Pupil premium


payments may have a very positive outcome for those children in challenging circumstances.” He also points out, however: “This assumes that pay is a primary motivator in teachers’ career decisions.” According to Barbara Roberts, ex-headteacher and now working for


Aidan Consulting, an education consultancy, an increased salary does not necessarily make a difference: “With EPA, teachers were paid at a higher rate in poorer areas. I was in such a school, it was very nice, but it never really helped the pupils.” The experience of working in a school with a challenging intake is very different from other schools. There are teachers who would prefer


“I think we need to work more with parents of children with disadvantaged


backgrounds to better the whole family’s chances of reaching their potential”


to take a salary cut than have the pressure of working in an environment where pupils and their families pose challenges on a daily basis. It is not all about the money. Instead of a salary increase, Ms Roberts recommends targeted


provision, “linking funding to individual pupils’ progress rather than just to the area is a better idea, as long as it funds specific interventions, such as one-to-one tuition. When successful, this provides opportunity to focus on good relationships, quality time and raises expectations and motivation. It is important that funds are tracked in relation to outcomes.” Sharon James from Bramley Vale Primary School in Derbyshire also


recommends this approach: “It could work if we are able to use the extra money to provide one-to-one tuition. However, if the money is not ring-fenced for specific intervention then it could just get sucked up into schools’ budgets.”


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Ironically, much of the legislative drive for one-to-one tuition was


included in the recently ditched pupil and parent guarantees. Ms James goes on to emphasise the importance of the wider context for pupils. “I think we need to work more with parents of children with


disadvantaged backgrounds to better the whole family’s chances of reaching their potential. I also think more should be done to work with communities which are disadvantaged, as a key to breaking the cycle is to raise aspiration/self-esteem to stop history from repeating itself.” Changing the name from DCSF to DfE would suggests that perhaps


the coalition government is less open to the principles of the Every Child Matters agenda and the need to work across rather than within services. We might speculate that some of the strategies seen by schools as helping and supporting disadvantaged pupils may be the very ones faded out. Even more worrying is the possibility that the premiums could actually


cause conflict between schools. Mr Hussey suggests that the move could be divisive: “It is important for schools in receipt of significant premium funding to demonstrate to schools that are not, that extra money spent has had a significant impact.” Rachel Woods, headteacher of Whitehouse Primary School in


Northumberland, is also a little anxious about the impact of pupil premiums across the board: “This can only be a good thing if resources go to those in most need as there is a direct correlation between attainment and deprivation. Those schools often have to work a lot harder with ‘wellbeing’ issues before learning can take place. However, it would have to come with a complete assurance that the funding entitlement for all pupils is not affected by this premium – that this is an extra and not a reallocation.” The conclusion seems to be that simply allocating more money


will make little difference, and certainly not enough to counteract the powerful influence of home factors. Pupil premiums are hardly likely to be the elixir they are being promoted as. However, at this stage we are speculating with very little information


about how or where they will be administered. What we do know is that the differences in the experiences for rich and poor children run deep and start early. Whether some additional money to their schools will make a difference is yet to be seen.


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