areas and other subjects which are not related to literacy and numeracy. Literacy and numeracy levels are not as high as they ought to be and the related GCSE results are accordingly lower than they should be. Currently the LEA is not interested in anything which doesn’t relate to driving those standards up. The Advisory Team has been severely restructured, but those who are left have been working very closely with the Arts Development Manager. Networks for teachers are much weaker than they used to be. Key meetings for Suffolk are: Suffolk Creative Learning Collaborative, Arts Development Officers, Association of Suffolk Museums and the museums’ Regional Learning Forum.
10.3 Background concerns from audit interviews Table 12 Lack of provision by geographic area and factors affecting CYP and their families in Norfolk The table below draws together comments from interviewees about the geographic areas in Suffolk where they feel there are deprivation issues or concerns about cultural provision for CYP and their families. It also lists other factors that they felt negatively affect CYP’s quality of life, including their engagement with cultural opportunities and problems affecting their educational opportunities. Area Suffolk Some of the information came from Suffolk Hidden Needs www.suffolkfoundat ion.org.uk/index.ph p?option=com_con tent&view=article&i d=75:needsassessment&catid =6:latest-news
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Geographical Areas and their challenges Places in need • Lowestoft, Mildenhall, Newmarket, Brandon and parts of Ipswich are all areas for concern in terms of deprivation. Concerns and challenges • Nearly 78,000 people in the county live in income deprivation at the most minimal living standard provided by welfare benefits, and well below the ‘poverty line’. This number represents 11 per cent of the total population, and includes 19,000 children aged under 16. • Having a job does not always raise household income much above the poverty threshold. There is evidence of in-work poverty and under-counting of deprivation by standard measures in some parts of the
Factors affecting CYP and their families • Income deprivation affecting children is particularly concentrated in the larger towns in Suffolk. • Across the county, less than half of five year-olds have reached a ‘good’ level of development. This is one of the worst outcomes in England, and is comparable to highly deprived urban areas. • Childhood poverty affects educational attainment: only 43% of low-income pupils claiming free school meals achieved 5 GCSEs at grades A*-C, compared to 69% of pupils overall. • More than 7 per cent of young people aged 16 to 18 in Suffolk are not in education, training or employment. This is higher than the national average, and one of the highest rates for rural areas in England. • The recession has hit youth