To feel offended by this email from the school?

[PupilpremiumWTF]

I think I'll just post the email without any elaboration for now, and see what people think, this is copied and pasted directly, with identifying info changed:

Dear Mrs X,

It’s great to be able to invite you to a special evening for parents of our Pupil Premium students in Years 7, 8 and 9 on Thursday 20th November 2025.

We’ll be starting with a light buffet tea from 5:00 pm, giving you the chance to chat informally with staff and other parents before the evenings presentations begin.

At 5:30 pm, I’ll give a short overview of how we use Pupil Premium funding here at school to support students’ learning and wellbeing, and to help every child make the best possible progress.

From 6.00 pm to 7:00 pm, we will to be joined by Elevate Education, who will deliver a practical, engaging seminar designed to help parents support learning at home.

Topics covered will include:

- Time Management – helping your child to plan effectively and avoid last-minute stress.

• - Study Support – understanding what effective study looks like and how to make it stick.
• - Motivation – discovering what really drives student motivation and how to nurture it.
• - Parent E-book Access – every parent attending will receive a free e-book full of strategies and guidance.

This is a brilliant opportunity to pick up some useful ideas and find out more about how we’re supporting your child’s progress in school.

I really hope you’ll be able to join us for what promises to be an enjoyable and informative evening.

Please let us know if you can attend by completing the form on EduLink.

Kind regards,

Mr Y
Senior Assistant Headteacher

Me neither...sounds like a potentially helpful meeting with food too!

Are you worried they are implying your poor?

I would love to know what some posters on here think:
1 - why do schools get pupil premium
2- what to spend pupil premium on
3- how do schools give support and guidance to PP families (not just the pupils in school)

I notice one poster suggested paying for a tutor. If a Primary school had 40 PP pupils they might get enough funding for a full-time tutor but how many hours do you think each of those pupils would get with the tutor and how much support would they be able to give to parents.

I think they are reading it as saying 'you are poor and an inadequate parent'

I wouldn't read it that way myself.

They'll do the sales thing of 'the really special people/top earners in social media/best boss babe moms do three special things to stand out...' and then it'll boil down to

Write out a timetable of what to study each week, don't call it a timetable, as that's not nice.
Write out a timetable of study for them to follow every day
Then use the planner with the timetable (yes, I know) for them to follow every day
Take away their phones at night
Play classical music, not anything with lyrics, as they do their homework
Make sure they aren't doing their homework around distractions such as a TV, siblings, other people (so make sure they have their own room with a desk, heating, etc, all those things many families in receipt of pupil premium don't have)
Use multiple online apps on their phones to do their homework (so if you're skint, prioritise giving them data, I guess - or buy them a new smartphone with lots of data in the contract/get a broadband contract so they can connect to wifi in your home)
Promise them a reward for doing homework (if you can think of something that costs zero and would be seen as a reward, let us know)
Use different coloured pens for writing

Add into that a few sausage rolls from Tesco's and the opportunity to theorise whether x child's mum is fiddling the system because she's got a car and husband, whether y child is actually adopted from care because there's no way on earth his parents were ever poor enough to qualify for Universal Credit and Free School Meals and if z child qualifies on the grounds of being No Recourse to Public Funds or a refugee, combined with randoms commenting about why should they have to pay for their kids to have a tutor when feckless workshy benefits families and immigrants get it for free, I'm sure it'll be a great success in the eyes of the SLT member who has using pupil premium and making sure the parents know how pupil premium is being used (to pay the fees of the private company) as one of their targets for appraisal/payrise next September, I'm sure everybody will have a great time.

I do understand why you're offended. We are on PP and both myself and husband are highly educated with multiple degrees including my teaching degree. My son does really well in school and doesn't need any kind of intervention. However, from the school's perspective, PP is treated like a special need like any other (SEN, safeguarding concerns, etc.). That's probably because statistically low income can correlate to poorer outcomes, for various reasons. I would be glad the school are trying so hard to help children who, speaking generally, probably do need more help...but I also probably wouldn't go to the meeting. And if asked I would just politely say I didn't need that information, thanks.

