West Berkshire's Disadvantaged Children Face Crisis

Disadvantaged children in West Berkshire's schools are among the worst for improvement nationally, with critics saying some schools put resources into getting a good Ofsted rather than helping poorer pupils.

Dame Kate Dethridge, the DfE regional director, told last night's committee: "It isn't good enough. What more can I say?" and warned: "Outcomes for children with free school meals are worryingly poor in some of your schools."

A DfE letter said the national average for disadvantaged pupil outcomes in 2025 was 47%. More than half of West Berkshire schools (where results aren't suppressed) are below that, and a third of those are under 30%.

Only three schools were in the top 25% for disadvantaged pupils: Theale CE Primary, Hungerford Primary, and Robert Sandilands Primary and Nursery. Theale was highlighted as an exemplar.

Education portfolio holder Heather Codling said: "It's not the best report, admittedly," adding: "This is a situation we have inherited," and that the council faces severe financial difficulty. "It upsets me our children are not achieving well at Key Stage 2."

The council says years of underinvestment left the school improvement service under‑staffed. At the meeting it emerged there are just two school improvement officers covering around 50 schools. The service has mostly offered buy‑back packages, meaning limited strategic oversight and little early intervention.

Dame Kate rejected funding as the sole issue: "It doesn't come down to funding at all," saying other areas with high free school meal rates have improved. "Change the narrative," she said. "What are you saying here? If children are on free school meals they can't do well?"

She added: "A lot of it is about adult expectation. It is about assuming children can do well and targetting what they havent got and compensating."

On Key Stage 4 most pupils do well, but disadvantaged results sit poorly in local percentiles: 95th for Grade 4+ English and maths and 98th for Attainment 8. Disadvantaged attendance is in the 91st percentile; suspension rates the 92nd, with higher suspension rates than national disadvantaged peers.

While 95% of schools are rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, published outcomes for disadvantaged children remain weak. Changes to Ofsted's framework from November 2025 should bring more accurate performance checks. The data did not include academies.

The council's school improvement budget is currently £325,000. Councillors said they hope to reallocate money when about £27m is returned to the council from a high needs block overspend later in the year.

Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter