Pupil Premium - Year 6/ Year 7 any knowledge ?

[BeaLola]

My DS receives PPG as a former LAC child prior to our adoption. I think the amount for 2018/2019 is £2300?
We have asked school how this money has been used but they keep dodging the question.

I think the amount is paid in quarterly instalments with last trance paid out March 2019 - is my undertstanding correct ? Does this mean that when he goes to Secondary in September he has to wait for 2019/20 grant paid out when ?

Thanks if you can shed some light

My DS receives PPG as a former LAC child prior to our adoption. I think the amount for 2018/2019 is £2300?
Yes.

We have asked school how this money has been used but they keep dodging the question.
There should be something on the school's website. Most schools will have online:

• Pupil Premium Policy
• Planned spending
• Past spending account

You can ask to speak to the 'Designated Teacher for looked after and formerly looked after children'. Schools are required to have one (since 2018) and one of the 'Designated Teacher's' jobs is to be a first point of contact for parents regarding Pupil Premium+. They should also be encouraging parent involvement in decision making on PP+ spending, and be playing a key part in PP+ decision making themselves. Sounds like they haven't been doing their job...

I think the amount is paid in quarterly instalments with last trance paid out March 2019 - is my undertstanding correct ? Does this mean that when he goes to Secondary in September he has to wait for 2019/20 grant paid out when ?

It is paid in quarterly instalments, and it goes by tax year April-April. So the first time a school sees any PP+ money for a PLAC is right at the end of that child's first year at the school, first instalment is paid end of June.

However the school keeps receiving this money even after the child has left the school - final instalment in March of the next school year.

This is how it works: The money that a school gets is calculated by the number of PLAC on roll in January, and if a child leaves in February/a new child joins in February, that doesn't affect anything. It then gets paid April-April in those four instalments.
And that is precisely why the PP+ money is not ring-fenced for individual children, but is ring-fenced for the cohort of PLAC currently at the school. So a PLAC who joined a school in September should be benefitting from the school's PP+ 'pot' right from day one, even though the money that child attracts to the school will only start to arrive at the end of that child's first year at that school.

After all, the school will continue to get money due to that child long after the child has left the school.

It can seem a bit unfair but theoretically it should all even out. E.g. take a school with one PLAC in, say, Y2. Two more PLAC join in reception. The school up to April has only £2300/year but from that pot needs to address all three children's needs, so the first child's money has got to be shared with the other two. When that Y2 child eventually leaves the school, school continues to receive money for them, that must be spent on the remaining PLAC at the school. Seems unfair, as this first PLAC attracts money to the school but has to share it.

But then when that child moves to a new school, he/she gets a share from the pot of money that the new school has, that was attracted by other PLAC, potentially even children who have by then already left the school.

So when your DS goes to secondary in September, you should be asking to speak to the 'Designated Teacher' right away, and be asking how PP+ can be spent to address his needs from day one. Yes, the money the school gets for him will only start coming in in June 2020; but your DS will be part of the school's 'cohort' of PLAC from day 1, and thus should benefit from the school's 'pot' of PP+ money right away. Just as any remaining PLAC at his current primary will continue to benefit from money that your child attracted to the school.

I am afraid though that in my limited experience, schools will do anything to make you believe that your child is not entitled to any PP+ support until basically their second year at the school, and will happily pocket the money they will receive after your child has left.
Just as your current primary school seems to be making you think that payments only went until March 2019 - that is not true, they will continue receiving money for him for a whole year after that, until March 2020.

I have found the following document helpful:

assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/683561/The_designated_teacher_for_looked-after_and_previously_looked-after_children.pdf

I was a PP governor for a while. My scjo took the expenditure of this money very seriously.

It is good practice for schools to look at each individual child and then spend the PP money to raise progress and attainment. Sometimes attainment is already excellent with progress to match and then there could be nuanced discussions with the PP teacher about what can be done to help further. I would suggest all parents talk to the designated teacher about how PP money will be used to improve progress and attainment or close any other gaps that are identified. Confidence for example.

The school’s PP report and data must be on the website. That’s a legal requirement. You cannot demand the school spends money in a certain way on your DC but you are entitled to ask for progress data, attainment data and talk about other needs that could be addressed and ask the school how they intend to do it. No school should just integrate the money into the budget and not evaluate the needs of the PP pupils and address them. They should monitor expenditure and results and amend strategy if it’s not working.

Like all school finance, it’s complicated. Just ask questions and ask for data to see if the money is directed effectively and is making a difference to your DC. Hope that helps.

I'd write off primary.
Just make sure you are up to speed on how the secondary spends its money. As PP said, there should be info on the school website.

My y9 ADD has had

• 1 week's summer school during y6-y7 summer transition
• social skills intervention y7
• English intervention y8 & y9
• good use of the pastoral care department y7, y8 & y9

I think it's not so much how they have spent the money but whether your AC gets any necessary interventions.

