Inquiry finds white working-class kids failed by education system as top minister warns against blame game

Inquiry finds white working-class kids failed by education system as top minister warns against blame game Bridget Phillipson has said support for children needs to go 'beyond the school gate' after an inquiry concluded the education system is 'not set up to serve white working-class children and families' Bridget Phillipson has said support for children “beyond the school gate” needs to be improved after an inquiry concluded the education system is “not set up to serve white working-class children and families”. The Education Secretary said Britain is facing a “big generational challenge” in turning around outcomes for poor white kids. She said ministers are already acting to address issues like attendance - which is a big driver of achievement - as well as expanding early years education and rolling out Sure Start-style support centres known as Best Start Family Hubs. But she admitted more change is needed, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: “This is a big, big, big generational challenge. I think, as the report sets out, there are lots of areas that require change, both within school, but also around schools and beyond the school gate, because so much of what a child is able to achieve in their life comes down to the support their family has.” She said this was not about “shifting blame” onto either teachers or parents, after a radio listener suggested parents needed to take more responsibility for reading with their children, encouraging better school attendance or limiting their kids' screen time. Ms Phillipson said: “This is about all of us across society taking action, and yes, that means supporting parents as well, whether that's around attendance, on child poverty, on making sure they’ve got access to good quality advice, health support, and much more.” The Independent Inquiry into White Working-Class Educational Outcomes, published on Monday, said once-in-a-generation reforms were needed to tackle the under achievement of these kids. The inquiry was launched last summer to investigate why white working-class children are the lowest-performing large demographic in England’s school system. It found just 36% of white British pupils on free school meals achieved a Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSE as of last year, compared with 72% of pupils who don’t get free lunches. The report branded the disparity “the white working-class disadvantage gap”. In their 24 recommendations, inquiry co-chairs Baroness Estelle Morris and Sir Hamid Patel call for improved mental health support, restrictions on smartphone use in schools and an extension of 30 hours’ free childcare to all disadvantaged families not currently eligible. They also recommend making reading fluency a national priority in primary schools and introducing free access to local public transport for all young people aged 21 and under. More widely, the inquiry demands improvements in how the system defines and prioritises white working-class educational outcomes and for a massive expansion in apprenticeship opportunities in white working-class communities. Headteacher Amy Sparkes this morning told BBC Radio 4 that schools are too focused on academic outcomes. “I’m really pleased that the report remarks that this is not a lack of aspiration from families and pupils, because it isn’t," she said. "There is absolutely a disconnect in what the education system, not individual schools, but the education system can offer all children from working class backgrounds." Ms Sparkes, a headteacher at Ward Jackson Church of England Primary School in Hartlepool, questioned why a pass in maths and English GCSE had become the "absolute basic" requirement to enter the workplace. She added: “I think that we’ve really, as a society, moved too far in that direction, and by the time that those children have got to GCSE age, they’ve become disengaged with a system that’s not welcoming, it’s not meeting them where they are, it’s expecting them to change to the system, which is just not really what education should be.”