Peter Shreeve, Joint Isle of Wight Branch Secretary – National Education Union, shares this latest news. Ed
The ‘Education in England: Annual report 2019’ published by the Education Policy Institute this week considers the academic attainment gap between those on Free School Meals and those who are not.
This is known as the ‘disadvantage’ gap and is based on the latest available data from the Department for Education, with ‘disadvantaged’ referring to those entitled to free school meals.
Primary and secondary picture
Nationally at secondary level, between 2018-19 the gap in English and Maths widened by 0.2 to 18.1 months. At primary, the gap narrowed by 0.3 months to 9.2 months.
Shreeve: ‘Disadvantage’ gap is closing
Commenting on the report, Peter Shreeve, Joint Island Secretary of the National Education Union said:
“We are pleased to see that the Island secondary ‘disadvantage’ gap is closing. The Isle of Wight now has a secondary gap of 21.5 months, a significant 5.7 month improvement compared with last year’s figure of 27.2 months. At KS2 primary reading and maths figures bucked the national trend and widened from 9.1 to 12.6 months.
“However, it is disappointing, yet not totally unsurprising that the achievements of those on free school meals have failed to achieve results closer to those who are socio-economically better off.”
Shreeve: Improvement has slowed
He went on to say,
“The reasons for this gap are complex and we said last year reported by OnTheWight, it would not surprise anyone if things were to worsen.
“Whilst the gap has narrowed at secondary on the Island, the overall report prognosis for national improvement is bleak. Improvement has slowed and if the recent five-year trend continues, it would take 562 years for the disadvantage gap in GCSE English and Maths to close, i.e. by the year 2581 (see pg 11).
“Indeed, according to the Report, the most recent data shows an increase in the national gap in 2018 suggesting a real risk that we could soon enter a period where the gap starts to widen.
“The education disadvantage gap has stopped closing and is a major setback for social mobility.
“The Government expects schools to ‘close the gap’ for disadvantaged pupils whilst cutting school funding dramatically and driving more families deeper into poverty.”
What the government can do
Peter added,
“The Government must do more to help schools make education accessible. They should oversee
- fair pay rises to retain motivated teachers and support staff,
- reversal of funding cuts and
- a broad and flexible curriculum.
“The Government could do so much more to support schools but a relentless focus on exam results and endless data is the problem and not the solution.
“Supporting emotional well-being and a sense of belonging has been shown to improve students’ learning. Pressuring schools to focus on test and exam preparation is counter-productive for both academic learning and social development.
“We need to focus on activities like reading for pleasure, more sport, art, drama and outdoor learning. Perhaps even more foreign language learning at primary – all of these are shown to engage students, increase motivation and inspire children’s interest and commitment to education.”
