all teachery types......... advice needed

[wannabestressfree]

If you were going for a job 'progressing' children on free school meals what would you be focusing on and saying in your statement?

I have some rough ideas but am a bit stumped........

Does that mean (in broad terms) getting them up to average attainment levels? If so, I'd be talking about looking at the individual child and their potential rather than blanket statements about NC levels. Assessing levels when they join the school, accessing early interventions when required, and stretching those who are able just as much. Holistic approach. (I can blather like this for hours if you like :o )

DD is FSM and G&T, she is considered abnormal judging from everything I've read about expected academic achievements.

primary or secondary?

I'd be mentioning ideas such as aspirations and opportunities too.

Really? There is a job going that makes the assumption that children on FSM will all need academic support en masse??

No two children fail to achieve for exactly the same reason. The first aspect of any support package for a child should be identification of the child's 'profile'. I.e. what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are and pinpointing accurate and specific underlying causes of their weaknesses and the barriers to their progress.

That sounds a bit clinical but it would necessarily be a process of getting to know the child by forming a relationship with them, getting a good handle on their background and current context, working with their parents/carers, working with any other professionals involved (social workers etc), engaging any professionals that need to be involved (referals for SALT OT CAMHs assessments etc).

God, I could go on for ages too. I think my point is that it's a much bigger job than just doing some extra maths sessions in the library- I hope the school recruiting doesn't think that??

I'm also still a bit that this is aimed only at children on FSM.

I think they are asking about the use of the Pupil Premium in a roundabout way- this is primarily given to schools for pupils on FSM.

I would talk about how you would use the Pupil Premium- 1:1 support, enrichment activities, tutoring etc. to counteract the trend of underachievement amongst children on FSM. Bear in mind that the PP is ringfenced and MUST be spent on the child, rather than absorbed into the school budget to pay for something which the child may benefit from.

'Progressing' children needn't specifically refer to those who are underachieving BTW- children on the G&T register should be progressing too.

What tethers said- this is about most effective use of pupil premium.
I had thought that FSM premium could be used in school in any manner, but LAC premium restricted to actual child, is that not the case then?
Don't forget there is a premium for services children too, at a lower amount though.

And EBD, LEAs (and possibly Heads) are having huge amounts of pressure on them to reduce the attainment gap between FSM and non-FSM children. I can understand why they would focus strongly on this.

Oh I hadn't thought about pupil premium.

I maintain my point that spending it wisely would be entirely dependent on having a deep and clear understanding of what each idividual child actually needed. Multi-professional working and all that.

Good point, QZ- I think the ringfencing rules may be different for non LAC children. The PP for services children is £200 per year as opposed to £488 for pupils on FSM and those Looked After for 6 mths+

I second Tether's ideas on enrichment activities. Have read some interesting work on the Boxhall profile which looks at children's engagement with learning and may be a way to measure the effectiveness of any groups you run.

Yeah QZ I know. My moment of swimming in denial is over.

I just hate the thought of support being put in and ringfenced for statistical groups. I feel sad for the kid who has barriers to their progess but doesn't get FSM and therefore this additional support. Why can't schools identify every kid who needs something different and have resources to be able to give it to them? Last I heard, every child mattered.

Aggghhhhhhhhhh! EBD's head explodes

Does this mean there is extra money for my DC who have FSM and are both acheiving above average levels? I would hope not tbh and that if there were it could be used to support other childten in the school in more need of it, whether they have FSM or not (in DCs school chances are they won't have FSM as there is a v low percentage).

The Boxhall profile measures how much a child with an attachment disorder re-engages in response to nurture.

Not all children on FSM will have attachment difficulties.

I don't think eevery child matters to the new govt...

Don't forget, from April 1st LAC premium is £600 per child, don't kniow if FSM will also increase.

Also isn't premium changing to be any child who's been on FSM ever from April?

EBD teacher, yes I agree that many FSM pupils will not have attachment difficulties, but some of the pupils in very chaotic homes may gain from small nurture groups. Didn't say it was a solution but may be worth a bit of exploring for specific pupils who are disengaged, if someone is looking at problems with progress in specific groupings of pupils.

I bet this is to do with ofsted's latest focus on the progress of vulnerable groups- FSM being one of them. If the school's analysis of its data shows a gap between the achievement of FSM pupils and non FSM pupils then the school has to do something to address it. So the job would be about increasing the attainment of tracked FSM pupils who are not on target.

I'd talk about raising the child's aspirations - and also talk about engaging with their families.

FSM pupil premium is going up to £600 next year.

Sorry for not coming back on was swamped last night............
The school I am at focuses on lots of different children...... not just free school meals. We have LOTS of progression posts. BUT we have a large uptake of different ethnic minorities, I live in an area of social deprivation and yes although there are exceptions to the rule GENERALLY the bottom sets are full of children who claim fsm and are LAC or raised in one parent or benefit claiming households.

I like the idea of profiling when they come into school. I have always championed this for special needs children as my DS really benefited from it. Will read up on the other bits mentioned.

What's the job, wannabe? Does it target a specific group?

Its a promotion and its progress manager 'to lead the care, guidance and support of all Free School Meal students to ensure academic progree and student well-being' :}

Doesn't sound very stress free

No I imagine it isn't

Good luck with it