Is there really no strategy for closing the gap?

People are getting in touch and asking us, is it really the case that Brighton & Hove City Council do not have a strategy for closing the gap between kids entitled to Free School Meals and those in the rest of the city? Well, this is the situation as we understand it.

The last strategy - Closing the Gap in Educational Achievement for Vulnerable Groups in the City - was published in 2013 and involved a number of school-based initiatives designed to boost attainment amongst poorer pupils.

In 2016 it was reported to the Children, Young People and Skills Committee that this strategy was being 'reviewed and updated'. When some of our campaign team members met with officers in April 2019 we inquired about the strategy.

We asked if it had been evaluated and whether there was any evidence of what elements of it had 'worked' in reducing the gap. We were told that no evaluation papers or briefings were available and that the strategy was being reviewed and refreshed.

In 2019 we met officers about the development of the new strategy. At this meeting, we were told at the current rate of progress the B&H attainment gap would take 50 years to close. Closing the gap was 'too ambitious' and instead the focus should be 'diminishing the difference'.

We have now been told that a new strategy will be developed once the city has appointed the new director of Families, Children and Learning. We have been assured that this will include collaboration with the communities of Whitehawk, Manor Farm and Bristol Estate. Okay.

Yes. But also not really. Unless we are told otherwise we think this means there has been no active strategy in place for closing attainment gaps between children living in B&H and who are entitled to FSM and their peers in the city since 2016. How long will it take? Until 2022?

Does this mean nothing has been done? No, of course not. Schools will be working to do all they can to close the gaps and some early years programmes have run. But we think the lack of strategic vision the city has shown on this issue over the past five years is a huge problem.

We also think it's impossible to develop a new plan if you have no idea what worked and what didn't last time around. There is also no plan at the moment to look at what needs to be done for kids living in the areas of the city that are most educationally deprived.

In addition, when we asked about rates of school exclusion back in 2019 we were told in another meeting that the council were developing a Hidden Children strategy to deal with this issue. We've been told in the past week that this strategy still does not exist.

So yes, you can't just ask councils to 'do something' about this issue. But can we ask them to do anything at all?