Evaluation of Poverty Proofing the School Day in Brighton & Hove

Brighton & Hove City Council worked with Children North East and the Brighton and Sussex Medical School to evaluate the impact of poverty proofing in our schools. We have engaged with Poverty Proofing the School Day in the city since 2017 and the majority of our schools have engaged with at least one of the comprehensive audits.

The attached document provides a thorough evaluation of the impact of this work. There are five key findings regarding schools that engaged with the project:

- There was a correlation with improved severe absence rates.

- In schools with above average proportions of children with free school meals, there was a reduction in suspensions.

- There was better recovery in attainment following the COVID years.

- Schools with significantly higher rates of free school meals reported a decrease in bullying incidents immediately after the audits.

- Schools that engaged in the first round of poverty proofing audits showed a steady decline in reported rates of bullying until 2023, when there was a sudden rise.