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Councillors in Newport have sought assurances children from lower income families are not being “left behind” in their education.
A new report on Key Stage 4 outcomes shows pupils in the city who receive free school meals scored lower in an average performance ranking than those pupils who do not qualify for free school meals.
While these findings are generally similar to those recorded at a Welsh level in 2023/24, the report prompted questions from Cllr Debbie Harvey about the attainment gap.
She said the results suggested a “leafy area is going to score better than a deprived area”.
“Are they going to get left behind?” she asked.
Sarah Morgan, Newport City Council’s head of education, said her department would “expect every school to have the highest aspirations” for all pupils, and “work to close the gap” between pupils who do and don’t receive free school meals.
Ed Pryce, the assistant director of policy and strategy at the Gwent-wide Education Achievement Service, said it was “unfortunate” free school meal take-up is used as an indicator, because it could “blur the picture”.
He said individual children were “certainly not” treated differently based on their receipt of school meals.
Cllr David Fouweather asked about support for families whose income was “just above” the threshold for qualifying for free school meals.
“I think a lot of people get left behind,” he said.
Ms Morgan said schools take a more nuanced approach when considering which pupils should be considered eligible for more support – including new arrivals to the area, children who are young carers, or those whose parents are in the armed forces.
She added that many schools run support services, such as uniform swap shops, which are available to all families – and not just those which qualify for free school meals.
Cllr Deb Davies, the cabinet member for education, said free school meal take-up is “a measure to determine funding, but it’s not a measure to determine children”.
“Schools are very much aware of those children and those needs,” she added. “Our teachers know our children.”
Cllr Fouweather said he remained concerned that if funding was linked to the number of pupils receiving free school meals, a school may not qualify for as much funding if its pupils were instead slightly above the threshold.
“I just don’t think it’s a very fair way of measuring it,” he added.
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