Our research has found that bright but disadvantaged pupils are being failed as parents don’t know how to help them. The full report can be read here: ow.ly/yWMz8 and the rest of the details can be read below: Children who have high potential, but live in disadvantaged areas of London, often don’t get the support they need because their parents isolate themselves from the community. The research suggests many consider their local neighbourhood to be unsafe and other children in their peer groups a negative influence. This leaves parents without access to the educational support their high-potential children need – such as a library or extra-curricular classes. However, the findings don’t support the widely-held view that there is a need to raise the aspirations of children and parents from lower income families, with the majority demonstrating high expectations for their children’s future. Professor Valsa Koshy, who has led the research, said: “There is a missing component. These parents have aspirations for their children, but they don’t know what they need to do to build on their potential. “Many of these parents see the community, normally recommended as an example of support, as a negative factor. They are more likely to isolate themselves from the wider community to keep their children safe in their neighbourhood. All this shows that there should be more structured intervention from schools.” The research included interviews with 21 parents of children selected by inner-city schools in London to attend Brunel University’s Urban Scholars programme – an intervention scheme giving gifted and talented students aged 12 years old the chance to visit the university on nine Saturdays each year for four years, for support specific to their needs. The majority of the parents felt that the intervention programme compensated for their lack of knowledge and understanding of the education system.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 12:00:13 +0000
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