2 skint 4 school
Child Poverty Action Group will shortly be launching the 2 skint 4 school campaign. Our schools should meet every child’s needs. But the poorest children benefit least from their time in school. Research shows child poverty is the main factor in educational failure. Ending child poverty will help ensure every child fulfils their potential and Britain’s education results get better.
- Online teachers’ survey – help with our book and recommendations to government
- Sign up now for the campaign – keep up to date and find out quick campaign actions
- Read the executive summary of 2 skint 4 school: time to end the classroom divide briefing
- Download the full report 2 skint 4 school
Teachers' survey – launching in April
We want to know more about the challenges teachers face addressing the social and economic inequality that comes through the school gates.
An online survey for teachers will be published on this site next month. It will allow you a chance to give your views on education and economic disadvantage: Are politicians making child poverty enough of a priority? What difference would ending child poverty make to outcomes in your school? What more support do you need? Does the curriculum ever exclude disadvantaged children? Does your school ensure the poorest pupils are never stigmatised?
The survey will help inform a book CPAG is publishing later this year with recommendations for government and the education sector to improve education outcomes for the poorest children.
Sign up for our campaign email to be notified when the survey goes live.
2 skint 4 school: time to end the classroom divide
Executive summary
Progress on child poverty appears to be faltering, and the educational gap is widening. Although the Government is focusing on education to reach its 2020 target to eradicate child poverty and expenditure on education has risen by more than 60 per cent in real terms since 1996–97, the gap between rich and poor pupils gets steadily wider as they progress through the education system.
Although this gap is in place well before a child reaches school-age and is inextricably linked to multiple socio-economic factors beyond the school gates, charging policies within schools are damaging children’s access to educational opportunities.
Exclusion from the system
- Selection. The UK has one of the closest associations between social class and educational performance in the OECD and one of the highest levels of social segregation in schools.
- Disadvantaged schools. Poor children are more likely to attend schools lacking in resources, but poor performance is more closely associated with low income than the quality of the schools.
- Complex funding streams. A failure to target resources effectively on poorer children is an ongoing problem.
- Targeted interventions. These can be effective, but may not reach the children who need it most.
- Truancy and exclusions. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are much more likely to be excluded, or to exclude themselves, from school.
- Outside the system. Children who face the greatest risk of poverty may end up out of education, employment and training altogether, sometimes when they are as young as 14.
Exclusion within the system
- School costs. Charging policies exclude poorer children from cultural, social and educational activities within schools.
- Access to the national curriculum. Costs deny access to the core curriculum – for example, the internet and revision guides – and to more creative activities – for example, music, art, photography and food technology.
- Poor nutrition. This affects children’s concentration, and yet, despite the extended school day, free school meals are often available only at lunchtime, and take-up is low.
- Low expectations. Disadvantaged children tend to view schools as a punitive environment more than their more affluent peers.
Meanwhile, a great deal of education takes place outside of school. So, government policies which focus on benefit sanctions to improve ‘behaviours’ among disadvantaged groups are likely to increase child poverty and exacerbate educational inequalities. To reduce the educational gap, the Government needs to ensure that:
- Parents have a sufficient income to safeguard themselves and their children from the entrenched problems associated with living in poverty, irrespective of their work status;
- Children’s well-being is placed at the forefront of the Government’s childcare and educational reform programme;
- Charging policies reduce or eradicate educational costs for poor families;
- Nutrition is improved;
- Child poverty in the UK is placed on the curriculum for all teacher training courses.
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