Poor white children 'lowest attaining group in England' » Housing » 24dash.com

A greater focus must be placed on raising achievement amongst white working class pupils, a study found today.

The poorest white British children, defined as those receiving free schools meals, are the lowest attaining group in England, apart from gypsy and traveller children, it said.

The study, commissioned by the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the National College for School Leadership, found that after more than a century or free compulsory education, family income and status are still the most important factors when it comes to pupil attainment.

The study examined what can be done to break the cycle of white working class under-achievement and looked at how some schools were "bucking the trend" and successfully raising attainment amongst this group.

Researchers visited a number of schools where white working class students did significantly better than the national average for their social group and how their head teachers operated.

They found that these heads had a number of key leadership characteristics which helped increase achievement.

While differing in their individual approaches, all of these heads said they did not accept social class as a reason for failure. They all had high expectations of their students.

One head told researchers: "It's an attitude. We simply don't accept the estate as an excuse for second best; we have high expectations, everyday, everybody."

Many of the heads came from poor backgrounds themselves, and showed a "profound respect" for the people and areas they were working in - many had specifically chosen to work with these kinds of communities.

The leaders were "creative" in their use of funding, but wanted greater flexibility.

The study called for more resources targeted at white working class pupils.

It said that school funding should be "reconfigured and used sensitively, particularly in deprived areas, in part to recognise the impact of deprivation on the achievement of white working class pupils".

As it stands, schools are funded per pupil, and then receive extra money for various areas, including targeted funding for disadvantaged pupils and communities.

The report also recommended that future head teachers spend time in schools where poor white children are successful to learn how to raise attainment.

John Bangs, head of education at the NUT, said: "There is a lack of targeted funding for white working class kids. Funding streams need to be looked at again."

He said white working class pupils are a "forgotten group".

Mr Bangs said: "What I would say is that great strides have been made in identifying this group's needs in the last couple of years.

"The extra mile project the Government has done, which looks at the issue of deprivation, is one of the best things they have ever done.

"This is not a race issue, it's a issue of class, it's about social class, and I think that now, the department is waking up to the issue of social class.

"What's vital now is that the Government takes on board this report.

"We need to do more in terms of teacher training and there has to be enough guidance and support to local authorities."

Steve Munby, chief executive of the National College for School Leadership, said: "What these head teachers do is remarkable.

"They are demonstrating the best sort of resilient and courageous leadership in their unremitting commitment to improving the lives of the most disadvantaged children and young people in our society.

"We will learn from this powerful leadership to support other heads to break the cycle of poverty and low educational achievement and help all children achieve their potential."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "We know underachievement, regardless of background or ethnicity, can only be tackled by changing the aspirations of young people, their parents and the education system.

"But we firmly believe that with all the support on offer for parents and schools, no child is on a pre-determined path to low results - whatever their ethnicity and wherever they go to school."

She said that in the past four years the attainment gap between children on free school meals and those that aren't has narrowed by four percentage points at Key Stage 2 for English, and by a similar amount at Key Stage 4.