school meals (FSM) required. Then parents divorced, child lived with mum, so became eligible for FSM as low income, this then made this child eligible for PP. Her academic levels did not fall, but she still fell within the disadvantaged criteria. Also if slightly change the facts above, instead of divorcing the dad lost his job, so qualified for FSM and PP. However, 6 months later dad got a new job, no longer qualifies for FSM, but the school still qualifies for PP until that child leaves that school.

This is why schools frequently remind parents to apply for FSM if they are eligible, obviously helps the parents but is good for the school too.

There will probably be many more pupils qualifying for FSM now and in the next few months.

[quote ineedaholidaynow]@101jobs all schools have to show what they are spending their PP on, they have to have a report on their website. Also very hot topic for Ofsted. Can sometimes be tricky to show how you are closing the gap, especially if a child receiving PP is academic.

eg a child in DS's class when he was at Primary was exceptionally bright. Mum was SAHM, dad had a good job, so no free school meals (FSM) required. Then parents divorced, child lived with mum, so became eligible for FSM as low income, this then made this child eligible for PP. Her academic levels did not fall, but she still fell within the disadvantaged criteria. Also if slightly change the facts above, instead of divorcing the dad lost his job, so qualified for FSM and PP. However, 6 months later dad got a new job, no longer qualifies for FSM, but the school still qualifies for PP until that child leaves that school.

This is why schools frequently remind parents to apply for FSM if they are eligible, obviously helps the parents but is good for the school too.

There will probably be many more pupils qualifying for FSM now and in the next few months.[/quote]
😊 Thank you

I can make full sense of all the previous posts now that both you and TeenPlusTwenties have explained “PP” to me

Despite the distasteful words in my original post it is clear that quite a lot of you see my point and this is something to be worried about.
@Cuddling57 completely agree

disadvantaged (ie those with hopeless parents or low achievement anyway)

You were being goady as soon as you said this.

Gavin Williamson is doing the press briefing, it may all become clearer, or not!

Surely MOST children will need extra help or what's the point of going to school in normal times?

But some children will need extra extra help.

Imagine a class. Work has been set.
25% have done all the work set and maybe some extra
50% have done half the work set
25% have done less than half, some have done nothing.

The new term will pick up based on the 75%. The 25% need to be caught up to the rest of their class. Some of that 25% will have done little because they couldn't be bothered and don't care.
But a good chunk do care and just couldn't access the work due to one or more of: lack of independent working skills, lack of parental support (interest/time/skills), lack of facilities pc/quiet working space, SEN, mental health, illness/death of close relative etc)