By Anita Naik, our Digital Mum communications expert
Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to get good GCSE results.
Attainment statistics published in January 2014 show that in 2013 37.9% of pupils who qualified for free school meals got 5 GCSEs, including English and mathematics at A* to C, compared with 64.6% of pupils who do not qualify.
In 2015 it’s unacceptable for children’s educational outcomes to be determined by their social circumstance. While the aim of the pupil premium is to "close the gap" between richer and poorer children by improving academic performance, the reality is the impact will take time.
Which is why at CoachBright we are working with schools to help raise levels of achievement for disadvantaged pupils and to close the gap between disadvantaged children and their peers.
We are doing this by using university students and graduates as academic performance coaches to help pupils to become independent and resilient learners, so that they can fulfil their academic potential, win places at top universities and improve their life chances.
Currently, too many high-potential disadvantaged children do not fulfil their academic potential, as they do not have the right support to turn their abilities into a reality. Alongside a good education, they need help to develop skills that are valued by universities.
They need to develop their character, confidence, and learn resilience as a wider part of learning into order to become socially mobile. With Academic Performance Coaching we help pupils to make practical and targeted changes to their attainment and behaviour so they become motivated, independent, and more confident to succeed.
Why bother? Well social mobility benefits all of us. A successful education not only helps individuals escape poverty by developing the skills they need to improve their livelihoods, but also builds a skilled workforce and generates productivity gains that fuel economic growth.
That’s why we’re all about #SocialMobilityUK. Follow us on Twitter @CoachBrightUK and LinkedIn for more updates.