BBC: schools and teachers have to do parenting.

[Charis1]

Head teachers are warning that schools are having to act like "mini-welfare states" in having to provide food, spare uniform and even to wash clothes and provide showers for some pupils.

Mr Hobby warned that the financial cost of this extra support was not recognised, with estimates that it cost schools an average of £2,000 to £3,000 per year.

Individual heads and teachers were also bringing in their own food for pupils, but without any this cost being recorded.

In my last year of teaching, I paid for food, travel, stationery, washing powder, phone calls and UCAS applications for pupils.

I paid for pens, pencils, rulers, rubbers, calculators, paper, glue, string, subscriptions to educational internet sites, and a blind for the class.

There is probably more, but I can't remember exactly what off the top of my head.

The food costs a LOT. You are not allowed to offer food to an individual pupil, you have to offer it to everyone in the class.

As to the oyster top ups, etc, I could have been sacked if found out. But according to the news today, over half of teachers are surreptitiously doing it.

To be honest, it seemed to me that the parents could have provided for their children, but chose not to.

I'm not at all convinced that there are all that many such hard up parents in the country.

You can see that when they also fail to provide something that would be absolutely free, like a trip to the GP, for example.

Charis1 if you haven't heard of pupil premium I can only presume you work in an independent school. As in order to be 'good' in ofsted you are to be able to recognise which students in your class are pupil premium and what extra support you are putting in place each lesson for that student.
This money is available not just for academic use, but for the whole welfare of the child. The money belongs to the student not the school. Sadly a lot of schools put it in a big pot to pay for LSA's, but it should provide revision guides, uniform top ups, breakfast club etc.

Most schools do have it on their website, here's a sample from a local school.
s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/sh-coomberoad-com/media/downloads/Pupil%20premium%202014%202015.pdf

If you were a teacher you would know exactly which children in your class received pupil premium as you would need to keep evidence of how it was being spent, and the impact and results on each child's education.

That is just plain not true, never been refered to once, in RL, like it says.

I do have records on all my students, prior attainment, target grades, predicted grades, working grades, ethnic origin, sexuality, special needs, links to arm forces, free school meals, time in foster care, criminal records, previous schools attended, family links with other pupils in school, restraining orders between parents, previous exclusions, behavioural records, referrals to outside agencies, home languages, etc etc etc

Nothing what so ever about pupil premium.

Which has nothing what so ever to do with teachers spending their own money on pupils and schools anyway.

Does PP exist in FE? Post-16 education?

Children on FSM and LAC get pupil premium Charis.

ok thanks bobajob, so I can identify them from the lists of records I've got, not that I have ever had access to any money anyway, or any say in what any part of the school budget is spent on, so doesn't actually ake any difference.

we were ofsteded last year, nothing was written on any records about Pupil premium, and nothing was said about it in the ofsted report.

Those of you who bring in food - how do you hand it out? And the clothes? How does they get distributed? I think it's amazing that you do it, but I can't quite picture how it works. And don't other kids ask for cereal bars etc and you don't have enough.

This document shows how OFSTED monitor pupil premium

As a class teacher, you wouldn't get to access the money but you might make requests. We have for wide ranging needs as uniform, trips, revision guides. But it is the senior team who make overall decisions. The basics it funds are summer school and learning mentors who overview progress across the subjects.

You track your FSM pupils.

Little Johnny is falling behind in maths- you know this is because he comes in hungry every morning and doesn't pick up until after he's had his free fruit at break (KS1). In your Pupil Progress Meeting (or before) you raise with SLT that this is why he isn't learning as well as he could in maths.

Johnny gets a free place in breakfast club (from his PP) and an LSA (maybe funded from pooled PP) goes to fetch him in from the playground in the morning to eat.

He does better in maths. You did your job. You did not spend your money.

Those of you who bring in food - how do you hand it out?

this is a serious problem, Stitchintime1.

The normal code of conduct about safe practice means you cannot give food to one student.

