White British pupils underperforming because of parents

This study is a nightmare for Guardian-types.

Very sad indeed.

My Grandfather (Irish) wasn't allowed to learn. The Irish would hide behind hedges to teach children in secret, as the British didn't allow schooling. Education is valued as a result.

Irish culture was linked to religion and there was little family breakdown compared to England.

When I was In school, to be seen to be trying was a one way street to being bullied. Coast, give enough sass to teachers to stay in the 'safe zone' and do the bare minimum. I hope things have changed, but I see this report and think not.

I have heard people say a lot of this. Those who managed to get into gramma schools from poor families or areas where seen as sell outs.

The British attitude to not seeing your self as a winner I would assume is a massive problem too. People have to strive to be the best. In this country it's wrong to have such attitudes. You perceived as arrogant for wanting to win at something.
You can't just do well without working hard.

I teach at the type of school that MNers love to hate. It is a very oversubscribed CofE comprehensive. It achieves excellent results because the type of families able to access the school are generally heavily involved and invested in their children's education.

Out of a class of 28 Year 8 students, I had requests for appointments at parents' evening for 25 of them. One of the common questions asked was 'What can I do to help my child?'

Like a lot of secondary schools, it is going through a financial crisis. There are no textbooks to support the new KS3 courses. Teachers are often teaching (not great lessons) way outside their specialism. The pupils will continue to get good results because of the type of family involvement. Parents ask about the course we follow so they can buy a textbook of Amazon to support class work. They print off summary sheets and revision sheets from the school's VLE as we can't afford the photocopying.

The number of students who obviously don't give a sh*t about education is tiny (1 or 2 per year group). Often, there is little to nothing you can do with those students. Luckily, there are very few of them in our school.

The school has a very good reputation locally for behaviour and results. It is a virtuous cycle which means the school can attract (relatively speaking as the 'pool' is incredibly small) the best teachers.

I'm not arguing that this situation is 'right' or socially acceptable. Having a school that is only accessible to parents willing to jump through all sorts of hurdles is highly questionable.

It's down to attitude from poor white working class British kids. It has become a cycle and you need more than the school to break it. Years ago theses children would have had apprenticeships to fall back on or before that working in the mines. You don't have that these days. Every one is in the same boat and parents who never valued education may not have seen it as something to aspire too.

There are failures in all walks of life. But with regard to white children it's the system this country has set set up which fail them. Most foreigners don't take notice of the class structure when they arrive.
The effects of grammar schools and technical schools is still manifesting itself in today's children through their parents.

This is what I think.

Apparently it's all to do with how much the parents value education, limit time their children spend on screens and whether or not they eat dinner round the dining room table rather than in front of the television.
If you are from a middle class nice family and spend time talking to your children they will do much better than if you stick them in front of a screen and ignore them. It's not rocket science.

I noticed white Irish students doing much better. I wonder if family breakdown is to blame?

You can value education without particularly valuing a specific education system. Parents who value education might hire tutors, or do additional work at home with their children to compensate for an education system they feel is inadequate.

When I was In school, to be seen to be trying was a one way street to being bullied. Coast, give enough sass to teachers to stay in the 'safe zone' and do the bare minimum. I hope things have changed, but I see this report and think not.

Introduction of National Curriculum and SATs that should say!

Maybe they've lost sight of the fact that you get out what you put in?
Too many parents think it's schools' responsibility to educate children. Wrong- it starts before birth.
The state system is there to supposedly even-up the life chances of those born to less fortunate circumstance. Sadly, that hasn't been the case for about twenty years, mainly since the introduction, but that may be purely coincidental. The decline had started long before then. My parents were constantly shocked at how poor my schooling was, and how little we knew! (70s/80s English state system)

"White British" covers a massive range . Children from intelligent and supportive white British families will continue to do very well in exams. So too will those from intelligent and supportive families of other ethnicities. It would be much more interesting to see a breakdown by family income, family structure etc. Do children from rich white British families do less well than those from rich Asian families? Do children from white British single parent/divorced family backgrounds do less well than those from Afro Caribbean single parent/divorced families?

Value education.

This isn't news, it's been the case for twenty years.