State Of The Nation : District ranked at foot of social mobility table

A government report has ranked Newark and Sherwood as one of the worst places in England to live for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The State Of The Nation document placed the district 323rd out 324 local authority areas based on education outcomes, employability and housing prospects.

It highlighted education from early years through to university as a particular concern.

In response, the Newark Family of Schools told the Advertiser budgets were so tight it had to pay for its own speech and language therapist and family support workers.

Despite that, it said not everyone was getting the help they needed.

The Newark Family of Schools was set up to raise aspirations and improve life chances for young people

Chairman Mr Bob Hattersley, the executive head at Chuter Ede Primary School in Balderton and Fernwood, said some children lacked speech skills then they started school .

“At the youngest end of our school population we have employed our own speech and language therapist to support children with very little speech on entry to school,” he said.

Mr Hattersley said some of its initiatives had been taken up nationally.

“However, due to funding cuts over the years and a reduced amount of support services locally, we are resourcing our own family support workers to work with families who most need our help,” he said.

“Sadly, with the limited resources we have, we are unable to help all the families who need our assistance.”

Grim messages

Mr Hattersley said Nottinghamshire County Council funded its own family support workers up to around ten years ago.

It now contributed towards the service but Newark schools had to make up the shortfall out of their own budgets.

Mr Hattersley said the Newark Family of Schools had closed the deprivation gap for many youngsters but could not do it alone.

He said the report contained grim messages, but hoped it would be the trigger for ensuring Newark and Sherwood received the financial boost it needed.

In the district 43% of children within the key indicator for deprivation ­— eligibility for free school meals ­— achieve a good level of development in their early years education. The national average is 52%.

Fewer than a third (29%) reached the expected standard at the end of primary or junior school, compared to 57% of all pupils in the district.

A total of 16% of pupils eligible for free school meals did not stay in education or training after secondary education, with 20% going into sixth-forms and 59% further education.

The report said the East Midlands was the worst performing region in the country when it came to social mobility for those in early years education and at school, and Newark and Sherwood was the worst performing district in the East Midlands.

The leader of the district council, Mr Roger Blaney, called on the Government to support Newark and Sherwood with a three-point investment plan:

• To help build on recent improvements in secondary education;
• Address chronic infrastructure problems that hold back the economy;
• Work with employers to inject investment in up-skilling the workforce.