My normal methods have been

1. masses of very cheap biscuits, or other food, and an open invitation to anyone to help themselves. Its good if the biscuits actually are not very nice, as you will then find the really hungry students take loads, and the better cared for take none. ( Some of my colleagues have bought pizza for the whole class, but again, making it fairly boring and unappetizing heps ensure it finds it's target.

1. Open invitation again for anyone to help themselves to a bread bin and toaster set up in the corner of a work room, although being tactical about which students are invited in.

1. Allowing stealing, this is tricky, because you have to convey to a student they are allowed to steal, without saying anything you could be disciplined for. Of course many hungry students steal anyway, so it isn't an issue, but telling the students to collect something or leave something on my desk, when there is fruit, sandwiches, pens, stationery, gloves, etc on my desk. Like I said, some will just steal, if someone doesn't you have to hint.

1. Giving out loans and miscounting when they come in. "Ok, I'm collecting my personal calculators in now, 1, 2, etc" walk around the room, collecting, leaving target child to last "ok, 15, that's all of them" wink at child still in possession of your calculator.

1. In the end, blatantly and openly, if you know the child well enough, and they know not to tell.

There are other ways.

That is ridiculous Charis.

You need to talk to your SLT about what you are doing. There are much better ways of ensuring the children have what they need to be able to learn.

We have 65% FSM. There is a lot of pupil premium money in the pot. It is used for intervention, breakfast, homework and revision clubs, educational visits and careers, and sundries like shoes, uniform and food.
Without it, the needs of our students could not be met. A lot of them live in true poverty, fourth generation unemployed families.

That does sound crazy Charis. I work in primary so maybe it is different, but if a child needed food or equipment I would raise it with family support/CP person and we'd arrange for them to get it. Sometimes this has meant giving children a place in breakfast club or a free lunch, sometimes giving them pencils/paper/glue sticks so they can do homework. But no pretending or scheming or putting them in a position where they need to steal it.

I agree it is crazy, but this research shows thousands of teachers are doing it.

I'm working with 14-19 year olds, many of whom have been unofficially disowned by families, who sofa surf between various "aunties" and step families, etc, so raising it with the family is not really an option. Tracking down a parent, finding a parent that speaks English, persuading a parent that their teen is still their responsibility, these are all barriers.

sometimes we have arranged for children to have free school meals, but if their parents are not in the right income bracket, this can only be temporary, even if the parents don't want to give their children money for lunch.

Some parents do genuinely have no income, so they can't help even if they want to.

In my last full time department, ( 9 teachers) at lest 6 were doing this, and I don't know about the other three.

bobajob was not suggesting that you raise it with the family, but with the person in school with designated responsibility for the children's welfare. Have you done that?

sorry, misread it, yes, we do refer to the CP designate, but he can't really do anything much either. He does keep reminding us of the rules about offering food to just one child, it has to be the whole class or nothing.

I'm very glad to be in Primary, where welfare is at the heart of everything we do, if that is how it is higher up.

I reckon you should ask what happens to the PP. Up to Year 11 and child registered for free school meals in the last 6 years receives £935pa and any child that is in/has recently been in care £1900pa. Where is it going if you haven't even heard of it?

I'm afraid it's required now. I teach in FE, so not quite the same, but we have taken money out I department budget to do a variety of thing. Bought Learners breakfast after we learnt they had not eaten in three days, basic equipment, paid for trips so they are not left out, shows because one had holes in theirs so bad that they were basically walking on bare feet.

A few years ago one called me and my manager at 2am in tears, after someone close to her attacked her. I got out of bed, picked up my manager and we went and got her. Put her in a hotel for the night and supported her through the police process.

She is a very successful FLO now with the police and every time I see her, she still thanks me.

I hate that it's necessary, but would do it in a heartbeat.

Charlesryder, that would expalin why we don't have any Pupil premium. We have 16+ students that are exclusively ours, but the 14-16 students would be enrolled somewhere else, and with us part time, or excluded, or home educated.

That does make more sense then. Your 14-16s should probably port their money with them as it is just for them- I can see the complication if they are dual rolled and also on timetable somewhere else though.

Thank you for explaining that, Charis. It's a grim state of affairs.