Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools
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- ISBN 9781801994750
- Weight: 430g
- Dimensions: 152 x 232mm
- Publication Date: 13 Mar 2025
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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*ERA Educational Book Award Winner, 2026*
Actionable, road-tested approaches to understanding and tackling poverty in schools
The stark reality of poverty and disadvantage in our communities is one of the biggest challenges faced by schools today. Schools need better understanding of the broader impact of poverty and disadvantage and what they can do about it – that’s where Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools comes in.
The book is divided into three clear sections on how to understand and tackle poverty across the whole school, in the classroom, and within the community.
The whole school section focuses on understanding poverty and its roots, including:
- defining poverty and addressing the topic within professional development
- assessing the school day to discover and address barriers, from uniform prices and transport to accessing free school meals
- giving early help and intervention
- understanding the intersection between poverty and displacement
The classroom section focuses on barriers to learning and practical steps to address these, including:
- how to adapt the curriculum to assist pupils with fewer advantages
- how a focus on social justice can help
- the importance of reading
The community section addresses the wider context, including:
- addressing exclusion and suspension rates, and how to use mentors to encourage pupils
- partnerships with local businesses and organisations to broaden pupils’ opportunities
Written by expert authors working in a deprived area in the north east of England, Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools goes beyond the statistics and – whilst there are no 'silver bullets' – offers practical ways forward. This book is backed by research and is complete with case studies, reflective tasks and next steps from contributors from across the UK and working with all phases. As well as this, Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage includes a foreword written by Dame Alison Peacock, CEO of The Chartered College of Teaching.
From poverty-proofing the classroom and curriculum to changing whole-school culture and breaking the cycle, this resource speaks to the multiple intersecting crises currently faced by schools including lost learning during the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and increased referrals relating to DV. Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools equips you as a system-leader or educator to understand more deeply, diagnose issues and better address inequalities in your school.
Sean Harris is the Trust Improvement and Research Lead for Tees Valley Education Trust. He is also the research lead and advocate for EdNorth, a doctoral researcher in Education at Teesside University and on the board of the North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership. Sean writes regularly for SchoolsWeek, SecEd, Headteacher Update and TES. Read more from Sean @SeanHarris_NE.
Katrina Morley is the CEO of Tees Valley Education Multi-Academy Trust. She has over 20 years of experience in the education sector in a range of leadership roles in a variety of establishments, all of which were graded by Ofsted as ‘Outstanding’ or 'Good with Outstanding Features’. Katrina is also a non-executive director for Northern Power of Women, the Vice Chair of the SEND and AP group for Schools North East and a board member of SSAT National Primary Board.
