The Commons education committee will hear from school leaders and governors shortly as part of its inquiry into left-behind white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Stay tuned for live updates #edselctte

Witnesses are asked why white working class boys and girls are so far behind their peers.

Nick Hurn, CEO of Bishop Wilkinson education trust, says there's a "poverty of aspiration", few good role models and some families struggle to help their children with education #edselctte

Hurn says group of children were taken on a trip a few years ago and there were two year 10 pupils who hadn't been off their estate in their lives #edselctte

Ruth Robinson, executive principal at Swindon and Nova Hreod Academies, says there are "deeply entrenched problems" in communities, and pupils aren't surrounded by families with "high aspiration for them" #edselctte

Helena Mills, CEO at BMAT Education, says we need to "stop tweaking" education. Says we "haven't properly resolved" pathways - difference between academic and vocational routes #edselctte

Exams system doesn't help, says Mills, because some "are going to have to be below average".

Clementine Stewart,
vice-chair of Governors at Langford Primary School, says children are also starting primary school with a language gap

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Hurn refers back to the Sure Start programme. Says it was a really good programme, but they couldn't engage the parents they needed to. "It's training the parents as much as training the children", in terms of early language skills, he says

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"We're measured about [number of pupils] not in education, employment or training, but we're not measured about are those destinations right," says Mills #edselctte

Claire-Marie Cuthbert, CEO at Evolve Trust, says it's "really important" children have cultural capital

"If you want children to be able to write about something, they need to be able to have a frame of reference"

Says there's scope for schools to offer enrichment #edselctte

Mills says schools are already "brilliant" at providing enrichment activities, but they struggle financially. Says pupil premium funding is welcome, but "we probably spend triple that amount on each disadvantaged child just to give them that enrichment" #edselctte

Mills adds that the digital divide is "huge" between advantaged and disadvantaged. Says they've tried to tackle it, but it would be a "very easy win" - need for great broadband for families #edselctte

. @Clairecuthbert9 says almost a third of parents across her trust don't have access to broadband. Says Covid has widened digital divide, despite laptops, which some could not use #edselctte

Smith says enrichment can depend on "where a school is on its journey". Says a lot of schools in disadvantaged communities "need a lot of support, need a lot of help" #edselctte

. @Clairecuthbert9 says pupil premium grant is helpful, but there's "another layer" of children who have risen to the surface during Covid - the "just about managing" children whose parents are on zero-hours contracts #edselctte

Mills says schools need to be able to plan strategically - and should know what funding they're going to get for five years. Also says "working poor" are missed by pupil premium funding #edselctte

Hurn also mentions families who "fall through the net". Equally as impoverished as pupils receiving support, but not eligible for benefits

"When I look at the deprivation indices around my school and compare it to the free school meals quota, there's a big gap"

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. @RuthKRobinson says it was a "great blow" to hear funding for teacher training bursaries has been slashed.

"That's a terrible piece of news. We're forecasting that we might see less teachers applying to train to teach"

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. @Clairecuthbert9 says she doesn't think financial incentives help with recruitment and retention. Says teaching needs to be "attractive in the moral sense".

"You've got to really want to work in these disadvantaged communities"

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"We lose a lot of teachers after five years. It's partly financial, but also because it's a really tough job if you're working in communities with disadvantaged families who don't really support you," says Mills #edselctte

Hurn says he was on the trailblazer group that developed the teaching apprenticeship. Says it missed a "massive opportunity" by not pressing ahead with an undergraduate teaching apprenticeship. Says more "innovative thinking" is needed #edselctte

. @RuthKRobinson talks about benefits of extending the school day - says her pupils start at 8.20 and finish at 3.35, giving them an extra hour each day "because we know some of their home learning environments aren't ideal" #edselctte

"When parenting is poor, and I use that word very carefully, I do think the school takes on an increasingly important role," says Mills. "Poor parenting can be a barrier but as long as the school takes on that role...but that requires additional resources" #edselctte

Witnesses are asked whether the provision of laptops should continue in the longer-term.

Andrew Smith says laptops were "all well and good, as long as you've got broadband".

"We need the infrastructure behind them"

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Hurn says that following a rebuild in 2012 leftover money was used to buy a laptop for every child.

"I wish we had that now. The problem is sustaining that. Money ran out, we weren't able to keep up with the technology"

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. @Clairecuthbert9 says the issue is about more than just providing dongles. Says problem is with wider infrastructure: superfast broadband is too expensive for poorer families

"If we really want to level up that agenda that's something we need to be looking at"

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Smith says place has an "enormous role", and says location should be taken into account when talking about disadvantage.

Says a school in Clacton can't be compared to a school in London

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Panel moves on to talk about impact of Covid.

Hurn says it's had a "devastating effect" - lack of digital connections, pupils sent home who have fallen "further and further behind" and become less motivated

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"It's really had a massive negative effect on all our strategies to deal with this particular cohort of children," said Hurn.

