Nursery schools have been 'colonised by the middle class',

[JIM CURRAN]

Nursery schools have been 'colonised by the middle class', says Ofsted chief

Nursery schools have been “colonised by the middle class” - ensuring the gap in performance between their children and those from disadvantaged homes remains, chief schools inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw has said.
Sir Michael, the head of education standards watchdog Ofsted, said it meant they were educating children “who would be just as well catered for from an education perspective in a private nursery, a childminder or indeed at home”.
Speaking at the launch of Ofsted’s early years annual report, he added: “It’s the poorer children who stand to benefit the most from this type of environment (a nursery school) at the earliest age. But this is not just happening."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/educa ... 86067.html

[maizie]

This is what always happens in any state provided service. It has been complained about for years and years.

You would have thought that some-one might have come up with a way of circumventing it by now - or with a radical approach that has more relevance for its target users.

[JIM CURRAN]

Your absolutely right Maizie. In Northern Ireland children on free school meals are given first preference but unfortunately this has led to a situation where in Belfast 65% of nursery places are taken up by children on the free meals register. While I applaud this attempt at fairness it also has a downside. High concentrations of disadvantage are not the way to help poor children and there's every reason to expect negative outcomes. Young children learn more in a school day from other children than from any grownup. Poor children need to be in with better children and I think it is vital to get the percentages right. There needs to be many more better children in the mix and this is what can make a real difference for these children.

[JIM CURRAN]

Middle class parents use 'glass floor' to ensure their children succeed over poorer peers, report finds
Wealthy parents create a "glass-floor" to ensure that their less academically gifted children “hoard the best opportunities” over smarter but disadvantaged peers, a report has found.
The report, from the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, found that children from wealthier families but with less academic ability are 35% more likely to become high earners than more talented children from poor families.
The study, entitled Downward mobility, opportunity hoarding and the ‘glass floor’, analysed the lives of 17,000 people born in the same week in the UK in 1970.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 16418.html

[Derrie Clark]

We need to take advantage of the situation by ensuring a good mix of children from different socio economic backgrounds so children with poor language can be surrounded by good models.

[JIM CURRAN]

I wholeheartedly agree Derrie,this good mix of children from different socioeconomic backgrounds is something that Professor Richard Kalenberg of the Century Foundation has been campaigning for ,for over twenty years now. There is a growing body of evidence to show that it is one of the most effective ways to reduce the gap between disadvantaged children and their better of peers.

[Susan Godsland]

The Glass Floor and Frosted Glass Statistics

http://drjamesthompson.blogspot.co.uk/2 ... l?spref=tw

[JIM CURRAN]

Here's what Sir Michael Wilshaw ,the Chief Inspector of Schools ,had to say about Grammar schools in an interview with the Observer in 2013.

"Grammar schools are stuffed full of middle-class kids.A tiny percentage are on free school meals:3%. That is a nonsense. Anyone who thinks that grammar schools are going to increase social mobility needs to look at those figures.I don't think they work."

Most parents in Northern Ireland where academic selection at 11 still continues to be used know that even if your child scores a low grade in the test that you will still be able to get him/her into a grammar school somewhere in Northern Ireland if you are prepared to travel.This simply means that most secondary schools are 'stuffed full' of disadvantaged kids.

I don't blame middle-class parents for playing the system ,its what parents do for their children but that doesn't make it fair.

[kenm]

The report, from the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, found that children from wealthier families but with less academic ability are 35% more likely to become high earners than more talented children from poor families.

I'm sure the middle classes know how to get their offspring into good schools, but another factor could be better development of social skills, merely through living with parents who can demonstrate them. This would give the offspring the advantage at job interviews, but in addition might be a necessary capability to delivering in the higher paid job.