Launch of Swindon Affordable Schools Checklists
Date: 23 May 2024
The impact of growing up in poverty on a child’s education and development has long been recognised. We know that poverty is a strong predictor of educational attainment. On average, pupils eligible for free school meals achieve lower GCSE attainment than other pupils. This is based on achieving a “standard pass” in English and maths GCSE. Government statistics[1] show that in 2022, 47% of pupils eligible for FSM achieved a standard pass in both English and Maths GCSE compared to 75% of pupils not eligible.
Child Poverty Action Group estimate that in 2021-2022:
- 2 million children were living in poverty in the UK. This is 29% of UK children.
- 47% of children in Asian and British Asian families, 53% of children in Black/ African/ Caribbean and Black British families, and 25% of children in White families were living in poverty
- 44% of children in lone parents families were living in poverty
- 42% of children in families with 3 or more children were in poverty, up from 36% a decade earlier.
- 36% of children living in families where someone has a disability were living in poverty.
In Swindon, 27.5% of those with young people under 18 in their household were living in poverty in 2023.
The wards with the highest proportion of relative low income families, with children aged 0-15 include:
- Penhill and Upper Stratton: 33%
- Walcot and Park North: 25%
- Gorse Hill and Pinehurst: 22%
- Liden, Eldene and Park South: 22%
- Rodbourne Cheney: 20%
However, all wards in Swindon contain relative low-income families, with children aged 0-15 and so this affects all schools in Swindon.
School is an environment where your family income should be irrelevant. Yet not only do we know that a child’s attainment is likely to be lower if they are living in poverty, and we also know that many such pupils are at risk of experiencing further disadvantage because of the systems and policies that some schools have in place.
To support schools around this, based on a checklist developed by B&NES Council's Public Health & Prevention Team, we have launched a checklist for primary and secondary schools to work on with staff and governors to support the affordability of the school day. You can download these and work with them in your staff meetings and governor meetings via the links below;
Swindon affordable primary schools checklist
Swindon affordable secondary schools checklist
We would value your feedback on these checklists. Thank you!
