Is this letter to DC's teacher ok?

[Tessaraqt]

I had parents evening last week and she said my DD (Yr 1) is working below age related expectations at the moment in reading and handwriting - she finished reception on the expected levels for everything. DD is a pupil premium child in a school with a low amount of PP children (less than 10 children are PP in a school of 400), but it's never been discussed with me how this funding is used to benefit DD (or even if it is). Is this an ok letter to send her teacher? I don't want to have a face to face discussion because I'm not articulate and I'll just clam up.

Teacher is an NQT, if it's at all relevant.

"Dear Miss X

I hope it’s ok to write - it seemed easier than trying to catch you at the end of the day when things are hectic. At the parents evening, you said that DD is currently working below age related expectations, but that you aren’t concerned because you know she’ll get there.

Having reflected on it a bit since, I am a bit concerned now. She finished reception with “expected” levels of progress across all areas, so to be below this at the end of the first term in Yr 1 makes me think she has fallen behind on where she was, and perhaps she has struggled with the transition to Year 1 more than I had realised.

I understand DD is classed as a “Pupil Premium” child, and I am under the impression that this brings additional funding for the school.

Having looked into it, the Pupil Premium research shows that academically able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds are most at risk of under-performing, and I’m concerned DD will fall into this category and “slip through the gaps” so to speak. I think she’s enthusiastic to learn but lacks confidence in herself and her abilities, and I worry that as she’s a quiet child who neither struggles hugely nor is extraordinarily bright, she’ll continue to muddle along unnoticed, and not fulfilling her potential.

I’d really appreciate it if you could possibly speak to whoever deals with the funding at the school and see whether it’s possible for DD to receive some extra attention to bring her back up to age related expectations, so that she doesn’t fall behind further."

Just to echo the comments above. I think asking what you can do to support and finding out how pupil premium money are spent are perfectly ok things to ask.

But before you worry she is doing badly, the main thing you need to find out is whether she is being judged against age related expectations at the end of the year, or whether the school has made up some extrapolated backwards levels as to where she should be at mid points of the year. DC's junior school did the former - virtually everyone in the year would be "behind" at this stage!

Thanks all for the help/advice. Yes, I think I'll try and find out if the age related expectations are based on where children should be working at currently (which was how it was implied to me), or the end of the year. If it's end of the year, then I'm not concerned and won't send a letter. Overall she's a happy, well adjusted, polite little girl, and that's far more important to me at 5 than where she is educationally.

I don't want her to be Einstein, I'm not expecting her to be top of the class, I just don't want her overlooked. When I said I was going to parents evening I told her I was going to speak with her teacher and said "I want to check you're always being kind, and trying your hardest, and putting your hand up in class" and she said "but I never put my hand up because my voice is too quiet", and its that lack of confidence in herself that I think will hold her back, and that I really hope the school can deal with.

See if there is a local drama class to join or brownies

But so can you OP as Embracelife said things like local drama classes/Rainbows activities that are designed to promote confidence. DD has been doing drama classes for 6 years and the difference it has made is amazing.

Yes she is one of many at school who can get lost but she isnt for you there are many things you can do to help promote her confidence

I don't think it's unusual in Year 1 to not want to put your hand up in class. School should focus on building her confidence in 1-1 situations, then in small groups, then in larger groups. Many children don't like to put their hand up (my DD is 13 and still never does this - and it's not remotely a confidence thing in her case) in a whole class situation, but the teacher should be encouraging the ones that don't put their hand ups to speak up/listen to what they have to say.

I'm a teacher and I would be fine receiving a letter like this. Please ignore advice about going to the Head first. You can always escalate things to the Head if you are not satisfied with the response from the teacher. Any teacher, including an NQT, should be well aware of the need to support PP children.

This is from researchEd

Pupil Premium strategies that have no impact....
Marking PP books first
Questioning PP pupils first
Creating Venn diagrams & discussing for hrs the PP pupils
Giving them all a book to read
Bespoke trip packages
False rewards
Differentiation
Rewards to attend school

We found marking pp first did work when there was a language issue. Like any strategy it depends on the cohort and their barriers to learning
Clearly good quality teaching has the most impact.

Add into that list unfocussed TA time. This has been found not to be effective or cost effective. The Sutton Trust reported that a succesful method of helping DC, believe it or not, is peer to peer assistance! This needs careful monitoring of course but can very much include your child in learning with her peers and is a very friendly way of helping a child.

As a former PP Governor, I understand all PP money should be spent on the DC it is inteneded for but not exactly every £ for every child. The school must look at the progress of individual DC. Where I was a Governor, progress was checked regularly, and PP children were closely monitored. This is probably why the teacher has flagged up her progress to you. When I visited, I used to see mostly "green" and "amber" progress by the end of this term but a few were "red" which was a cause for concern and action was reviewed for these DC.

It is very much down to the school to look at what her needs are as an individual child. They should then use the money for effective strategies to help her. And keep checking that they are effective. As they should be doing for the other PP children. It is reasonable for her to get extra help but this could be confidence boosting. In many schools there is a "no hands up" policy for example. This stops the very confident and knowledgable answering everything and others being overlooked. It is also very possible for the teacher to group DC where the teacher can question individuals to check understandng that is not in front of the class. Often children are more confident in a smaller group.

Ofsted will look at the progress of PP children so you are right to bring this up with the teacher. However DC can plateaux and then make progress after a topic "clicks". At Christmas I would not think that this situation cannot be remedied and I would definitely ask for more information about her weaknesses and help at home under the guidance of the school. In addition, their PP statement must be on thier web site. What does it say they do for PP children?

I too would not refer to your DD as unnoticed. You would benefit froma longer chat with the teacher but go in with PP information from the school and look at the Sutton Trust for their PP review.

I totally agree that barriers to learning should be investigated and I totally agree that "quality first" teaching is vital. Difficult to know if that is the case with a NQT.