The Acting Director of Children’s Services submitted a report which summarised the progress made in reducing the attainment gap at key stage 4 between pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) and pupils not eligible for free school meals (non-FSM).

The main indicator for the attainment gap had narrowed at KS4 by nearly 5 per cent from 2011 and continued a positive downward trend from previous years. On average pupils in receipt of FSM performed well against national averages, whilst their non-FSM peers performed exceptionally well against national comparisons, thus leading to a wider gap than nationally.

The report went on to explain why the attainment gap persists in that Schools reported that the targets they set for pupils were, to a very large extent, based on the pupils’ prior attainment at Key Stage 2. This practice was now believed to be almost universal across the country. Pupils in receipt of FSM attained less well at KS2 than non-FSM pupils (as, indeed, they did at every stage of education). Therefore targets that used KS2 results as a starting point inevitably included a bias against pupils in receipt of FSM, resulting in them having lower GCSE targets.

This had the unavoidable consequence of setting targets to inadvertently generate an attainment gap (assuming that pupils achieve their targets). Pupils in receipt of FSM did not show up on schools’ tracking and monitoring systems as often as they needed to if the gap was to be closed – because in general they were being tracked and monitored against lower targets and were found to be on track to meet these lower targets.

If the gap was to be finally eradicated it was an essential requirement that pupils in receipt of FSM, as a group, were set targets which equalled those of non-FSM pupils. To support this requirement the local authority had developed a target-setting system which automatically generated pupil-level targets that, on average, were equal for both groups.

In addition, the system indicated the stages pupils needed to be at in order to meet their targets. This in itself would address both findings simultaneously. When pupils in receipt of FSM had higher targets than they would otherwise have had, they were more likely, in the early stages of their secondary education, to be performing below the level needed to achieve the targets. This, through schools’ tracking and monitoring systems, would flag up those pupils for extra support to get them back on track.

Three schools had volunteered to participate in the Raising Attainment for Disadvantaged Youngsters (RADY) project, which was a trial of the target-setting process with their current Year 7 and 8 cohorts. The first data indicating the progress of the FSM cohort would be available in late January and, by summer term, a clear picture should emerge as to whether the pilot was having the expected consequences.

While the final attainment gap for these pupils would not be known until 2016 and 2017, the live data provided by the schools over this academic year would enable the local authority to judge the likely success of the RADY project.

Responding to comments from Members Stuart Bellerby, Strategic Service Manager (Secondary), stated that schools did do a lot for FSM pupils including subsidising of trips and referred to the need for schools to act with sensitivity in not identifying FSM pupils.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the Committee looks forward to hearing more about the RADY project.