WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY.... A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO
CLOSING THE DISADVANTAGE GAP Comment by education journalist SAL MCKEOWN
W
hen Labour came to power in 1997, the mantra was ‘Every Child Matters’ and talked about ‘poverty of aspirations’ and the need to ‘widen horizons’. That was almost 30 years ago, but little has changed. We now call it the ‘disadvantage gap’ and it still hits the headlines when it’s
time for GCSE results and PISA international test scores. Teachers are uniquely placed to help those children whose needs are not being met under the current system, but they need ideas and exemplars from outside sources if they are to effect meaningful change. One new contribution to the field is Closing the Disadvantage Gap in Schools: A Visual Workbook recently published by Routledge. Packed with diagrams, inventories and questions to prompt reflection, this book is designed to invigorate professional development in both primary and secondary settings. Author and former teacher Finola Wilson champions ‘local solutions for local problems ‘. It’s all about ownership. She observes that while governmental data identifies broad challenges, empowering schools to pinpoint and address their own most pressing needs can be far more effective.
Throughout the book there are key questions for schools to use as starting points for internal reflection: • What data do we have about the reading ages of our pupils? • What are we doing about pupils who are reading at six to nine months below their chronological age, who could be ‘quick wins’
• What diagnostic information do we have about what their specific reading issue is?
• How do we currently use drawing in our teaching?
They need to know about each child’s circumstances to tailor appropriate support. In fact, much of this information is available in schools but does not always reach the classroom teacher. Teachers must collect and analyse their own data.
Although there is a considerable emphasis on educational theories about how children learn, the book marries research with practical examples and activities applicable to any classroom. One key message is that preparation is essential. Staff need to put in scaffolding for those learners likely to be left behind.
We know that the written word can be a barrier to understanding; yet often teachers plunge into a text explaining words as they go along. Sometimes they will ask children to read the text without any introduction or context. The child realises it is too hard and switches off. Teachers need to rethink such habits. Instead, there could be a whole school policy of context cuing. ‘Pick out the words, language structures, and background knowledge that you think pupils may struggle with. Ask pupils what they already know. If they don’t have the required knowledge, pre-teach it before you ask them to read the text.’
What sets this book apart is its visual approach. It is full of drawings, mind maps, infographics, diagrams, tables and charts translating abstract concepts into engaging visual aids. This makes it an attractive and accessible resource for teaching staff and an effective aid to inform and structure school improvement plans for narrowing the disadvantage gap.
THE SCHOOL REBUILDING PROGRAMME: A REACTION IN THE WAKE OF THE GOVERNMENT SPENDING REVIEW
Comment by JEFF HOUSE, Director of External Affairs and Policy at Baxi
W
ith our expertise and experience in partnering with the education sector on delivering efficient heating and hot water, it is promising to see the Government commitment to the Schools Rebuilding Programme, providing around £2.4bn per year over the next four years, to rebuild over 500 schools. A further increase in annual maintenance investment will see additional funding to improve the condition of the school estate. There are, however, wider challenges in this space that must be addressed to support contractors, specifiers and school estates managers with delivering efficient, low-carbon heat. Research presented in our recent report Decarbonising heat in schools: challenges and opportunities uncovered that, while the majority of schools strongly support heating decarbonisation, more than a third of UK schools continued to grapple with key challenges in achieving it.
The survey of 200 state school estates managers, consultant engineers and M&E contractors uncovered that technical difficulty and electrical capacity requirements were the top barriers to installing low carbon heating. The study also showed a slight preference for hybrid heat pump systems over standalone heat pump solutions. 80% of engineers and
July/August 2025
contractors surveyed stated they would be likely to recommend a hybrid system, while 93% of estate managers confirmed that they would likely consider installing a hybrid heating system.
As part of the report, and now as part of our response to the latest wave of funding, Baxi is calling for four clear steps that we believe the Government must take to ramp up the decarbonisation of schools:
• Include heating system upgrades for schools within existing public sector support schemes.
• Include hybrid heating systems more openly within existing support schemes
• Address the imbalance in price between gas and electricity • Address the skills gap to help deliver clean energy projects.
These steps will be vital to remove any barriers preventing the installation of hybrid heating systems within public buildings, while also making the best use of funding available to deliver schools that are both efficient and fit for the future.
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