Labour declares war on schools for middle class

Schools in affluent suburbs were today ordered to do more to help educate children from the poorest homes.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls warned that pupils living in poverty were three times less likely to achieve five good GCSE grades than their classmates from wealthier families.

He called for a renewed effort from all schools to help these children make progress.

But he faced criticism from headteachers, who said government meddling in education had run "out of control".

Mr Balls was speaking as the Government released research suggesting that the link between deprivation and poor exam results could be broken.

In disadvantaged areas - such as many parts of London - results have improved faster in recent years than in wealthier districts. But more than a quarter of children who are so deprived that they receive free school meals live in relatively well-off areas.

Ministers have been trying for years to break the grip of middle-class families on the best state schools. In a speech to the Association of School and College Leaders in Birmingham, Mr Balls said: "We have to do more to maximise the progress of the most disadvantaged pupils in all schools. This is not just a challenge to some heads in some schools - but to all heads in all schools."

But the association's general secretary John Dunford criticised Mr Balls and said: "The Department for Children, Schools and Families carried out 79 policy consultations [last year] and this year we are set for even more.

"It seems to imply that schools will only act if they are told what to do by the Government. The juggernaut of policies, laws and regulations hurtles at ever increasing speed towards us, seemingly out of control."

Last year's new policies included new diploma courses, reforms to A-levels and a new curriculum.

Mr Dunford said: "There is just too much policy. I like the example set by the Slow Food Movement. Let me make a plea for Slow Policy - wholemeal, organic, evidence-based, widely consulted, introduced one at a time and put on the compost heap when they go off."