Parents

[hazel10]

My child started a couple of weeks at a school nursery. Me and my spouse are unemployed due to recession and trying to get back to work so we were very happy when we got a nursery place in the state school. I run a startup but do not earn enough so I have been contemplating of getting back to work somehow although I am passionate about my startup. We were high earners in financial sector but lost job for last 1 year. We do not like to discuss our financial state publicly. I have been doing cooking, cleaning, school run ins and tutoring because we save in these trying times and cannot afford any more of these costs.

As the school is facing funding cuts, a council officer working for school phoned me regarding the funding crisis. As I was getting ready to collect my child from nursery, giving a brief overview, she asked me to meet her at the school reception.

However, instead of reception, she found me at the nursery and she started to talk publicly about the recent 30 hours. As I was emotionally charged, I was upset thinking they were going to end full-day to 15 hours/day especially because I let go of a seat at another school. I gruntled how their fund issue now will throw our already treacherous life in disarray.

Teachers soon started to give me advice and basically ridiculed for high pay sit-at-home parents and belittled my concerns comparing their situation to mine.They did not understand what startup means. I am much more informed and therefore felt uncomfortable talking publicly and taking their advice and I counter-argued as their arguments obviously did not apply to my situation. Soon silently they called headteacher and deputy head teacher and I felt so ganged up. I shed a few tears. I do not ever do but I did.

That incident played on my mind maybe because they saw me weak. I felt school interferes too much into personal matters. I've another child in another school and I've faced no issues.

The next day I spoke to headteacher but he refused to acknowledge his staff's fault at all and dismissed my concerns. I'm angry if there's a policy at all for right to information protection and should I notify council about the school's careless attitudes. I asked the headteacher if there is a policy to talk of confidential issues at all? Parents may have disability, suffering abuse, financial concerns and may not want to discuss with all like this. Can I refuse to provide personal financial status to council through school forms? Please suggest.

The threshold for what counts as a high earner (or any other threshold for support in various circumstances) is not set by the school. These are set by government to secure funding for specific groups. It has no impact on your credit rating. School staff will be simply reiterating this information.

I'm not sure what you mean by a school officer impersonating a council worker. Even in schools not run by an LEA, many services are still run through the council so school staff will implement schemes or have standardised materials.

Schools are not pulling a scam. They have set ways of getting additional funds but usually only if children and families qualify for them for which they then have to justify every penny. They ain't buying premium biscuits for the staff room.

It's simple. Schools can apply for extra money for some children. Schools need to prove those children belong to specific disadvantaged groups. Parents provide the evidence. If you don't want to toy don't have to but considering how desperate for cash most schools are they probably wonder why when it takes so little effort from you.

There is no scam. What the school is trying to do is maximise the amount of money it gets from the government in order to benefit your children and others. None of the ways the school can claim money affect you, your credit rating and so on. The school claiming money from the government is absolutely not the same thing as you being on benefits. You will not be recorded anywhere as being on benefits.

When you were offered you nursery place you wouldn't have been asked about pupil premium qualification. That's done at a specific point in the term, once the school is in a position to ask parents. Once again, you don't have to fill in the pupil premium form, but the school will lose out on money that is meant to benefit your child, if you qualify.

Are you getting the 30 funded hours Op? Because from what I can see from what you've written you aren't entitled to them?

OP

The pupil premium funding does not stay on your credit rating for six years. It stays with your child for six years, during their time at school. This means if they ever need to go on an expensive trip, want music lessons or need extra in school tuition if they (for whatever reason) aren't making the expected progress then the school will have a pool of money available to help your child. It is a good thing for your child. The school is not judging you in any way. I imagine they were confused and frustrated that you were denying them money that will be used to help your child. The money is not just for a free meal!

The pupil premium is nothing to do with your credit rating. It will not affect it at all. All it will do is get extra funding to help your child. There is no conspiracy or scam. It's there to help.

It sounds to me like you need to take a breath. I can see you are stressed by this interaction but it sounds like both sides could have handled it better. Ive filled in the forms quite happily - I want education properly funded and this goes just a tiny way to supporting that which ultimately benefits my child. Just fill the form in and let the school have the cash.

Does this explain it for you? It's called Forever 6 funding. No scam, no credit check, no outlay for you. Just cash for school for the time your child is there even if your own financial siuaition improves.
www.theschoolrun.com/pupil-premium-explained

I'm very confused that you think this is a scam?
It doesn't take anything from you other than your current situation. It's not just pupils who are eligible for free school meals that the school can claim extra funding for, children with a parent in the forces , children with English as an additional language ....I can't remember the others.
The school gets extra money for these pupils. But they are not going to refuse a place because you don't meet the criteria, or because you don't want to claim free school meals! I'm sure they were all just trying to make you understand the situation, and probably couldn't understand your reaction!

It's a bit like when charities ask you if you are a tax payer so they can claim it back, or when you visit National Trust or English Heritage properties etc. It's just a way for them to get a little extra to help their causes.
Surely you can't begrudge schools for trying to maximise their funding?

I think I'd go even further and suggest that the people at the school asked the questions in a desire to help you - you appear to have very little financial literacy. I'm imagining your answers to the pupil premium questions, which they ask everyone just in case, made them realise that you're not claiming any benefits, despite the fact you have no income.

They probably genuinely wanted to help out - that's not normal.

I wonder if it to do with cultural thing?
In my culture people see that being on benefits as a shame. There are sometimes a news that some elderly person starved to death because they were too proud to seek help. Which is very sad.