Says lack of ability of some children to work at home has been a "real issue", but also refers to "massive increased costs" for cover, etc

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"A lot of insurance companies that cover staff absence haven't been paying out," Hurn adds, saying this has caused a "massive strain" on his finances #edselctte

. @RuthKRobinson says she's seen real impact on reading fluency in lower primary

"They didn't seem to have forgotten what they'd been taught previously, but there was the big gap in that summer term where they've lacked those really foundational months"

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"I believe every child should have an entitlement to be able to work online," says Robinson. "Not just if there's a lockdown. We should have that expectation" #edselctte

"We've probably spent £150,000 already this year on additional Covid expenditure and we're only in late November" - @RuthKRobinson #edselctte

Smith says Covid has "brought about a nervousness" in his parental community.

"We've had three or four positive diagnoses, and that's ended up with our attendance dropping to about 83% currently" #edselctte

Smith says he agrees that reading fluency has been hit, but also "further up the school, the writing stamina has also dropped off" #edselctte

Mills says attendance of secondary-age pupils has "never been better", and question over whether there will be exams next year is actually making pupils work harder #edselctte

Asked what needs to happen with exams, Mills says current year 11 are less prepared to have exams on full curriculum than last year's year 11. Says centre-assessed grades worked well "if the leadership in that school or organisation made sure they moderated that" #edselctte

Mills says she would prefer CAGs rather than exams next year, and we "mustn't underestimate the impact this has had on young people's wellbeing and mental health" #edselctte

Mills says she has one GCSE pupil who has had to self-isolate three times because of positive cases in his family and bubble, so has only been in school for three weeks #edselctte

. @RuthKRobinson says she feels exams are the "fairest way", but it will be different for different schools depending on whether they've had to send year 11s home #edselctte

. @Clairecuthbert9 agrees exams are the fairest way "in normal circumstances", but "these are not normal circumstances".

"I think if there were to be terminal exams at the end of this academic year, it is going to cause huge disparity"

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"I think whatever system it is that we choose to use, I think speaking as a parent of a year 11 girl myself, it is causing considerable anxiety. Kids just want to know what's going to happen" - @Clairecuthbert9 #edselctte

. @CStewartSHS talks about importance of CPD for staff as schools move to hybrid model of home and in-person learning

"We are expecting staff to just be able to teach a hybrid model, or teach from home, or have all their bubble at home, or be in school live"

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Hurn says he agrees with colleagues that exams are best way of measuring performance, but says govt has "missed a trick" by not deciding to do a slimmed-down curriculum at the beginning of the year #edselctte

Hurn says if we do move to CAGs again, they need "really rigorous moderation system".

"Send the grades in, if they look wildly optimistic, send in a couple of people to have a look at the quality of the work and then moderate it"

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"With Wales opting for the CAG system already, that's put a lot of pressure on our system" - Hurn

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Witnesses are asked how they're using catch-up funding.

@RuthKRobinson says they're offering teachers the chance to do catch-up sessions with pupils after school and paying them a bit extra for "really bespoke" sessions

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Hurn says he was a "little bit disappointed" with the rollout of the National Tutoring Programme.

Says it's a "brilliant idea", but he'd "like to have seen more school trusts have the ability to engage with this rather than national companies"

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"I've got my concerns about where they're going to get these people from, of high quality, from these big national tutoring programme and how they're going to deliver for all the children who need this help" - Hurn #edselctte

Mills agrees with Hurn and says she is also using her own staff to deliver additional tutoring.

Says she's also used catch-up funding to buy books to help with reading

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. @Clairecuthbert9 says the horse "has already bolted" in terms of changing the curriculum

"We as educators and school leaders could've done with this conversation at the beginning of the academic year"

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. @Clairecuthbert9 says there's another issue - the fact there are "two other nations doing something completely different"

"How is this a level playing field for all children?"

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. @RuthKRobinson says if we do have to go ahead with exams "every year 11 must have a Chrome book and access to broadband"

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Mills says she doesn't want exams to go ahead, but she's assuming they are going to

"There's a huge amount of additional teaching going on"

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"The children are actually working incredibly hard to catch up, because they are conscious of their gaps" - Mills

But she says "some of the exam boards have been less helpful than others", with specimen materials still not available in some subjects

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Hurn says it would be "worth exploring" idea of having exams only in core subjects and CAGs for the rest.

"A hybrid idea would work but I'd want the CAGs moderated correctly this time around"

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. @RuthKRobinson says hybrid model "is a possibility".

"I can see how it would work, maybe with English, maths and science having exams and others with CAGs but I do agree there has to be a very very strong moderation process in place"

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The witnesses are asked about Spielman's claim last week that heads are worried pupils won't attend if exams are cancelled.

"I don't agree with that," says @RuthKRobinson. "Whatever system you give us, we will help our children rise to that challenge"

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Mills says her experience since pupils returned in September is that they're "more terrified of CAGs than they are of exams".

"They've never been so nice to their teachers and they're working incredibly hard."

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"We love exams, but sometimes exams don't capture everything a child can do, whereas I actually think if it was centre-moderated then you're capturing all the knowledge and skills that they have. But it has to be moderated" - Mills #edselctte

Hurn also disagrees with Spielman

"I don't agree that if exams are removed that students would just opt out. That wouldn't be my experience either. Whatever system we're dealt with, we'll make it work"

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