Ok, so they're lumping all PP families in the same category. Some will need more support, others less. Nevertheless they are being transparent about what the extra money is being spent on. I know that this lack of accountability is an issue at my school where there wre lots of armed service families. Also, re study - there have been lots of recent research into how the brain stores and retrieves information which helps formulate study plans. It builds upon and refines the studying techniques that we may have learned and practiced in the past. The school are doing what they can to support those students that they feel need the most support. If you personally don't need that help, then just don't go.

The school is spending money to put on a buffet and presentation so it makes sense that they spend this on the parents of kids who they receive funding for and might need extra support. While you personally may not need help with parenting skills or be attracted to a buffet, there are likely to be other PP parents who do/are. Not all of them, and not just PP parents, but that is who this event is for. If that’s not you, you don’t have to go. I don’t think it’s necessary to take personal offence

Absolutely nothing wrong with that email. What kind of parent wouldn't accept additional help for their children?

I think it is such a shame for your child that they will miss out on help available to them because you've got a chip on your shoulder.

Do your child a favour, put aside your ridiculous hurt feelings and go to the meeting.

Looking at a random school’s pupil premium strategy they mention Elevate Education programme

They trying to bring all the parents of kids with support needs together at the event and give you an insight on how they will work with parents in the hope they will then be able to help the pupil at home with lessons and homework to try get better marks in exams, reach their full potential. It is a bit patronising thinking that your child has been singled out because they have support needs. We had something similar in my daughters Secondary "parents in partnership" where we went in once a week to learn different subjects but some of the other pupils in our kids class used to think we were there as we were stupid and thick.

I think you're dismissing the legitimate emotional and social impact of being categorized and invited based on income status. The stigma is real and many people do feel it.

@Thekidsarefightingagain so how do you tackle the disadvantage many of the pupils have?

Op you sound like a stuck up snob that’s easily offended.

The judges look a right state tonight. Apart from Mabuse.

I think I posted to the wrong theread. Oops!

I'm guessing the school have had other PP parents complaining about what they spend the money on, so they've decided to kill two birds with one stone and spend some of the money on this evening, and an explanation.

The food would probably have been made by school canteen staff.

Basically any child/parent who gets free school meals therefore school gets the premium.

I feel the op is saying that because her child and others get this, is that the common thought process implies that parents must be somewhat lacking in the grey area. Ie Wayne and waynetta slob .

A very stereotypical view that if you get pupil premium you are not very intelligent and you must need help. Obviously you must be thick as pig shit and unable to parent make meals and do basic life skills.

So yes op I do find school emails like this fucking annoying and a little patronising. But it’s a mass email (not aimed at you as a person or your parenting) so just do as I and roll your eyes to the back of your head and……. delete.

But they are not funded to offer these specific things to the whole school. It's an offer; your DC is included; you dont have to accept.

@Princessbananahamock statistically pupil premium children do perform worse academically than non pupil premium students, and it is stark not just a few percentage points. I live in an area where the difference is even more marked.

Doesn’t mean they are less academic but might mean more resources, more support, more guidance need to be given so they can achieve the same levels as their non pupil premium counterparts

Singling out Pupil Premium students and their parents for any reason is bloody dumb of the school. Surely all parents could benefit from this evening? Shockingly, parents not on benefits can also drop the ball when it comes to their children’s education.

@Slowdownyouredoingfine what do they spend pupil premium on instead?

You're mad OP.
I have been researching courses for teen DC to learn how to effectively study. Its been offered to you and you are offended.

I also think it might be nice to be in a group with other parents of premium pupils so you can chat freely about concerns instead of hiding it/having to pretend you're not in that cohort.

Perhaps if you are in a less well off area, there might be people there you'd rather not associate with but that will be the case everywhere.

The whole point of pupil premium is government funding to support better outcomes for children… they are clearly using that funding to try & do exactly that & provide support for parents so not sure what the issue is? Why would you be offended? They probably would do it for the whole school if they had funding for that but I doubt they do.

Fair comment though.

Cheered up the thread.