Understanding disadvantage – a town-wide approach to improving literacy

Think of Blackpool and you’ll no doubt think of donkey rides on the beach, ​‘kiss-me-quick’ hats, and the famous illuminations. But step back from the Promenade, and Blackpool is an area facing significant social disadvantage. It is the most deprived local authority nationally, with eight of the ten most deprived neighbourhoods in England located in the town. This provides a challenging context for Blackpool’s schools; a context which needed leaders to collaborate, and to collectively go to greater lengths to support those in need.

Blackpool Secondary Heads Group, meeting regularly and with representation from all schools, initially identified literacy as a priority issue for Blackpool’s young people. Children who struggle with reading are at a significant disadvantage in every one of the GCSE examinations they take.

GL Assessment’s New Group Reading Tests were used town-wide to diagnose this as a significant area for improvement. Children’s results showed that the majority of Blackpool secondary schools were working with children with below average reading abilities, and that our town had four times the number of pupils in the lowest performance band compared to national averages.

Coupled with below average GCSE outcomes across all subjects, and the recognised importance of reading and vocabulary on attainment across the curriculum, the group of headteachers had confidence that the focus area had been correctly identified.