Premium Seats

Julie Price-Grimshaw wonders where the rumour started that Ofsted inspectors need to see where ‘disadvantaged’ pupils are sitting in the classroom...

Just over a year ago I visited a school and set off on one of my favourite activities – a learning walk. I’d been to the school before and was used to going in and out of rooms, talking to pupils about their learning (hopefully without disturbing the lesson too much). On this occasion, every time I went into a classroom the teacher would stop what he or she was doing, come over to me and hand me a piece of paper – a seating plan highlighting the names of those eligible for the pupil premium. I questioned the headteacher about this. “Ah, yes”, she said. “I was at a headteachers’ meeting last week and someone said that if the teacher doesn’t hand the Ofsted inspector a seating plan showing pupil premium children, it’s an automatic ‘inadequate’ for that teacher.”

Hmm. I often wonder exactly how these rumours begin, but maybe that’s the subject of a future article (when I’ve done more research). Suffice to say that on this occasion I was able to confirm this particular rumour was not true, but it had clearly spread around to other schools as ‘PP seating plans’ were becoming commonplace.

It wasn’t quite like saying, “You will be able to identify the poor children – they have a bowl of gruel at the breakfast club”, but there was something that felt a bit strange about it all. And then I went to one school where a worried teacher, during feedback on a PE lesson, said that he was concerned because he didn’t have a seating plan for PE and was thinking of putting different coloured bibs on the pupil premium children just so I could see who they were. Sorry, but this just felt plain wrong.

I started to think about the rationale behind the myth. The seating plans showed that the ‘pupil premium children’ ranged in ability from low to high and were usually positioned in the classroom on that basis. I asked some teachers what I, as an inspector, might gain from the information on such a plan. “You could go and talk to those children” – well, yes, but I talk to a whole range of pupils when I visit a lesson; what would I say to those pupils that would be different? “You could look at the work in their books” – similar answer, really; I do look at work in lots of books to gain evidence on the standard of work, the level of challenge, the quality and impact of marking and the quality of presentation. I’m not sure I would be looking for anything special in the books of pupil premium children. The headteacher suggested that I might like to check that these pupils were not behind others in terms of progress, but I can determine that through data, book scrutiny and discussions with staff on how the funding is being spent.

I asked some teachers how they supported pupil premium children in the classroom. Do they get different work just because they are pupil premium? “No, we differentiate on the basis of academic ability and individual need, not social advantage.” What other things might you do? “Well, if a pupil lacks confidence we’ll bear that in mind when questioning or grouping…but this isn’t because he or she is pupil premium, we’d do that for any child.”

What the plans do tell me is that the teachers know who these pupils are and that’s very important. This is because the class teacher sees that child more than anyone else in the school; he or she will quickly be able to spot any signs of them falling behind. The thing about these pupils – ‘disadvantaged pupils’, as they are now known – is that funding is available to support them, in whatever ways the school decides. They may need resources, counselling, intervention – whatever is needed to ‘close the gap’ in achievement that has existed nationally for some time.

All of this is close to my heart as I was a ‘free school meals’ child. One of my teachers felt that I might have some musical ability. The free instrumental lessons available at the time took me from a Manchester council estate to the Royal Academy of Music and changed my life forever. It’s really not about the seating plans at all; it’s about knowing the child and using the funding to make the difference. 

About the author

Julie Price Grimshaw is a teacher, teacher trainer, and education consultant. She has taught primary and secondary and has been involved in school inspections since 2001.