‘Working-class children get less of everything in education

[James Curran]

‘Working-class children get less of everything in education - including respect’


Interview Diane Reay grew up on a council estate, the eldest of eight, and became a Cambridge professor. Now she wants to talk about inequality in education

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... in-schools

[James Curran]

Disadvantaged children face worse outcomes in some rich areas – report


Britain is in a ‘spiral of ever-growing division’ with rural and coastal regions being left behind, warns social mobility tsar

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... port-finds

[SLloyd]

Jim - these are interesting statistics linked to your posting (below)

51% of children on free school meals in London achieve A* to C grades in English and maths GCSE compared with a 36% average in all other regions. There is a gulf between the highest figures of 63% in Westminster and the lowest, 27% on the Isle of the Wight.

It strikes me that the children in London are now more able to climb up the ladder because they have been more effectively taught to read and write with systematic synthetic phonics (SSP). Children from poor environments tend to need strong SSP even more than those in affluent areas. Schools outside London would do well to learn from the example set by London and match their achievement of 51% of children on free school meals in London achieve A* to C grades in English and maths GCSE.

Sue

[James Curran]

There's certainly something very positive going on in London Sue. The comprehensive education system in London outperforms Kent's Grammar school system at every level for children from every social background.

[SLloyd]

Jim - I think that is why it is so important to learn from the schools that get exceptional results, especially those in disadvantage environments. If those schools can do it then so can all schools. From my experience, these effective schools teach strong systematic synthetic phonics, with extra support for the poor-memory children, and then encourage them to read a huge amount.
Sue

[James Curran]

Children as young as two grouped by ability in English nurseries

Half of nursery teachers surveyed said they separated under-fives for reading, raising fears over impact on children’s confidence

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2 ... -nurseries