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Secondary education

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Original poster

Anyone getting Pupil Premium for their kids? How does their school administer it?

95 replies

Screwfox · 14/09/2013 18:37

Tell all

OP posts:
EvilTwins · 14/09/2013 18:54

What do you mean? "Getting pupil premium"?? You make it sound like it's a payment made to the kids.

noisytoys · 14/09/2013 19:01

The school gets the payment not the children or the family. The school choose how to spend it, usually for the benefit of the whole school Hmm

bigmouthstrikesagain · 14/09/2013 19:08

Yes the school receives the pupil premium and decides how to use it but the expenditure has to be monitored and justified by the head/ leadership team and it must benefit the learning of the children it relates to but not exclusively.

LtEveDallas · 14/09/2013 19:10

DD 'gets' it, but I haven't got a clue what the school does with it Smile

EvilTwins · 14/09/2013 19:28

At my school, I know that PP money goes towards allowing those kids to go on trips that their parents might not be able to afford. Our music teacher is currently trying to get our business manager to OK PP money being used to subsidise instrumental tuition for kids on the list. That kind of stuff.

RaspberryLemonPavlova · 14/09/2013 19:30

The school has an obligation to publish how it is spent. it should be on their website.

PractialJoke · 14/09/2013 19:54

There's a lot of focus on this ATM - schools have to "prove" it was spent on the children it was intended for, rather than all the children. A valid concern as IME it has often just gone into the overall school budget pot.

They can use it, for example, to bring in a football coach, where FSM children will benefit, but other children will make up the numbers. They don't have to show that every PP child had their "share".

Where Looked After Children are concerned the carer can apply to have some of the money spent on activities outside school. e.g we have one foster parent who sends in receipts horse riding and the school reimburses her, but I've never heard of that for the standard PP.

olivevoir58 · 14/09/2013 21:26

At the school I teach at, the PP pays my wages. I'm a specialist maths teacher and teach the lower half of year 5 and 6 maths and do booster sessions. Clearly I don't just support kids with PP but the schools last Ofsted noted maths as an area that needed improvement.

Talkinpeace · 14/09/2013 22:09

BUT
the parent of a PP kid will never see that money directly

daphnedill · 14/09/2013 22:55

It's not necessarily the case that PP pupils are low achievers. Even the Essex grammar schools have PP policies. My ds's school receives PP for him, because he's what's known as an "Ever 6" pupil, ie. he's received free school meals in the last six years. Last year I took it up with the school that the PP didn't benefit him, because he's not a low achiever. However, I have struggled to buy him school uniform and revision guides, etc. He also had to give up music lessons when I lost my job. As a direct result of my intervention, the school now provides a uniform grant, free music lessons, educational trips and study materials to any child in receipt of PP. The school already had a fund to subsidise foreign trips.

Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 04:40

Our parents can choose (largely) what to do with it from a range of options. Schools can't just use it out general things now

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Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 04:42

Er i know what it is guys but thanks for the explanations
Hmm

Olive think the way your place uses it might be old hat. I've heard of a sch that was criticised by OFSTED for it being too general.

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Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 04:42

Oddly service families get it. Even officers kids.

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ravenAK · 15/09/2013 04:57

Not the case where I teach - it's allocated by the school.

Lots goes on booster classes (not just for PP students, although statistically they'll be more likely to be recommended for these.)

We also use it for subsidising enrichment activities - trips & sports, usually.

The only incident I can recall that PP students were specifically eligible for something that others weren't was at the back end of last year when students had a chance to order some revision textbooks through school. The kids with PP had their books bought for them.

This caused a minor upset when a student who was on FSM some years ago got the books free & her best friend didn't, as both girls were very aware that the family of the girl on PP are doing rather well now, whereas her friend's family are struggling but not quite eligible for FSM.

They agreed between themselves to share the books, but both were thoroughly embarrassed about the whole business.

It's always going to be a bit 'broad brush' in determining greatest need, which is one good reason to leave control of the fund in the school's hands.

We are required to show that whatever we're doing with it is benefitting the students who attract the funding - just not to ringfence it for individual students.

YoniMatopoeia · 15/09/2013 05:01

Yes. Forces families do 'get it'. We tend to get moved around a lot. And have one parent deployed abroad for months at a time.

So not that odd really.

Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 07:03

Yes. But don't think they can claim poverty. IMO it's an anomaly.

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racmun · 15/09/2013 07:13

I think all children entitled to FSM are going to start receiving PP.

The school is under an obligation to disclose how to uses the money. Maybe check their website

LtEveDallas · 15/09/2013 07:13

Oddly service families get it. Even officers kids

Nothing to do with poverty (and actually, with a low band Private on 15k, 12k whilst in training), poverty can be an issue.

PP can be used for forces children to bolster missing parts of their education - when they have been moved across counties and countries numerous times. It can be used to provide pastoral support when A parent could be deployed on operations. It can be used to provide counselling for children who may have lost a parent, or are close to someone killed.

It's not just poverty.

Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 07:15

I'm not asking for myself. I'm just interested how schools do it. I know that just employing a member off staff to do extra maths isn't e bought now. Direct effects have to be shown.

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Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 07:16

I get that eve. Just not relevant for officers families who haven't moved in 5 years. Imo

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burberryqueen · 15/09/2013 07:19

I have absolutely no idea what happens to PP money - certainly it is not published nor have my children ever received anything "extra" for being on FSM.

Original poster
Screwfox · 15/09/2013 07:20

We're just starting to add a line on trip letters to say pp kids would be exempt or something. Much hand wringing how to do it to not kick up a storm.

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burberryqueen · 15/09/2013 07:23

gosh really at my childrens primary trips and after school clubs were set up to exclude anyone who couldnt pay upfront.

olivevoir58 · 15/09/2013 07:24

Oh well, I might be out of a job next week as OFSTED are due back in any minute. I personally think it's a great use of PP - improving standards and therefore improving life chances, uniform and revision books are a bit 'quick fix' and uniforms should be funded by a different pot of money anyway!

duckyfuzz · 15/09/2013 07:27

Olive so long as the school are tracking the kids you work with and showing how you are impacting on their progress then it s a perfectly good use of pp, as is reading intervention, music tuition, sports coaching, trip subsidies etc... It's the tracking of the impact that validates it.

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