Disadvantaged white British boys 'underperforming'

White British boys from disadvantaged backgrounds are falling behind peers in Worcestershire schools, a meeting has heard.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds were "a national focus but in shire counties it is something we see as a particular area of challenge", Jane Howard, Worcestershire County Council lead for school improvement services, said.

"For Worcestershire, it sits in white British boys. A number of our white British boys are underperforming," she told a council scrutiny meeting, which also heard schools lack consistency in how they tackle the problem.

On entry into early years education, disadvantaged children were already 4.7 months behind their peers, Howard explained.

By Key Stage 2, the gap increases to 10 months and by GCSE level, it widens to as much as 19 months, the meeting heard.

Speaking at the meeting, councillor Anthony Upton questioned at what point "disadvantaged" becomes a lack of aspiration, particularly among white boys.

Howard said some children were from "fourth generation non-working families so the impetus and understanding of aspiration can be limited".

Careers advice and aspiration building were now part of secondary education, she stated.

Justin Bowen, cabinet member for children and families, said: "The key to working with these children in schools, comes down to a very simple principle of you assess their needs, you plan, and then you intervene.

"There's a lack of consistency across schools in terms of how that's done."

Councillor Matt Jenkins said it sounded like some pupils were trying to catch up from the start of their education and asked what support could be offered early on.

Government funding was being used by the council's public health team to support families through Family Hubs, councillors heard.

Howard said children from backgrounds deemed to be "disadvantaged, low income, non-working families, tend to come with what's known as a vocab deficit".

"If you are a five-year-old entering reception, you will have heard 30 million fewer words compared to your cohort," Howard explained.

"When you enter the learning space you don't have the vocabulary to understand and explore and comprehend."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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