An Unsure Start for Young Children in English Urban Primary Schools

Urban Rev (2014) 46:816830 DOI 10.1007/s11256-014-0304-7

An Unsure Start for Young Children in English Urban Primary Schools

Nicky Darbyshire Bev Finn

Sarah Griggs Chris Ford

Published online: 28 October 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Abstract This article, written by three research-active teachers and their academic partner, registers concerns with the ways the so-called achievement gap is portrayed in policy announcements in England. It charts a challenge to the current view that it is the task of urban nursery and primary schools to train children to be school-ready. It portrays a collective professional judgement that some young children from less afuent backgrounds face a range of barriers to their learning on entry, which hampers their success at primary school. Further, it argues these barriers arise from childrens multiple vulnerabilities which cannot be encapsulated by a single category of need such as eligibility for Free School Meals or a Special Educational Need represented in ofcial national-school quantitative data. This article proceeds to report on three inter-linked teacher inquiry projects, which seek to dene and identify the range of vulnerabilities faced by some young children and consider intervention measures that will address their academic and social learning needs. The intention is to show that a more rened view of identifying these needs based on a research-informed reading of young childrens multiple vulnerabilities, framed by their social context, will lead to more equitable provision of primary schooling experiences.

Keywords Multiple vulnerability Social deprivation Achievement-gap

N. Darbyshire B. Finn S. Griggs

Yorkshire, UK

C. Ford (&)

Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK e-mail: [email protected]

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Urban Rev (2014) 46:816830 817

Introduction

The correlation between poverty, social deprivation and educational achievement stubbornly remains a worrying feature of education in England. Closing the attainment gap between those schools serving children from prosperous areas and those working with less afuent communities features heavily in current policy documents and is a major preoccupation of schools, inspectors and, ostensibly, government.

One key aspect is the emphasis on getting children ready for school at increasingly lower ages. The change of emphasis in nursery education and care is receiving increasing criticism among early years professionals and academics, with a range of concerns articulated by contributors to Too much, too soon? early learning and the erosion of...