Rewriting the future Raising ambition and attainment in Welsh schools 1 Rewriting the future Audience Primary, secondary and special schools in Wales; Welsh local authorities and regional education consortia; unions; third sector organisations that have an interest in deprivation and attainment; and members of the public. Overview This document describes the Welsh Government’s programme and its four key themes to tackle the link between poverty and educational underachievement in schools. Action required For use in developing interventions to raise the attainment of learners living in poverty. Further information Enquiries about this document should be directed to: Deprivation and Engagement Branch Department for Education and Skills Welsh Government Cathays Park Cardiff CF10 3NQ Tel: 029 2082 3630 e-mail: [email protected] Additional copies This document can be accessed from the Welsh Government’s website at www.wales.gov.uk/educationandskills Related documents Building Resilient Communities: Taking forward the Tackling Poverty Action Plan (2013); Building a Brighter Future: Early Years and Childcare Plan (2013); Youth engagement and progression framework: Implementation plan (2013) This document is also available in Welsh. Digital ISBN 978 1 4734 1700 7 © Crown copyright June 2014 WG21392 Contents Ministerial foreword 4 Introduction 5 1. Why deprivation matters 11 2. Family and community engagement 20 3. Early years (0 to 7) 23 4. High-quality learning and teaching 27 5. High expectations and aspirations 31 6. Call to action 35 Ministerial foreword No child in Wales should be disadvantaged by poverty and inequality; that is why I have made tackling the impact of poverty on educational attainment my top priority. Education and skills are key to improving life chances but the stark fact is that children’s educational outcomes are more likely to be determined by their home background than by their personal characteristics. A child from a poor family is likely to start school with a poorer vocabulary than a child from a better off family and that detrimental impact of poverty then continues to grow throughout the school years. The cumulative effects can mean that the same child is less than half as likely to get five good GCSEs including English or Welsh First Language and Mathematics than a child from a well off family; less likely to go on to further or higher education; more likely to not be in education, employment or training; and those who are in employment are likely to have lower earnings. The factors that underlie this are many and complex but some children succeed despite the odds and some schools make a significant contribution to helping them do so. Where there is thoughtful and active leadership; where children are supported to overcome the barriers they face; where families are engaged in their children’s education; where we set high expectations and encourage high aspirations; this is where we see children succeeding despite the odds. I do not underestimate the challenge, but these schools show what can be done and we need to learn from them. Through Hwb, we are developing online networks of professional practice to facilitate collaboration at all levels. By July 2014, all schools in Wales will have their own Hwb+ learning platform and from September 2014, we will begin rolling out authenticated access to the platform for parents/carers and governors. These actions will drive improved attainment for all learners but if we are to tackle the inequalities in our system we need to do more to accelerate improvement for learners from deprived backgrounds. My ambition then, is to eradicate inequalities in learner outcomes so that all learners, regardless of their background have high aspirations and an equal chance of achieving those aspirations. That is why I have launched the School Challenge Cymru programme to i nvest additional support and resource into some of our most challenged secondary schools and their cluster primaries. However, inequality on the basis of deprivation is a problem that needs to be tackled in every school so it will be essential that learning is shared with and between schools throughout the country. This document sets out how we will tackle the problem together and achieve my ambition. Huw Lewis AM Minister for Education and Skills 4 Rewriting the future Introduction Our vision is to have high expectations for all learners, regardless of their socio-economic background, and ensure that they have an equal chance of achieving those expectations. The impacts of poverty and disadvantage are many and complex. We know that the impacts are there before children even begin school. We also know that schools can be significant in mitigating the impact, especially when they work with parents/carers, families and the wider community. Rewriting the future sets out what schools, working with their parents/carers, can do to break down the barriers faced by children from deprived backgrounds by acting as the central locus for interventions and support. We recognise the critical importance of developing strong partnerships with pre- and post-compulsory education. We recognise the importance of seamless transition from home or childcare settings into Foundation Phase education; progression from school to school and on into further and higher education and the world of work; and of support for parents/carers and families. We also recognise the central and pivotal role that schools have in breaking the link between deprivation and educational attainment; that is why the commitments focus specifically and deliberately on the urgent actions that schools need to take and on the actions that Welsh Government and consortia need to take to support schools in their endeavours. The attainment of all learners in Wales needs to improve, but Rewriting the future focuses on improving educational outcomes for learners eligible for free school meals at a faster rate to ensure a reduction in the ‘gap’ in attainment, that currently exists. This document is about tackling the fact that the attainment of learners from deprived backgrounds in Wales is far too low and progress to improve outcomes is far too slow. Rewriting the future links to and builds on the work outlined in Building Resilient Communities: Taking forward the Tackling Poverty Action Plan; Building a Brighter Future: The Early Years and Childcare Plan; and the Youth engagement and progression framework, amongst others. It also supports the work and ambition of our Schools Challenge Cymru programme. It draws together current work, identifies where we need to do more and what we will do to deliver a cohesive, comprehensive approach to this agenda. It will also deliver significant improvements in outcomes for children and young people from deprived backgrounds. 