How can study support assist in improving ethnic minority achievement?
In the same way as it assists every child’s improvement! Schools should be monitoring take-up in all out-of-hours/extended provision. Through the gathering of this information, it will be possible to ascertain whether any groups of pupils – eg a specific ethnic group, girls, year 8 pupils – are missing out. If there is a significant difference between the levels of involvement, then there will need to be some research into why it is happening (eg is it the provision, or is there a cultural problem, such as all the girls having to be home before it’s dark or children not liking to go home later if they are in school uniform?). Once this has been done, the root problem can be addressed. Perhaps lunchtime provision rather than after-school? Increasingly, schools are looking to remodel the timings of their school day. For instance, having a shortened lunch-hour to enable a longer time after-school before it gets dark. If the school also identifies specific groups in which any ethnic minori
