You May be Sick of Hearing About London’s Successful Schools – But if There are Lessons to be Learned, We Need to Keep Talking
Painful as it may be for some to acknowledge the preeminence of London schools, if we want to crack the huge inequality of opportunity faced by children in different parts of the country, we shouldn’t be blind to the lessons they also teach us
- by Fiona Millar
Speaking at a governor conference recently I was slightly shocked by the reaction I got when I raised the subject of London schools. I had been asked to do this by the organisers, who thought my experience of school improvement in the capital might be of interest.
Far from it – the immediate reaction was a loud groan. Of course, I immediately realised why. Generous funding of London schools over the last 20 years is well known. It must be a prize pain in the neck to have the our success story rammed down your throat if you are a head teacher or governor in one of the least well off parts of the country (which this was) in the current financial climate.
My attempts to point out that we too are facing straitened times fell on deaf ears.
The mobility lottery
I was reminded of this moment before Christmas when the Social Mobility Commission, chaired by former Labour Cabinet Minister Alan Milburn, produced its latest State of the Nation report examining the ‘social progress’ made by young people in different parts of the country.
Whether you look at educational attainment, income or employment, an alarming social mobility gap exists depending on a child’s social class background and where they live.
Narrower attainment gaps and better routes into employment mean that London, with its mix of great wealth and high deprivation, still outperforms the rest of the country. Many rural and coastal areas struggle most of all.
In a way the reasons for this are obvious. Social mobility isn’t just about schooling; routes into work are vital to stimulating aspiration and ambition. London is a vibrant economy.
Young people in the capital see that and understand the possibilities that might exist for them. It also offers cultural opportunities and a rich ethnic mix. Many immigrant families, who value education highly, have made it their home. All of these factors have helped schools succeed.
Real challenge
But the London story has other lessons. Money does matter, and it must be an aspiration to bring all schools up to the per pupil funding level that London enjoyed in its noughties boom years, rather than for everyone to meet somewhere in the middle, a likely result of the new funding formula.
The London Challenge programme was also instrumental in transforming the capital’s schools from what one civil servant once described as a ‘basket case’ to some of the most successful in the world.
The programme had clear objectives – to raise standards and narrow gaps – combined with strong leadership at a national and local level, and a willingness to challenge poor performance and share data and good practice in a positive spirit of partnership, trust and support.
Target schools were branded as ‘Keys to Success’, in stark contrast to the naming, shaming and coercion which has typified more recent ‘school improvement’ initiatives like forced academisation.
Shared ambition
At its heart of the London Challenge, which was wound up in 2012, was the development of great teaching, something Alan Milburn alights on in his report.
According to the Commission, social mobility ‘hot spots’ can attract and/or keep great teachers, and the energy and reputation of the capital’s schools are still a pull for many excellent young graduates.
However, teachers in the social mobility ‘cold spots’ tend to be more poorly qualified and harder to retain. Many schools in the most deprived areas have abandoned trying to find subject specialists at all.
Some of the best academy chains have replicated the characteristics that marked out the London story: coherent leadership across groups of schools, challenge and support, high aspirations and development of quality teaching. But too many others have not.
Overall, the shared moral purpose, confidence and ambition unleashed in London are very different from the fragmented free market approach of recent years.
Painful as it may be for some to acknowledge the preeminence of London schools, if we want to crack the huge inequality of opportunity faced by children in different parts of the country, we shouldn’t be blind to the lessons they also teach us.
Fiona Millar is a columnist for The Guardian and a co-founder of the Local Schools Network; for more information, visit fionamillar.com or follow @schooltruth.