5 Rewriting the future Our objectives are to: • mitigate the impact of deprivation in the early years so that learners are ‘school ready’ and have well-developed early language skills • engage families effectively in children’s learning and school life • make all schools ‘community schools’ • better equip the school workforce to understand and overcome the challenges faced by learners from deprived backgrounds • ensure that learners from deprived backgrounds access the highest quality learning and teaching • provide high-quality digital learning experiences for learners to ensure they are equipped with skills to excel in the third millennium • engender high aspirations amongst learners from deprived backgrounds • raise expectations for learners from deprived backgrounds and ensure they meet those expectations. Building Resilient Communities: Taking forward the Tackling Poverty Action Plan sets out a number of targets in relation to poverty and educational attainment. • To narrow the attainment gap at the end of Foundation Phase by 10 per cent by 20171. • To raise attainment by 15-year-olds eligible for free school meals of the Level 2 inclusive of English/Welsh First Language and Mathematics to 37 per cent by 20172. • To reduce the number of young people who are not in employment, education or training aged 16 to 18 to nine per cent by 2017. At the end of 2012, the figure was 10.2 per cent. • To reduce the proportion of young people who are not in employment, education or training aged 19 to 24 in Wales relative to the UK as a whole by 2017. The Minister for Education and Skills has already requested that officials revisit the target for Foundation Phase with a view to strengthening it and increasing the challenge for learners eligible for free school meals (eFSM). We will do this following publication of the 2014 results. 1 The Foundation Phase indicator measures progress in three measures at the end of the Foundation Phase (age 7). In 2012 the difference between learners eligible for free school meals and those that weren’t was 18 percentage points. 2 The Key Stage 4 indicator, known as Level 2 inclusive (L2 inc), is the achievement of five GCSEs at A*to C including English or Welsh First Language and Mathematics. In 2012 23.4 per cent of learners eligible for free school meals achieved Level 2 inclusive. 6 Rewriting the future The target for performance of 15-year-olds is challenging in light of current performance (25.8 per cent of eFSM learners achieved the Level 2 inclusive in summer 2013). It still sets our ambition for this group of learners lower than current performance on a comparative measure for eFSM learners in England. It is even more challenging in light of the targets set by regional school improvement consortia; each one of which has a clear priority to accelerate the improvement of performance for eFSM learners. However, local targets for improvement do not add up to the overall improvement required to reach our modest national ambition; we must find a way to accelerate our ambition and achievement. Overview of Rewriting the future This document is set out in six main sections. Section 1 sets out why deprivation matters and describes the landscape in Wales in terms of who and where our deprived learners are, their current performance and the linked challenges they face. Sections 2 to 5 provides an overview of the evidence base for each of the four themes for action, describing what we are already doing and what else we need to do. Section 6 sets out the commitments the Welsh Government is making in relation to each theme, and the actions that we want schools, local authorities and consortia to take forward. What will Welsh Government do next? Our next step will be to publish a detailed timeline for delivery of our commitments in June 2014 and set out how we will measure progress and impact. We will publish an annual update setting out the progress we have made and any new commitments to help achieve our ambition. The first annual update will be published in June 2015. What should schools do next? Firstly, they should take the time to read the rest of this document. Then, as a school in the first instance they should consider how they might implement the following before considering how to approach the actions set out later in this document. All schools should: • place tackling the underachievement of learners from deprived backgrounds at the heart of school development planning, thinking about how to use resources and how to develop the workforce to meet the challenge • use the EEF Sutton Trust Toolkit3 to support planning. The presentation by Robbie Coleman helps to explain how the toolkit can help schools http://learning.wales.gov.uk/resources/deprivation-and-attainment-what-can-really-make-a- difference/?skip=1&lang=en 3 Sutton Trust-EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit, 2013. 