Transcript No Slide Title

Raising Achievement of Somali Pupils:
Research in Progress in Lambeth schools
Feyisa Demie- Head of Research & Statistics
Somali Community Raising Achievement Conference
Richard Atkins School
8 December 2006
b
Lambeth Raising Achievement Projects
1.
Projects completed:
•
Raising Achievement of Black Caribbean Pupils – 2003
•
Raising Achievement of Mobile Pupils – 2004
•
Raising Achievement of Portuguese Pupils 2005
•
Achievement of African Heritage Pupils – 2006
2.
Projects in Progress 2006/2008
•
Raising Achievement of Somali Pupils 2006/7
•
Raising Achievement of White British Pupils 2007
b
Lambeth Somali Raising Achievement
Project: Aims and Objectives
•
To study the achievement of Somali heritage pupils at
the end of KS1, KS2, KS3 and GCSE.
•
To undertake case study research in schools to map
the reasons of underachievement.
•
To examine the school experiences of Somali
heritage pupils in Lambeth schools.
•
To identify action plans of next steps to raise
achievement of Somali heritage pupils in Lambeth.
b
Project Activities Plan and
Timetable
The life of the project is 1 year and will have three phases:
• Phase 1 Activities: Research into Somali pupil
underachievement in schools (July 2006 - January 2007).
• Phase 2 Activities: Undertake research in context of every child
matters to identify the needs of Somali Community in Lambeth
(February and April 2007).
• Phase 3 Activities: Somali community and parent conference to
share the findings and draw action plans (June 2007).
b
Main Findings Of Phase 1 Research:
Ethnic Background
30%
• 3% of school
population is Somali
• 24% African
• 20% Black
Caribbean
• 19% White British
• 6% Portuguese
24%
25%
20%
19%
20%
White
British
Caribbean
15%
10%
6%
5%
3%
0%
Somali Portuguese
African
b
Growth Somali School Population in
Lambeth
900
835
800
707
700
561
600
500
423
400
327
300
200
100
147
160
1998
1999
222
236
2000
2001
100
0
1997
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
b
Number of Somali Pupils in Lambeth
Schools by Type of School (1997-2006)
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
All Schools
100 147 160 222 236 327 423 561 707 835
Primary Schools71 87 108 153 169 249 346 448 569 659
Secondary Schools
26 55 47 60 54 57 55 91 119 151
b
English fluency of Somali pupils
• 835 Somali pupils in
Lambeth schools. Of
these 87% of Somali
pupils are not fluent in
English.
• 29% stage 1- beginner
• 36% stage 2considerable support
• 22% -some support and
becoming confident
• 13%- fully fluent in
English
350
299
300
250
242
185
200
150
109
100
50
0
Stage 1Beginner
Stage 2- Stage 3-Some Stage 4-fully
considerable
support
fluent
support
b
Average Key Stage 1 Attainment by
Ethnic Group 2006 (Level 2B+)
80%
71%
70%
61%
60%
57%
50%
44%
42%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
White British
African incl.
Somali
Caribbean
Somali*
Portuguese
b
GCSE Attainment by Ethnic Group in
5+ A*-C, 2006
70%
60%
59%
53%
52%
50%
40%
35%
33%
Portuguese
Somali*
30%
20%
10%
0%
African
White British Caribbean
b
KS2 Performance by Level of
Fluency in English 2006
Stages of Fluency in
English
No
English
Maths
Science
Average
7
0%
14%
29%
14%
Stage 2 – considerable
support
28
21%
29%
39%
30%
Stage 3 – some support
30
67%
70%
70%
69%
Stage 4 – Fully fluent
12
92%
75%
83%
83%
Stage 1 - Beginner
b
KS2 Performance by Level of Fluency in
English (Average L 4+)
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
83%
69%
30%
14%
Stage 1 -
Stage 2 –
Stage 3 – some
Stage 4 – Fully
Beginner
considerable
support
fluent
support
b
Pupils Mobility and Somali GCSE
Attainment (5+A*-C)
Joined Years 7-9
42%
Joined Year 10
Joined Year 11
20%
0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
b
Improvement in KS2 in Lambeth
Main Ethnic
Group
African inc. Somali
Somali
Caribbean
White British
Portuguese
All Pupils
Average
2005
Average
2006
Improvement
76%
47%
68%
81%
63%
75%
74%
52%
69%
83%
77%
77%
-2%
5%
1%
2%
14%
2%
b
Improvement Rate of Main Ethnic Group
in GCSE
Lambeth Main
Ethnic Group
2005
2006
% Change
African inc. Somali
57%
59%
+2%
Somali*
12%
33%
+21%
Caribbean
43%
52%
+9%
White British
46%
53%
+7%
Portuguese
37%
35%
-2%
All Pupils
52%
54%
+2%
b
Reasons for Somali Children
Underachievement
•
Language Barriers
– Most of Somali parents can’t speak/read English.
– Their ability to assist their children in their studies is limited.
– Language barrier may diminish their will to visit the school and
speak to the members of staff about their children.
– Most of the schools don’t have special arrangements to reach out
those parents.
•
Lack of understanding of British education system
– UK system : children pass from stage to stage according to their
age.
– Somali Ed. System : children pass from stage to stage according to
their ability.
– Most of parents don’t understand levels (1-8) as measurement for
child’s progress.
•
Minimum parental involvement.
•
Lack of role models.
b
Conclusion- Phase 1 Research activities
•
The total Somali population in Lambeth schools has increased
by from 100 in 1997 to 835 in 2006 (880% increase).
•
Somali population average growth rate per year - 100 pupils

Generally Somali children were underachieving but latest data
suggests they have made good improvements.
•
Somali pupils made the highest improvement at GCSE in 2006
(33%) compared to any other groups. KS2 improvement is 5%.

Main reasons for underachievement: Language Barriers. 87% of
Somali pupils in Lambeth schools are not fluent in English.
b
Ways Forward- Phase 2 Project

Carry out authority wide needs analysis in context of Every
Child Matters to target support. This research should go beyond
education and includes issues related in Housing, Health,
Immigration and employment
• Based on the findings of the research write an action plan that is
aimed at raising the achievement of Somali Pupils.
• Disseminate widely the findings through organising Somali
Raising Achievement Conference.
• Raise schools, LA and parents awareness of the key issues
through effective use of data.
b
End of presentation – Thank you
Contact details
Feyisa Demie, Head of Research and Statistics,
Lambeth CYPS, Canterbury Crescent, London SW9
7QE
[email protected]
Acknowledgement: The Work on Raising Achievement of Somali Children is
supported by Walcot Education Foundation. We would like to thank the
Foundation for their financial support.
b