If we are to improve outcomes, one of the things we need to do is move away from the notion of 'labelling' children and their families. Rather, we need to focus on the needs of such pupils, never forgetting their greatest need is relentlessly high expectations and great teaching. As fragmentation of LAs continues, the need for authoritative, evidence-based guidance and signposting has grown. This book does not provide an exhaustive list of all the challenges that might arise, but it has a good go. Including chapters by Simon Knight; Loic Menzies; Bernard Trafford; Jarlath O'Brien; Mary Myatt; David Bartram; David Weston – and many others.

The genesis for this book, and the strategy within it, is a longstanding commitment from Essex County Council to improve the life chances and life choices of disadvantaged pupils being educated in Essex. The purpose of the book is to set out a strategic, evidence-informed approach with pupils, families, teachers, leaders, system leaders and wider agencies which puts learners first. This approach is rooted in best practice. It centres on improving the day to day learning experiences of disadvantaged pupils, leading to better long term choice and opportunity. Unity Research School and Essex County Council hope it will support efforts to address the impact of socio-economic disadvantage on learning in schools and colleges nationally.

Against the backdrop of Covid-19, this edited volume will utilize a gendered lens to explore the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a clear focus on challenging the omission of sexuality in relation to the SDGs as well as analyzing the ways in which the SDGs are also equally relevant for Western countries. While acknowledging the importance of these goals, contributors unpack the exclusion of marginalized genders and sexualities as well as how popular media and social media contribute to the wider understanding of issues of gender and sexuality and the SDGs. This volume also dispels assumptions about the irrelevance of SDGs to countries in the West, with a particular focus on the UK. Chapters examine a variety of topics including: HIV/AIDS, sex work, global migration, climate change and environmental sustainability, poverty, education, and sexual harassment. This collection will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and students across Sociology, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Education, Development Studies and Sustainability Studies.

Children in care (CiC), or looked after children, in England achieve less well than their non-looked after peers and as such they receive pupil premium plus funding. This book explores how the pupil premium plus is used to support the educational outcomes of CiC, with specific focus on professionals' planning processes, the supports and interventions funded using pupil premium plus, and how the impact of the funding is tracked and monitored. It draws on empirical data from semi-structured interviews with designated CiC teachers, social workers, and school heads, and document analysis of 20 school pupil premium strategies. Ben Taylor uses educational theory to analyse the data, drawing on humanist theories, social pedagogy and critical pedagogy to identify key themes in the data including race and class. He argues that pupil premium plus is valued by professionals, who care deeply about CiC. He shows how it is seen as an important and supportive tool which goes beyond the academic to include social and emotional interventions and curriculum enrichment.

The genesis for this book, and the strategy within it, is a longstanding commitment from Essex County Council to improve the life chances and life choices of disadvantaged pupils being educated in Essex. The purpose of the book is to set out a strategic, evidence-informed approach with pupils, families, teachers, leaders, system leaders and wider agencies which puts learners first. This approach is rooted in best practice. It centres on improving the day to day learning experiences of disadvantaged pupils, leading to better long term choice and opportunity. Unity Research School and Essex County Council hope it will support efforts to address the impact of socio-economic disadvantage on learning in schools and colleges nationally.

Fully updated with the 2015 policy updates from the Department for Education and published in partnership with the National Education Trust, this book provides essential information and advice to help schools make best use of the Pupil Premium grant and improve outcomes for disadvantaged learners. The author is a recognised national expert on the Pupil Premium. He has visited more than 200 schools and has spoken with over 1000 school leaders and here he shares examples of innovation and excellence in their use of the additional funding. Featuring a foreword by Sir John Dunford, DfE Pupil Premium Champion.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.