This book offers an in-depth understanding of the unique challenges and contributions of urban primary schools. The authors set urban education in the wider social context of structural disadvantage, poverty, oppression and exclusion, and reassert some critical urban educational concerns. Recognising that practice needs to be informed by theory, they provide a strong theoretical framework alongside contemporary ethnographic data. Drawing on their extensive experience in urban primary schools, as well as numerous case studies, the authors present a fresh and stimulating view of urban primary schools which will inspire education professionals and academics alike.The Urban Primary School is essential reading for teachers and trainee teachers in urban primary schools, as well as for students of education, policy-makers, parents and school governors.