The Extra Mile - Raising Aspirations in Deprived Communities

This DCSF paper is the first of a series which will explore in detail the barriers which face the children from deprived communities at school and seek ways to improve their chances of success. It is a project which is focused on children whose families have been poor for generations, in this sense it links to other research on persistent poverty (click here). The project focuses on the cultural attitudes between poverty and aspiration.

Key points:

- Generational poverty adds to material deprivation the weight of historical expectation and ingrained culture.

- Despite a closing gap, there is still significant difference of attainment of those on free school meals (FSM) and those not.

- By visiting 50 secondary schools working in the most deprived wards in England, but with a great track record of success with their pupils, it was seen that they do similar activities to any great school: they have dynamic leaders, who lead from the front, set the tone and establish a ‘can do’ culture; they have strong systems for quality; they are passionate about the quality of the classroom experience; they shape the curriculum to serve the needs of their intake; they track the progress of pupils with ardent regularity and intervene immediately if anyone falls off trajectory; they are unusually creative about recruitment and retention.

- these schools also go the extra mile for the children of their community. They implement some deliberate extra measures specifically targeted at the most disadvantaged. The research found 12 "extra mile" practices:
1: To increase interactive and participatory learning
2: To develop a listening campaign
3: To promote a culture of respect for local values
4: To broaden pupils’ horizons
5: To develop a culture of achievement
6: To offer a more relevant curriculum
7: To build pupils’ repertoire of language
8: To develop pupils’ social, emotional & behavioural skills
9: To cultivate traditional values
10: To track pupils’ progress and intervene promptly
11: To develop effective rewards and incentive schemes
12: To support pupils at transition points