The socio-economic status of a school, or a school’s social composition, refers to the social and economic characteristics of pupils who attend a school. In general, particularly for state funded schools, this is related to the socio-economic characteristics of the population local to the school, or catchment area. Importantly, a school’s social composition is thought to impact significantly on the grades achieved by pupils (Ball et al, 1995, p65; Conduit et al, 1996, p200; Figlio and Lucas, 2004, p593, Gorard, 2000, p190) and their attitude towards learning and education (Conduit et al, 1996, p205). Therefore, by default, the neighbourhood local to a school is one of the most influential factors on educational attainment (Garner, 1988, p252). Furthermore, and as noted previously, for many parents the socio-economic status of a school’s intake and the local neighbourhoods around schools can also be a significant concern. Much literature looks at how some parents, mainly middle-class parents, worry about the ‘type’ of children their child will be at school with (e.g. Devine, 2004, p162). This concern stems from the idea that children who are from different circumstances, particularly those from deprived backgrounds, will be problematic and difficult pupils, resulting in attention, time and resources being taken away from their own child’s learning and schooling experience.
Those working in this field often draw upon the influential work of Pierre Bourdieu who has been very influential in academic educational work and research and helps to understand this parental concern.His interpretation of this concern centres on a number of his concepts, but particularly on the idea of habitus. As discussed in Chapter 2, as well as the previous chapter, Bourdieu’s concept of habitus is understood as a semi-unique combination of dispositions which determine an individual’s perceptions, appreciations and practices. These are not pre- programmed, but structured by past and present circumstances, such as an individual’s up-
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bringing (Maton, 2008, p50). Importantly, although an individual’s habitus is unique, it does contain a collective aspect whereby people who belong to the same social group, such as a social class, are likely to share many of the same values and behaviour. It is, therefore, thought that the habitus of some pupils does not support their engagement with school and educational attainment. It is probable that it is these pupils that some parents wish to avoid.
The two local schools to Ravenswood, Ravenswood Community Primary School and Holywells High School, are arguably both situated in an area with a diverse socio-economic status. In spite of Ravenswood being a mixed tenure neighbourhood with a number of relatively affluent households, as discussed elsewhere in this thesis, Ravenswood adjoins the housing areas of Gainsborough and Priory Heath. As outlined in Chapter 4, both of these neighbourhoods are areas of relatively high deprivation. Therefore, the south-east of Ipswich is still regarded as one of the most deprived areas in the town.
The presence of young people from the deprived neighbourhoods of Gainsborough and Priory Heath is seen by Ravenswood residents as a negative aspect of both the closest primary and secondary schools. Patricia Bainbridge, who was one of the initial residents to move on to the development, expressed strong views about Ravenswood Community Primary School. Patricia recalled how on moving to Ravenswood they were pleased to hear that a school was to be built on the development. As a teacher herself, Patricia was keen to find out more, and attended an open evening just before the school was due to open in 2001. At this point, she realised that: ‘it is not a Ravenswood Community School, it is for Gainsborough. Gainsborough’s school closed down and they are going to dump all their kids on this estate!’. Patricia’s husband, Tony, also commented on the primary school. He explained that in his opinion it was the large concentration of children from the neighbouring social housing areas which had resulted in the demise of Ravenswood’s primary school. He later suggested that the only way to improve the school would be to encourage ‘middle-class’ residents to send their children there. Patricia and Tony also spoke about other Ravenswood residents that they knew who were equally unimpressed by the school for similar reasons. Their neighbour, for instance, had fought hard to secure places for their children at a Catholic School in the centre of Ipswich which they considered to have a more favourable intake of pupils with a ‘better’ socio-economic status, or habitus. By giving Ravenswood parents the right of school choice, opportunities for young people from different socio-economic groups to interact is limited.
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Ideas of fear and risk did not only surround Ravenswood Community Primary School. The closest secondary school, Holywells High School, was an even greater concern for many Ravenswood parents. Throughout the interviews, all parents who had children were asked about their thoughts on different schools. It was not uncommon to get an resounding ‘no way!’ when they were asked if they would send their children to Holywells High School. From the residents interviewed in Ravenswood, none of them sent their child to this school and only one was even considering it, partly because she had been to Holywells High School herself. Again, the socio-economic status of the school’s intake was a primary concern for this. Amy Jones, despite having two very young children yet to attend primary school, had already given some thought to secondary school options in the Ravenswood area.
‘Well we have thought about it, it is something we have thought about... The secondary school is Holywells and at the moment it is a bit of a nightmare. Because it is situated in the Gainsborough estate - it is such a deprived area. The mix unfortunately is skewed towards households where maybe there isn’t a focus on education necessarily. (...) Because the only other option is to move which we really wouldn’t want to do that, so we will just wait and see’.
