Sonia Blandford, CEO of award-winning charity Achievement for All,
writes brilliantly and honestly about the facing up to the realities of
the white working class and how to address social mobility from the
inside.
No-one in the UK is better placed than Sonia to write about the
struggles of white working class pupils in our schools. She grew up on
the Allied Estate in Hounslow and was the first member of her family to
pursue education beyond the age of 14 and was also the first to attend
university. Sonia lost her mother when she took an accidental overdose,
when she couldn't read the doctor's prescription. T
his tragic failing served as one of the inspirations for her to set up
the award-winning Achievement for All organisation, who work with
thousands of schools to help close the attainment gap.
Born to Fail? tackles head-on issues such as why education often doesn't
matter to the working class; how education has failed to deliver for
them; the importance of self-belief, action and confidence; and how the
Early Years is the crucial time to build success from the start.