Pupil Premium: How do you talk about money?

"Here’s your free text and revision guide!"

We could be the purveyors of free evening newspapers, calling out as we ceremoniously lower these books on to the selected children’s tables, smiling benevolently.

Or perhaps it’s a rather awkward “this is yours”, as we deliver it, like we are passing over state secrets.

It is a minefield trying to get it right when supporting a child identified as Pupil Premium in our lessons. It is even worse trying to talk to them about it.

Money: it is an uncomfortable truth but on a relatively good wage a teacher is hardly in the authentic position of empathising with a child whose parents cannot afford a copy of Romeo and Juliet. And even if the teacher was once themselves “Pupil Premium”, they are no longer and any empathy can just come across as pity. When students see YouTubers and footballers earning millions, it is hard to reconcile that with trying to understand their own family’s financial position.