7 Rewriting the future • plan effectively for the use of the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) in the context of taking a whole-school approach to tackling disadvantage. The PDG should be targeted at learners from deprived backgrounds and interventions and programmes should be sustainable and have an impact in both the short- and long-term • set the highest expectations for all learners and be clear with learners that they can achieve high outcomes and realise their ambitions. Ensure learners know how they are progressing, their targets and what they need to do to achieve those targets. Use effective tracking to monitor progress against targets and provide feedback • teach children to plan, monitor and evaluate their own learning. This has been shown to result in between seven and nine months’ additional progress. It is particularly effective for lower achieving learners and those from deprived backgrounds. The Welsh Government has published resource materials on the Learning Wales website to support schools to use metacognition in the classroom http://learning.wales.gov.uk/learningpacks/pisa/introduction-to-metacognition/?lang=en • consider how Hwb+ may be used to support learning in school and at h ome for all learners. Primary schools should also: • establish provision for, and promote take-up, of free breakfast, particularly for learners from deprived backgrounds. Hungry children have lower concentration and are more likely to display poor behaviour. Universal breakfast provision has been found to disproportionately improve dietary behaviours of children from lower socio-economic status schools and families4. Free breakfast in primary schools is intended to help improve the health and concentration of children to assist in raising the standards of learning and attainment, by providing children with a healthy start to the school day. All primary schools that request it should receive funding to provide all learners of primary school age registered in maintained primary schools in Wales with a free, healthy breakfast at school each day. Non-maintained settings and primary schools should: • plan for effective transition. Poor transition can damage progress and confidence. • Work in partnership with parents/carers, families, early years settings, Flying Start and other schools to plan transition between settings/schools into Foundation Phase, and onto Key Stage 2. • F orm good links and monitor the ongoing progress of learners. 4 Moore, G. F. et al (2014) ‘Impacts of the Primary School Free Breakfast Initiative on socio-economic inequalities in breakfast consumption among 9–11-year-old schoolchildren in Wales’, Public Health Nutrition. 8 Rewriting the future Secondary schools should also: • plan for effective transition. Poor transition can damage progress and confidence. • Work in partnership with parents/carers, families, colleges and employers to carefully consider transition at each stage of the learner’s journey. • Key features of good transition from primary schools to secondary schools include: – sharing information about achievement and specific needs – joint curriculum planning across Key Stages 2 and 3 – visits to the secondary school in Year 6 or earlier – v isits by Year 7 tutor and core subject teachers to Key Stage 2 to meet children and teachers – j oint moderation of standards in cluster groups of primary/secondary schools at the end of Key Stage 2. Retaining links with past learners can also provide schools with a ready source of mentors and role models to help inspire future cohorts. What should local authorities and their consortia do next? As a local authority, working in partnership through your regional consortium, you should reflect on your plans and targets, the performance of learners from deprived backgrounds and how the approaches described in this document might be usefully implemented to accelerate progress within specific schools and across your region. Adopt a multi-agency approach to pool expertise with other agencies that addresses health, domestic and social welfare concerns of learners and their families. In areas where Team around the Family and Families First are delivered, we would expect local authorities and consortia to ensure that schools are a part of this. In other areas local authorities and consortia should support schools to adopt the same kind of multi-agency approach with families. Schools that serve Community First cluster areas should also be expected to work with the Community First team. Estyn’s report, Working together to tackle the impact of poverty on educational achievement makes recommendations for schools and local authorities. http://www.estyn.gov.uk/english/docViewer/296942.1/working-together-to-tackle-the-impact- of-poverty-on-educational-achievement-december-2013/?navmap=30,163 9 Rewriting the future Defining poverty and deprivation Deprivation and poverty are defined in many different ways; generally deprivation is seen as a wider concept than poverty. Poverty means a lack of money. Deprivation refers to wider problems caused by a lack of resources and opportunities. Eligibility for free school meals is used as a proxy for poverty in schools and we refer in this document to learners eligible for free school meals, eFSM, and those who are not, nFSM. Area deprivation is measured using the ‘Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation’ or WIMD, which is a relative measure of concentrations of deprivation at the small area level. It uses eight different types of deprivation. FSM is better at identifying individuals who are in poverty, while WIMD is better at identifying areas where there is a concentration of deprivation. For the purposes of Rewriting the future we refer to learners from deprived backgrounds although we rely primarily on eFSM as our proxy measure to identify those learners. Defining attainment Rewriting the future refers to attainment using a number of common measures which are defined below. Level 2 inclusive (L2 inc) refers to the achievement of a volume of qualifications equivalent to five GCSEs at grade A*to C including English or Welsh First Language and Mathematics. Core Subject Indicator (CSI) refers to the achievement of the expected level in each of English or Welsh First Language, Mathematics and science at the end of a key stage. Expected levels are measured against teacher assessments which measure progress and expected attainment at each key stage. The expected level at the end of: • Foundation Phase is Foundation Phase Outcome 5 • Key Stage 2 is National Curriculum Level 4 • Key Stage 3 is National Curriculum Level 5. 10 Rewriting the future