Over the course of the next few weeks, two interesting forces of energy will converge. First, a new team of ministers, led by a new secretary of state, will fall into place.

The second will come in the form of the unvalidated performance tables for 2022, revealing a first view of the attainment and progress of pupils at the end of key stage 4 in England.

It is already known that the 2022 performance data will confirm that disadvantaged pupils in England continue to perform badly when compared with other pupils. Given that billions of pounds of government funding have been given to schools over the past decade, with the specific purpose of improving the attainment and progress of those pupils, this is unacceptable.

Ways to tackle attainment disadvantage

So, how do we change things across our country, ensuring once and for all that the stubborn link between deprivation and educational underperformance is addressed? And how do we ensure that we learn the lessons from the past decade so that, by 2032 at the latest, the experience of our poorest children is dramatically improved?

The list below is not exhaustive but reflects the most important actions that will alter the status quo for those children with the least.

1. The Department for Education must publicly reassert its position on disadvantaged children and make clear that this is the most important part of its work.

2. Ofsted should ensure all schools understand that the effectiveness of its work with disadvantaged children will be of critical importance in making judgements about school effectiveness.

Where disadvantaged children regress in their progress over time, it is unlikely that a school would be judged “good”. As a part of its analysis, Ofsted should look in detail at how effectively and explicitly Pupil Premium funding has been used by schools over time.

3. We must recognise that, over the past 10 years, discussion around national policy on disadvantage has been largely ineffective.

The work some academics and think-tanks - with little experience of working in schools - as well as that of some school and trust leaders does not stand up to scrutiny. It is vital that policymakers look at what actually works and seek out those who have evidence of achieving an impact.

4. We must continue to further refine teacher training, and the content of the early career framework and the new suite of national professional qualifications, to ensure that professionals at all career stages are expertly taught to enhance the performance of disadvantaged pupils, and those with special educational needs and disabilities.

These themes should dominate national training frameworks.

5. Training needs to recognise that the major impediment to dramatically improving the performance of disadvantaged pupils is the standard of behaviour in most schools.

Some schools remain deluded regarding behaviour standards. Children whose lives are characterised by privation prosper in schools where standards of discipline and order are high. They do disproportionately badly in schools where indiscipline and persistent disruption are commonplace.

In short, markedly improving standards of behaviour across our schools over the next five years would do more than all other strategies have achieved in the previous 10.

6. We must transform how we teach reading, so that every child receives world-class teaching in reading from the moment compulsory education begins right through to the end of key stage 4. The teaching of reading must be forensic, personalised and delivered by experts.

Where children fall behind in their reading interventions, they should be led by the most skilled professionals within a school, not the least. Reading strategies should include the continuing development of the most able, exposing them to the craft of the world’s greatest writers.

7. Ofsted should specifically examine schools’ effectiveness in preparing disadvantaged children for success in challenging linear examinations.

8. Where further funding becomes available to schools in the future, a significant portion of that funding should be ring-fenced to provide exceptional opportunities outside the classroom for disadvantaged pupils.

Those opportunities should be in keeping with the best co-curricular opportunities available in the independent school sector.

9. Disadvantaged children must be carefully tracked as they progress through their secondary education. Thousands of disadvantaged children who perform well at the end of their primary education perform badly five years later.

The progress and attainment of disadvantaged children needs to be externally checked on at least two occasions during secondary education.

10. If there is now a determination to open new grammar schools, then all new such schools should be entirely populated by disadvantaged children.

This must include brighter children who are or have been in care, as well as other educationally vulnerable groups, such as Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children.

Actions will speak louder than words 

Much is spoken about the need to improve outcomes for students from our poorest homes so that they can achieve their full potential.

It is high time that we lived up to the promises made and ensured education policy was fully focused on that objective.

Sir John Townsley is chief executive of The Gorse Academies Trust in Leeds