Amy Jones, Resident Interview, 20th October 2009
Again this quote shows how perceptions about the attitudes and behaviours, or habitus, of other pupils at a school are a concern to parents. Ravenswood parents seek to send their children to schools where the socio-economic status reflects their own, thereby illustrating their fear of difference, or ‘mixophobia’ (Bauman, 2003 cited in Watson, 2006, p139). However, here it is contended that this idea acts, to some extent, as a smoke screen for what is ultimately a very prejudiced process, and this needs to be acknowledged. As in the previous chapter, perceptions of risk stem from ideas of difference, which largely centre upon where a child lives. If a child lives in Ravenswood they are seen as innocent and in need of protection. On the other hand, children living in either of the neighbouring housing areas, of Gainsborough or Priory Heath, are socially constructed as ‘other’ and to be avoided. Shockingly, this ‘badge’ is handed out to children from Gainsborough and Priory Heath indiscriminately, with no exceptions. Elias and Scotson (1994) in their study of Winston Parva also demonstrated how one residential community became divided based simply on where any individual lived. This also affected the young people in the area who could be ‘shunned’, and often gained unfounded reputations if they lived on the wrong side of the suburb.
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It became clear throughout the fieldwork that Ravenswood residents spoke to one another extensively about the schooling in the area and their concerns over sending their children to either of the closest schools. For example, Amy Jones described how her neighbour who had sent her children to Nacton Village’s primary school instead of Ravenswood’s primary school, was damning of their local school and the quality of the teaching. Although Amy was still undecided about which primary school to apply to, it was evident that this had influenced Amy’s thoughts about schools. Ball and Vincent (1998) describe this exchange of information about schools in an area as ‘grapevine knowledge’. This gathering and exchange of information that informs the school choice making process is not only gained through direct conversation amongst parents with school aged children. Parents also draw upon impressions from other parents and children, other people’s experiences, both friends, relatives and neighbours, and gossip (Ball and Vincent, 1998, p378). There was evidence of all these informing parental school choice in Ravenswood. Furthermore, these various types of grapevine knowledge can, as shown in Ravenswood, fuel anxieties and ideas of risk surrounding schooling options. Katz (1995, cited in Watson, 2006, p125) sees this sort of information exchange as a form of hyper- vigilance surrounding child safety as ‘terror talk’. Although Katz never used this concept in relation to school choice making, and in fact it was traditionally used in relation to concerns around racial difference, nevertheless the concept seems an appropriate term to describe the exchange and discussion of parental anxieties witnessed in Ravenswood regarding schools. Much like the previous chapter, in Ravenswood, ideas of risk centre upon the exposure of their children to other children from different socio-economic backgrounds, or housing areas. Moreover, such concerns can become a pernicious circle (Watson, 2006), in that it only seeks to reinforce the very same ideas. This makes the situation over school choice and decision making in Ravenswood a vicious, self-fulfilling cycle as parents continually choose to avoid certain schools.
Residents were not the only ones who spoke about the difficulties Holywells High School faced in terms of its socio-economic status. On a visit to Holywells High School, I attended the after school club called Iscape youth club. At this group I met with Adele who is a Youth Worker and runs the club after school hours. Adele explained how many of the young people who attend the group came from extremely poor backgrounds, and how the club provides a space where they can get help and support, play games, pursue activities such as arts and crafts, or simply just ‘hang out’ in a safe place. Adele described how for many of the young people who come
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along to Iscape this is the only place where they have access to game consoles – things which many young people take for granted. Adele was adamant that they do not and have never had any young people from Ravenswood at the group. Later she spoke about how she was sure children living in Ravenswood did not attend Holywells High School, following on by suggesting that Holywells was situated in the middle of a ‘grotty housing estate’ and not somewhere you would choose to send your child. Adele made it clear that although Holywells was the closest school it was a very different world from the life many of the Ravenswood residents and their children would be familiar with. Many children who attended the after school club, and who attended Holywells High School, lived in poverty. For instance, Adele pointed discreetly at one or two young people in the room and spoke about how some did not even get fed at home, either in the mornings or in the evenings, so she and her colleague would bring in food to ensure they did not go home hungry. Mrs Wyn, who runs the popular over-subscribed Nacton Village Primary School, explained how many of the parents of her final year pupils do everything in their power to avoid their child being sent to Holywells High School. She described how the high school’s intake was overwhelmingly from low income and often deprived households, and this brought a number of problems requiring special support. For many of her parents this was not something they wanted their children to experience. Instead, many of the parents aimed to get their children into schools such as Copleston High School or Northgate High School or even further afield in Folkestone where the catchment area would be more ‘favourable’ or, as the work of Bourdieu suggests, the social field is more in line with their own and their child’s habitus.
Finally, it is important to note that these concerns surrounding the socio-economic status of a school, along with the prejudice witnessed against children living in the neighbouring estates of Gainsborough and Priory Heath have material consequences. These will be discussed later on in the chapter.