Sure Start Centres and Pupil Premium
What has been the impact of Sure Start Centres and Pupil Premium in raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and closing the gap with their peers?
The Sure Start programme was set up by the Labour government in the late 1990s with the aim of "giving children the best possible start in life" through improvement of childcare, early education". Today there are over 3,000 children's centres in England.
Pupil Premium was introduced by the Coalition government in April 2011 to raise the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and close the gap with their peers.
What has been the impact of Pupil Premium in Birmingham? Has money been spent wisely? Should Birmingham parents be satisfied with a schools system that fails far too many of their children? Judge for yourself.
In Birmingham in 2014 the best performing group were pupils of South Asian heritage not on Free School Meals (FSM). 82% of girls of Indian heritage passed five GCSE subjects at grades A*-C including English and Maths (5GEM). This was followed by 70% of girls of Bangladeshi heritage, 69% of girls of African heritage and 68% of girls White British heritage.
66% of girls and 62% of boys of Bangladeshi heritage and 60% of girls of Pakistani heritage not on FSM passed.
Boys of Black African, Caribbean and Pakistani heritage and specifically boys of Bangladeshi heritage on FSM all performed below the Birmingham average of 55%. The worst performing groups were White British Boys on FSM where only 29% passed.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
What's missing from th graph? The line for national average in England (67%).
Surreal Statement by Peter Clarke CVO OBE QPM
As an example, on 19 July 2013 an internal e-mail from a senior officer to
councillors and other senior officers said that there were: ‘growing concerns amongst head teachers that some governing bodies of schools with large numbers of pupils from an Islamic background, or at least groups of influential governors within governing bodies, were putting unreasonable pressure on head teachers to raise standards and/or address other issues of concern.
Pg. 9
How dare these governors have middle class aspirations for their children and communities that the schools serve .
Surreal Statement by Ian Kershaw & Eversheds
The evidence drawn out of the investigation suggests that some people take the view that there are schools in East Birmingham that are failing...
It appears that there is a genuine and understandable desire amongst these groups to improve education and opportunities...
Pg. 4
How dare these people have middle class aspirations for their children and communities that the school serve.