pupil premium plus

[clangermum]

Hi

ds (10) Yr 5 qualifies for pupil premium plus for the first time this year, as he was adopted from the care system.

He's struggling at school - emotionally and academically - yet from what I've heard I suspect the money will go into the TA shortfall 'pool' - TAs who aren't working with him specifically. He's not behind enough to have an IEP, but he is heading for serious trouble and we get a lot of comments about not meeting his potential and behavioural issues.

He also has an identified additional need (don't want to go into too much detail in case I out myself) which was recently diagnosed.

So I need to meet with school. Does anyone have any suggestions for appropriate support? What have other people received that's helped?

(I've asked him what might help, btw - he doesn't know)

I need to be saying - support needs to be measurable, and shown to be helping to 'close the gap'. Is that right?

Will anyone ask me at the end of the year to feedback e.g. Ofsted? I'm thinking as it's a new scheme someone in govt. will surely be keen to assess if it's worth it. It's a lot of money - £1900 p/a. And school might be keener to do something if they're going to be called on it.

I know it doesn't 'have' to all be spent on him, but it has to make some difference surely, otherwise what's the point? They only have it because the government acknowledges children adopted from care generally have extra needs in school.

I've looked on their website for details of previous years - all a bit woolly.

What should I be asking to see - a provision map?

TIA

It's not meant to go into a general pool. It's meant to be sent directly for the benefit of the child, though others can benefit too.

Even if your child was top of the class and behaving beautifully it should still be spent on him I believe (e.g. on providing extension activities)

DD2's primary school are considering buying in some specialist support to help with her emotions. They do have trained ELSAs, but someone more trained who can explore adoption may be of benefit to her. (Failing that I want some more focussed spelling support).

Haven't heard from DD1's secondary but will be contacting them after half term to ask their plans ...

Ofsted do now check the money is going on those it is meant to.

Thank you TeenandTween.

I think any emotional support would also need to be bought in, but it's good to know I could suggest that.

We also have spelling issues.

I'm fine with others benefitting, e.g. if it was a group activity, I just can't think of one for him.

ask if the school do ELSA sessions (Emotional Literacy Support) this can be tailored to the child, can be individual or sometimes in small groups and it can help the child deal with emotions, anxiety, fear, stress etc. I would think he could really benefit from something like that. Lots of schools have staff already trained in this or perhaps like you say they could buy someone in from somewhere else to provide it. As Teenandtween has said something much more specialised for adoption should definitely be being sort out by the school. Does he have a social worker (I have no experience of adoption so don't know how it works)? if so then could you call them and ask what THEY think might help him as then you could go to school and say 'he needs x y and z and these are contacts that might be able to help and this could be funded by his pupil premium'

with regards to the pupil premium thing yes it is definitely money for HIS benefit and should not be going into a general pot to pay for 'stuff' for school. Obviously if the school bought in some equipment for a child then it shouldn't be locked away so noone else can use it I don't think but the money is for the specified child and I would actually be shocked if my child who didn't qualify for it was given benefit because of someone else's need that then wasn't being met.

The school should meet the needs of all the children regardless of whether they have pupil premium or not. If a child is struggling they need support. Full stop.

I would expect to have a meeting with the SENCo and for them to outline everything that they see as being an issue and then for you to outline everything that you see.

Have you filled in a CAF form for him? This will help the school seek help.

Has he been seen by the educational psychologist? Has he been assessed for dyslexia?

Assessment for dyslexia in our case took place over several days a little bit at a time. It didn't tell us anything we didn't already know except that he was behind in language processing. This had been masked as he talks non-stop all the time. Through this he received a programme developed by the speech and language therapist.

Other therapies that you can ask the school about (if they provide them) are drama and music therapies. For emotional and behavioural problems, horse riding therapy is wonderful. If your school doesn't provide this then ask around for charities in your area.

Nyna - can you say more about horse riding therapy? Is it different to what we would get if we just paid for extra curricula riding lessons?

The legislation on the PPP is misleading, IMO. Whilst it is not ringfenced, schools are accountable to OFSTED and parents and must show how it has been used to raise that particular child's academic attainment.

Far too many schools are absorbing it into their budget.

For LAC, the Virtual Head is now responsible for managing the PPP, and many are withholding it until agreement has been reached as to how it will be spent via the PEP.

The basic rule of thumb is that it should be used for things which are not part of the school's universal offer- additional support, tuition, laptops, extra curricular trips etc. if support can be accessed by other children who are not in receipt of the PPP (learning mentor, school counsellor etc.), then it is not a good use of the money.

Ask to see a copy of the school's provision map, and identify extra, targeted support which is relevant to the child and not featured on the provision map. The school should establish baseline data before the intervention, in order to properly evaluate its impact.

The Sutton Trust/EEF Toolkit is a useful springboard for discussion with the school about the efficacy of any planned interventions.

Also, some schools will tell you that your child is making progress and therefore does not need the PPP funding to be spent on them. If this happens, challenge it.

A child does not have to be struggling in order to have their academic attainment levels raised; it's about fulfilling potential, not fixing problems.

Sorry I have no idea I've not attended personally. If you look at some nearby riding schools they may have information on their websites.

Brilliant information, thank you.

And I can add there is an organisation that trains equine therapists EAGALA UK which might be a good place to start

Last year (before we qualified for PPP) there were 3 boys in ds's class being offered equine therapy. I know that one of them definitely doesn't qualify for PPP, no idea about the others. I think they decided on the three most needy. For me, this is where it gets tricky. On the school's website they list equine therapy as one of the things they spend PPP on, but does that include the boy I know doesn't qualify? Does his funding come from another school pot? It should really (IMO) if this is something they charge for by the pupil, as opposed to it being a group activity. He has the right to have his needs met, obviously, and I don't begrudge him support, but I think schools need to be absolutely transparent about this and from what I've seen, they often fudge it.