Episode 14 - Professor Sonia Blandford; closing the attainment gap, the importance of Early Years and self-belief.

Our guest is Professor Sonia Blandford. Sonia is the Chief Executive of education charity Achievement for All and the author of the book, ‘Born to Fail’. No-one in the UK is better placed than Sonia Blandford to write about the experience of 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. She is responsible for setting up the award-winning Achievement for All organisation, which has worked with thousands of schools to help close the attainment gap. Her new book, Born to Fail tackles head-on issues such as how and why education has often failed to deliver for disadvantaged pupils; the importance of self-belief, action and confidence; and how the Early Years is the crucial time to build success from the start.