Free school meals uptake

Grunwald: I read in one of today’s papers an article claiming that schools should no longer blame social deprivation for poor exam results. How reliable is FSM?

Davieee: Free meal uptake is merely an indicator of the socio-economic make-up of the school and therefore a strand of evidence which enables academics to estimateassess levels of attainment.

Grunwald: I think there may be some evidence that there are areas of social deprivation where there is also a parental unwillingness to claim free school meals.

Segbog: My place has the highest rate of FSM in Glasgow and second-lowest results year on year. But it also has one of the best records on getting weans in work and training schemes. If we go down the route of stating that those from deprived backgrounds are not capable of achieving academic results, there lies a dangerous route, and I think that is happening as we speak.

Flyonthewall75: There are still many working-class families, with limited incomes, who value education and do everything they can to work with schools to ensure their children achieve all that they can. One could even argue that poverty, and hardship, has been one of the main driving forces that has allowed families to progress educationally, socially and financially. Unfortunately, they can also grind people down.

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