Leadership - why data is key to effective interventions

 

At a recent senior management meeting we compared the data dashboard for Southwark Primary School and two other local schools, one slightly more affluent than ours and one slightly less. Data dashboards can be accessed through Ofsted and are produced for every school in the country. They show how the school is performing using SATs results for maths and English, as well as data for attendance. One of the key areas for comparison was that of narrowing the gap between disadvantaged and other pupils. What we discovered was a common theme, that there was generally a gap of around ten per cent (or more) between the achievements of disadvantaged children and other pupils.

As interventions leader, this raised questions in my mind as to how we could address the issue. But before I can look at how to try address it, I need to explore the possible reasons for the disparity between those who are disadvantaged and the others. What are the key reasons that disadvantaged children achieve less than those who are not so disadvantaged? Could it be that they are less likely to get the support at home to consolidate their learning? Do they have such chaotic lives that they are not able to concentrate on and complete homework? Do they have anyone to talk to, and who will listen to them, to improve vocabulary and communication skills? Do they have access to books, or have stories read to them regularly to help promote a love of reading? Are they able to practise their reading (and writing) skills with parents who are able to support and nurture their achievements? Do they have parents who value education enough to ensure they attend school regularly? Of course these questions are generalisations of the background of these children, and there are exceptions, but to be able to address the problem we need to understand the possible reasons.

With this in mind, I now need to think about the interventions necessary to try to redress the balance. There are many possibilities, for example a homework club where those who don’t get support at home to complete (phonics) homework get the opportunity within school to do it with qualified staff. Many opportunities can also be provided during free flow, targeted towards specific children, like reading stories together and playing alongside the identified children to praise their successes and nurture their attitude towards learning. Another key area to be aware of is the children’s vocabulary skills, as without the basic knowledge it is very difficult for that child to keep up with their peers.

To conclude, it is from using simple data like this, that we can explore the issues our children face and how we can help support them so that they achieve the best they possibly can.