As we pore over each party’s manifesto, praying that one will provide some glimmer of hope, we are left with the conclusion that the system is set to be more disjointed than ever. Education has become a political football, with more and more pupils being left on the sidelines.

The pupil premium was launched in 2011 to try to address underachievement in our system. Six years later, the achievement gap may have closed a little, but there is nothing of note in any manifesto that promises to close it further - unless, of course, you see grammar schools as the cure for our system’s ills.

Some £2.4 billion of pupil premium cash was distributed to 2 million pupils in 2014-15, with little success. That’s not because it’s a bad initiative, but because our system is so drastically underfunded that this cash is now propping up our schools, allowing them to still function.

This was recognised in 2015 by the National Audit Office in its report on the pupil premium, which found that this funding was supporting the budgets of too many schools. It was paying for teaching assistants and to support children with complex special needs, but it was not being allocated to the pupils for whom it was intended.

And so the attainment gap remains wide. The policies being advanced for life after 8 June will not rectify this. There is no extra money, just a redistribution of what we already have.

So as budgets are squeezed further, it’s helpful to remind ourselves of the core elements that enable disadvantaged pupils to succeed. Schools that achieve true success have the following principles at their heart:

• A clear and positive ethos that puts pupil and staff wellbeing at its core and recognises that all children can achieve.
• A recognition that good behaviour and attendance is crucial and there should be systems and structures in place to ensure this.
• A high standard of teaching, with an exciting curriculum for both pupils and staff.
• A commitment that ensures all pupils’ individual learning and social needs are addressed.
• A flexible, dedicated workforce employed appropriately to the needs of the pupils, not the staff.
• Being fully responsive to evidence, so perpetual change is seen as a strength, not a weakness.
• A clear and positive leadership model.

Lastly, and most importantly, these schools accept that there are no excuses - not from the children, but from all those who serve them. And that includes politicians.

Of course disadvantaged pupils have problems, but the answer to those is not daft structural ideas like grammar schools. The answer is creating a system that puts children at its heart and offers all of them the opportunity to succeed.

Colin Harris led a school in a deprived area of Portsmouth for more than two decades. His last two Ofsteds were ‘outstanding’ across all categories

To read more of Colin’s articles, visit his back catalogue 

Want to keep up with the latest education news and opinion? Follow Tes on Twitter and like Tes on Facebook