Black, minority ethnic (BME), Gypsy and Traveller children comprise almost 12% of Cambridgeshire’s total school population, so our schools and childcare settings have mainly white populations. However, over 40 languages are spoken across the county and new communities are growing in areas with traditionally less linguistic diversity. The various Traveller communities comprise the county’s largest minority group.

Educational attainment of BME and Traveller groups in Cambridgeshire is similar to national trends: Bangladeshi, Black African, Black Caribbean, Pakistani heritage, Gypsy/Roma and Traveller of Irish heritage groups reach lower levels of attainment than the population as a whole at all key stages.

To raise awareness across the county of the need to close the attainment gap for children and young people from these groups, and to develop a coherent approach to this task, Cambridgeshire has produced a county strategy:
‘Making Children Matter: closing the attainment gap for black, minority ethnic, Gypsy and Traveller children and young people’.

Its main aim is to provide schools and settings with support and practical ideas to further develop good practice, and the document contains many case study examples from Cambridgeshire.

The strategy also contains suggestions of how the roles of governors and Local Authority officers can contribute effectively to closing the attainment gap for specific groups of children and young people.

The strategy was developed by a steering group comprising LA officers, headteachers, Early Years providers and community representatives, in consultation with, and with the support of, council members.

For more information, contact:
Bethan Rees
Head of Cambridgeshire Race Equality & Diversity Service (CREDS)
Bethan.rees@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
or 01223 568841

Jane Rickell
Standards & Effectiveness Team 3-11
Jane.rickell@cambridgeshire.gov.uk 
or 01223 718728