Why are ministers turning stories into bad news? Perhaps the ‘age of austerity’ has addled their brains or are they are still operating in ‘opposition mode’. Nick Gibbs’s announcement of the Key State 1 results is a case in point.
Now I know Nick Gibbs has an agenda to mandate synthetic phonics as the only way to teach reading – see the DfE Business Plan – and the contradiction between that level of prescription and ‘freeing up the curriculum’ is but one part of the muddle that is policy-making within Sanctuary Buildings at present.
But, that’s not the story here.
Rather there is a good news story waiting to be told, and a clear justification for the Pupil Premium, a Lib Dem policy that David Cameron was converted to in 2008 just before the Henley by-election when I recorded the Tory web site as saying they would in government ‘divert more resources to pupils who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.’
This damascene conversion helped ensure the Pupil Premium became a prominent part of the coalition agreement without the need for too much struggle on our part, although we still await the detail of how it will work in practice.
Still, now to the good news story: earlier this year I re-wrote the Building Schools for the future announcement to show how Michael Gove might have handled the unfortunate but necessary scrapping of Labour’s baldly thought through policy. So here goes with yesterday’s announcement:
94% of pupil at KS1 who don’t have special needs can read at the expected standard and 91% reach the expected standards in writing along with 96.8% in mathematics (although I think they mean numeracy). These are impressive results from the early years teams in our schools, nurseries and Sure Start centres. In Richmond upon Thames, the figure for reading amongst pupils without SEN was 97%, and even in Haringey and Newham 90% of these pupils achieved the standard.
However, it is clear that pupils on free school meals, as well as those with special needs, and especially those who fall into both categories, need more help to access the building blocks of learning, as do some whose first language isn’t English. This is just the sort of help the Pupil Premium is designed to bring.
These figures justify the use of Free School Meals as the correct indicator for additional resources; although children with special needs also need extra help regardless of their circumstances.
I would have added the other coalition policies about extra one to one teaching and the protection of schools in the CSR announcement, and finished with a challenge to teachers and parents to strive for 100%. As a minister, I might also have wanted to look at whether those young children who learn in an environment rich in play and home support do better than those shunted between different bed and breakfast accommodations resulting in frequent changes of school.
Rather than pandering to middle class whims for ‘free’ schools, and wasting millions on an academy programme that isn’t the real answer, the Key Stage 1 outcomes show hard evidence of where resources are needed. With these resources, we can challenge the teachers to provide the results. Then it will no longer be acceptable for any teacher to say, this child is falling behind because they come from a poor background.
Professor John Howson is President of the Liberal Democrat Education Association, but writes here in a personal capacity.