Effective Practice in Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools.

Estyn (2012)

There continue to be too many children in Wales living in poverty and Wales’ new Child Poverty Strategy for Wales reaffirms the Welsh Government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020. The link between disadvantage and educational underachievement is still strong. In general, learners from poorer families do not achieve as well as their peers. Schools have a key role to play and serving all learners equally is not enough – there needs to be a specific focus on those children and young people who are growing up in poverty. This report is the second in a series produced in response to the Minister’s annual remit to Estyn for 2011-2012. These reports look at how schools in Wales are tackling child poverty and disadvantage to improve learners’ achievement and wellbeing. Schools that tackle the impact of disadvantage use a range of approaches and interventions to address a complex set of problems. We also highlighted what a few effective schools in challenging circumstances do well. They analyze data on pupils’ progress, they offer a tailored curriculum, and there is mentoring by staff and pupils. This good practice report describes the characteristics of good practice and illustrates them in case studies from effective schools in areas of high socio-economic disadvantage.