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

It's worth noting that though there will be a range of individual performance within a group that underperforms overall, it's not wise to opt out and say the extra support isn't needed.

PP eligible kids who are the higher attaining on entry to secondary school are the ones that typically fall below the average by the end.

School Funding and Pupil Premium 2025 - The Sutton Trust https://share.google/qeNDhS7QAYcRFAVla

After reading the latest Sutton Trust report on it, I think I agree with you.

Of course not, I'm fully aware of the data and the benefits of raising achievement programmes and there will be examples of excellent practice.

If the school has identified that children of single parents are struggling in comparison to children with coupled parents, then I would think this is a good strategy to try to close the attainment gap. Events like this also raise engagement, giving parents the opportunity to chat with teachers and feel part of the school community, which can be particularly important for PP children.

I have a PGCE in Primary Education but I still attend events like this when they are open to all at my daughter's school, like the phonics night. I've taught phonics myself but it's still good to know how they are teaching it at her school and how I can support their strategies at home.

I have a good job and am good at managing my own time, but I have very little knowledge of how teens understand time and what motivates them to plan, or what kind of revision schedule is advisable for modern day GCSEs, so I'd absolutely be interested in attending a session like this on how to support my stepdaughter with planning her revision.

Children from single parent households do perform worse than children from two parent households.

Some schools do provide support targeting single parent households.

I am a single parent. My kid’s school had various things targeting single parent families.

I wasn’t offended at all. Because there is a reason for it.

Finally some sense! 🙏

Sadly, people get defensive and don’t embrace the help that may actually be helpful! 🙄

Where has anyone parents of the entire group needs support?

Yes, agree, need the link. Interesting use of the word 'selective'!
'Selective case studies have been used to illustrate how some working-class mothers feel judged negatively by teachers and the school system, based on their marginalised (and sometimes multiple) social identities.'

Also pp does not equal working class!

I am sorry to say that I think the OP sounds very smug. Wondering if she knows how to help children with time management strategies. Perhaps a masters in education, qualified teacher. Different PGCE courses for those teaching children and those teaching adults.

Really hoping she hasn't shared her reaction to this helpful email with her child. As others have said no wonder teachers are leaving the profession in droves...parents are the main reason it seems

Also so snobby re squash and sandwiches, many, many people use foodbanks

Wow, fabulously supportive school

Of course everyone knows that not all Pupil Premium families are working class, but research does show that some parents from so called disadvantaged backgrounds can feel judged or stigmatised in their interactions with schools. OP shouldn't be piled on for expressing an opinion that many people hold.

A quick look online shows that there are studies that highlight how these perceptions can limit engagement. Even in schools with higher PP numbers, where stigma tends to be lower, it’s important that communications are handled sensitively so no parent feels singled out.

A couple of papers I found, I'm sure there are plenty more:

knowledge.lancashire.ac.uk/id/eprint/37235/9/37235%2001425692.2021.pdf

https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/162389/

And another

"Moreover, transparency in how data is used, strict protections around privacy, and clear communication
about the purpose of changes to the PP model will be essential to ensuring that families do not feel
scrutinised or stigmatised, and that schools see the value of change. A well-designed system should
strengthen confidence in how funding is allocated, ensuring that resources reach the pupils who need
them most without undermining relationships between schools and parents."

https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/CSJ-Unequal_Returns.pdf

This recent Sutton Trust PP/SEND research finds that pupils who are eligible for FSM are more likely to have SEND, but are also less likely to access the support they need. Schools who are aware of these pupils and families and are giving them the tools needed are doing that right thing.

People who are saying they'd welcome a course, and 'why wouldn't you want to help your teenager, the school are only being supportive smh' are being deliberately obtuse - and I very much doubt in the same circumstances you would be 'perfectly happy and grateful' to go along, no matter how much you claim it. I'm sure many people would love to have some support helping their child, I mean who wouldn't, right? But that's not the issue here. When a course is offered with no qualifier you have agency over whether to attend - you have chosen to engage due to a personal interest or need, with no strings attached or implied directive. It's an empowering action and people would feel good about it.

However, when you're specifically targeted, especially because of your personal circumstances, that dynamic changes - instead of being treated equally, you are now having negative assumptions made about you based on socio-economic factors, which are not being made about other, wealthier children even though some of them may be in fact more in need of support. That IS patronising and stigmatising because it implies that because you claim PP you are inherently less capable of raising your children well and need correcting so you can be better, like all the 'normal' people.

Statistics are all very well but that doesn't change the fact that targeting groups blanketly with no nuance is stigmatising and offensive on an individual level. There's a huge difference between saying 'we've identified a need and if you feel you need support here it is', and 'we've assumed you personally need fixing solely based on your income level'.

Nothing anyone says here will convince me that if they were invited to a course because it was unequivocally assumed their income or religion or postcode or skin colour means they are certainly failing their children would be as dismissive and breezy about it as they are here.

Religion, postcode and skin colour don't come into it. It is based on either income, whether a child has been through the care system or adopted, or whether a parent has a certain career that can make life more challenging in some way - military forces, police etc all of which have been shown to disadvantage children. Nothing embarrassing and children's needs should come above a parent's perception of being offended by their child being offered help.

You've missed the point. Yes, this specific situation is about income, adoption etc but my point was about being labelled in the first place. Swap in any other label - religion, postcode, skin colour etc - and I guarantee you those people targeted will be pissed about it. The details change, the feeling doesn’t.

They aren't labelled, they are being helped. It is those worrying about a label who are missing the point, which is that it does not matter. Not one bit. Your child and their future should be way more important.

Thanks. Have read the Central Lancashire one, intetlresting, but the limitations of the study, which are duly and honestly acknowledged by the authors, are significant and detract from its usefulness in drawing conclusions, as they say. Will read the others in due course.

PP parents are generally less likely to attend things for a variety of reasons. It sounds like they are trying to be really transparent about where funding is being spent & want you to have some extra support.

I work in a school & do wonder what parents think as often opportunities are offered for this reason. Either this or skin colour. It’s only ever well intended. Lots of things are only offered to PP/SEND or BAME/underrepresented groups. You should just make the most of it & try not to feel singled out.

Teachers & schools are always judged on PP students & their progress. They always ask to see their books, interview them, check their progress. As I said it’s supposed to be a way of helping by making sure extra care is given to those students.

I think the losers in all of it are the ones from families with an income just above threshold & ones who are performing generally OK but not perhaps doing as well as they could with a bit of help. Things like trips & visits are never funded for these students & they get no free things like revision guides or mentoring & won’t be eligible for schemes like the university ones.

I'm no particular fan of the governments since 2010 (the date PP came in) but I don't think it's a reasonable expectation that they fund support differentiated at the level of the individual/family according to something as subjective as how that individual/family feel about support. Broad brush categories based on average outcomes are good enough when you've got a difference as stark at 16 as those PP/non PP GCSE outcomes and that the grades, in the core subjects at least, are so important for further study.

It wouldn't be responsible to ignore those differences.

Schools are getting a lot of stick here for social forces they neither cause nor control! We have no idea how the email originally posted was received by the target group. And it was an opt-in event. An invitation, not a summons, as Mumsnet likes to say.

They aren't labelled, they are being helped.

The irony that you can't understand this is patronising is delicious.

fucking hell schools cant win can they

If you say so. I think your posts show a clear lack of thinking and empathy for the children needing help.

Does "invited" have to mean "targeted"?

@PricelessadviceI can see why OP is a bit put out. It would probably be better to run an event for everyone & then chase up PP parents to check they are coming along. It’s also a bit outing to invite only those parents.