Thank you all so much for explaining it - has really helped me.

I think the issue we have at his very small primary school is because he has caught up/done well/enough academically they are not focused on him -in fact the SENCO hasn't seen us at all and when we asked for a meeting with her about it didn't know who he was ....

I am more concerned about his social interaction, focus - not sure if he is dyslexic ?but hope anything can be sorted sooner at Secondary before it gets too near exams etc

I'd hit the ground running with secondary. If he's already y6 then transitioning will be happening. Have you had any contact with them yet?
I'd be contacting the tutor / y7 transition leader / SENCO.

'I thought I'd contact you re Charlie Lola who is joining y7 in September in tutor group 7X. As you will be aware, Charlie is adopted. We adopted him from care when he was 3.5. Although he has managed well academically at primary school we do have some concerns.

1. I would like him to be screened for dyslexia because ….
2. If you have any social skills support it may be useful for him to access this as ……
3. ... Charlie is really looking forward to joining your school and enjoyed the recent transition day. Kind regards ….

I had years at primary with good pastoral care but not really picking up on academic struggling (eg spelling, kept telling me others were worse). We had OT assessment in ~y5 which said bottom 1% motor skills, DCD.
Secondary have assessed DD with slow processing and also auditory processing problems. She gets extra time in tests. We also tried a laptop but DD found it more of a hinderance than a help.

Thank you - this is so helpful. I think in my naivety I assumed school would be more proactive and when I raised things and got told he's doing really I just accepted their viewpoint as to me I had no experience of being a parent and hit the ground running just before he started school with being a Mummy and helping him transition from care to us etc.

He was really behind when he started school. Don't get me wrong he has done so well and I'm incredibly proud of him for all sorts of reasons. I guess now I'm thinking how do I get his interest/potential developed and brought on and have I left everything too late (bad Mummy that Iam).

His year 2 and 5 teachers were particularly good especially the year 5 who seemed to care about developing him and bringing him along. Year 3 teacher always thought of him as the poor adopted boy so if he could do anything and wasn't naughty they was happy whereas year4 teacher really didn't like him as his lack of focus and loudness annoyed him completely - there were a lovely group of girls and quiet boys that year making up the rest of the class and he couldn't come up with any strategies or ideas when I asked how I could best help my child.

I'm not trying to find excuses I just want to help my son as best I can to achieve his potential. He was slow to learn to read, hates literacy , doesn't like writing and panics with a blank page in front of him. That said is good at maths and passed his Test for secondary school. He does not focus - he has eye and hearing tests all ok - when I look at the list on dyslexia website huge percentage is dscribng him. One past teacher thought his motor skills were very low (?) when doing work he will get distracted at anything and go off at a tangent very quickly. Year five teacher said that if you asked him everything and he could verbally tell you answers he would consistently get much higher marks ,if he reviews. Apiece of work if pushed he will completely miss lack of capital letters and punctuation but he does know these things , it's like if he has t commit anything to paper he will just write it down any old however missing out words in his rush , not that he writes that quickly , is also left handed.

Whether there are any hereditary issues we are unaware,

Thanks so very much for all the thoughts and suggestions

OK, with all that extra info, definitely contact the SENCO.

He sounds like a mix between my DD1 (adopted age 8) and DD2 (was 2.5). We were slow on DD1 as a lot was put down to her being behind due to past experience etc. But her struggles became more pronounced in secondary. DD2 has just always been a bit behind. She seems more on the ball than DD1 but struggles more academically.

DD2 was the one I described upthread. y9 now and still uses Capitals and punctuation as if it were rationed.

DD1 had dyspraxia diagnosis y11 (so you are way ahead of where we were). She is also way better verbally, and could never work out what to write. Her executive functioning is poor. But she passed all her GCSEs with 1-1 revision with me.

My suggestion. As well as dyslexia, look up dyspraxia and executive functioning. There is a lot of overlap but the more traits you can pin down the better.

He may need more support at home than normal with secondary, so don't leave him to organise himself until you are sure he can do it. things like keeping track of timetable, packing correct books, organising homework etc.

We also go round in circles between hereditary v neglect/trauma v luck. Never really gets us anywhere. You can only do what you can do.

School have to publish on their website how they've spent PP money, look there then query where yours has gone

Primary schools have it tougher because I think it is harder to tell if a child is a late developer or has a hidden issue. Also they don't have the economies of scale a secondary might have. you can run a social skills group for 8/200 in secondary, but it isn't so easy in primary.

Secondary school SENCOs also see way more children so get a better idea what is (for want of a better word) normal.

NB. In secondary the individual teachers only see your child for 1-3 hrs per week. So you as a parent need to be helpful/proactive to join the dots if you see common issues occurring.

I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all of you for posting such helpful comments and helpful advice - I really appreciate it . Have had a meeting with Year 7 H of Year and it has really helped me to raise issues / take things forewarn