“It is clear from this research that we are a society which is in danger of becoming more inequitable – where the gap between haves and have-nots is even deeper and more embedded. Education cannot solve this alone but it is one of the levers available to break this cycle. However, the government must be bold and provide the additional funding needed to build on the existing pupil premium and enable educators to further target extra support for disadvantaged children from the early years through to 16-19 education, as this report recommends.
“This must be accompanied by a comprehensive child poverty strategy which addresses conditions the Children’s Commissioner for England recently described as ‘almost Dickensian’ and rates of poverty which, without government intervention, will affect 4.8 million children by the end of this parliament. Morally, this is utterly unacceptable, and educationally, it means that children are in no fit state to learn because they are cold, hungry, lack basic amenities, and live in poor-quality housing. From a government whose mission is that background should not be a determining factor in success, we need to see more purpose and positive action.
“The gap identified between five-year-olds with special educational needs and disabilities and their peers is particularly alarming, and emphasises how important it is for the government to get right its planned reforms of a system that is under unsustainable pressure and is not working well for anyone. Key to this is ensuring that we have in place sufficient expertise to identify additional needs as early as possible and provide appropriate support swiftly and effectively. To enable this to happen education settings must be able to draw on sufficient numbers of experts such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists.”