Agenda item

This report provides information about outcomes for the academic year 2023-24 of disadvantaged pupils and the attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their non-disadvantaged peers.

The Head of School Quality Improvement presented the report and reported that York saw a pronounced gap in its attainment between non-disadvantaged and disadvantaged children because it was generally a high performing city, and that a lot of work had been done in reducing the attainment gap, especially through improved working with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities).

The Head of School Quality Improvement discussed how different factors effected York’s statistics and noted how the makeup of York’s disadvantaged pupils differed from the makeup of the national average – it was suggested that York’s attainment statistics would not appear as poor if only data on White British pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) was included as nationally, White British pupils accounted for 59.7% of those eligible for Free School Meals; in York, this number was 84.9%. 40.5% of York’s White British Pupils achieved Grade 4+ English & Maths, 4.8% greater than compared to 35.7% Nationally.

The Head of School Quality Improvement continued to highlight how research conducted by the Education Endowment Trust could help CYC’s understanding of disadvantaged pupils, and how Early Talk for York had helped disadvantaged groups.

The Assistant Director, Education and Skills confirmed that CYC, along with a group of 40 other Local Authorities (LA) received the least amount of government funding and therefore did not have funds for additional intervention to the extent that many other LAs had.

Members discussed the data contained in the report and reasons behind York’s attainment gap, and considered means of improving. Attendance issues and poverty being driving forces behind attainment was discussed, and the Assistant Director, Education and Skills confirmed that as LAs could no longer request in-year data from schools difficulties arose in planning what was coming through the system, especially where schools used different systems to record data.

Resolved:

·       That the committee considered the report's contents and considered plans for ongoing scrutiny of the issues raised within the analysis of the data and the key priorities for improvement.

·       That an update on the Attainment Gap would be received by the committee in a year’s time.

Reason: To ensure that the committee fully discharges its responsibilities where a local authority must exercise its education functions with a view to promoting high standards Section 13A of the Education Act 1996.