How do we close the poverty gap?

We have all sat nervously looking at a child and thought, I don't know how to help you. It is an uncomfortable truth and one that many teachers would be unwilling to admit or acknowledge. However in literally every class I've taught there has been at least one of these children. A child who receives little or no home support, a child who often can't hold a pencil properly even in Key Stage 2, a child who is simply maturing far slower than their peers. For me educating these children is not about trying to get them to reach Expected Standard or beyond (as much as my SLT may not like to hear that). It's not even necessarily about progressing them according to a schools academic monitoring programme. So what is it about? Quite simply, surviving. Providing them with the tools need to survive growing up and into adult hood. 

Statistically a child from a poor background is already about 8 months behind their more affluent peers in their reading ability upon entering school. 8 months, let that sink in for a moment. 8 months. Essentially an entire academic year behind their peers from day 1. A reception teacher is therefore faced with the prospect of having to drag an extra 8 months progress out of a child that will often not have had nursery pre-schooling and is potentially not being read to at home. For some their parents won't be able to read. 

So when I sit down with my disadvantaged  child in Year 4- note I hate labels but sometimes they are needed - they will have been playing catch up every day for their entire school career. As we all know quality reading flows into quality writing so the gap widens across the curriculum. Children so far behind are then regularly withdraw from Foundation subjects in the afternoons to attend booster groups or interventions so their understanding of Geography or History suffers. Suddenly before we know it we are packing a child off to Secondary School with a 'sorry we 

tried our best' sticker on their forehead. And we did. We really, really did. 

Let me be clear this is 100% not a criticism of any setting I have worked in or come into contact with. It's not a criticism of the hundreds of thousands of teachers out there who probably spend more sleepless nights tossing and turning over these children than any of the others. But I defy any teacher to say they haven't whispered to a colleague 'I just worry about what will happen when they grow up.'

And that's the point. 

The Office of National Statistics claim that children are seven and half times less likely to succeed at school if their father is poorly educated. If the mother is then this drops to three times. It goes on to conclude in its poverty report that poor education is the number 1 reason for the maintaining of poverty in certain families. Let's not sugar coat this, the child that you are always having to support, the child that you're always having to check on and give extra guidance in Year 4 is almost statistically guaranteed to have a child in the exact same position some years in the future. The cycle will continue. Unless it is addressed. 

So how do we do that?

1. School ethos - everything will rise or fall on school ethos. Every child will succeed, no matter what. This buy in amongst all staff is utterly imperative to success. Along side this practical steps must be taken, set up an invite only homework club. Teachers hand pick those they feel need the most support, these children are expected to attend every week or the issue is passed to SLT to contact parents. (It works, trust me, it works.) This is done after school and on occasion invite parents to come along too. 
2. Raising aspirations - focus on small victories. What can said child do? What are they already good at? Build on this and make this the positive vehicle that carries them forward. 
3. It's all about the parents - there is only so much we can do. The Sutton Trust has pleaded with Government that alongside free childcare we need huge investment in free adult education and parenting support. In my setting we run regular parent workshops on how we deliver different subjects. Phone your target parents before hand, explain you'd love to see them there. If they don't answer phone again and again and again. Catch them at the school gate. Don't let them say no. 
4. Buddies - every child in my class that I know comes from a difficult background or a background of poverty is sat next to a buddy. This person doesn't need to be the brightest and certainly not the richest. However by simply providing them with a role model of aspiration and attitude it is incredible how quickly you can see personality changes in some of these children. Buddies should be very carefully selected. 

The truth is many schools are already doing this and more. Many are trying to find ways to support these under achievers. But it clearly, according to the research, isn't working nationally. According to latest figures 29% of our child population live in poverty. 29%. Take a look at your new class in September, statistically 29% of them live in poverty. Repeating the same process year after year will bring the same results. Results that often don't change a thing. Make a change, be the change you want to see in your children and in your school.