Schools must work together to bridge social divide in the capital, say experts

Teachers from private and state schools must work together to boost the life chances of all of London’s children no matter what their background, experts have warned at a major debate on the future of education in the capital.

Leaders gathered for the Standard’s school forum, hours after a shock report revealed English school-leavers are lagging behind the rest of the developed world.

The study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found that pupils who have just finished school have lower levels of literacy and numeracy than their grandparents.

An expert panel, speaking to a packed hall at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster, stressed that London schools have improved in the past 10 years and are now the second best in the country.

But they warned more must be done to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

Lucy Heller, chief executive of education charity Ark, said: “It’s still the case that the very poorest children in London are very much likely to be at the bottom of the pile.”

Brett Wigdortz, founder of Teach First, said education leaders in London were “among the best in the world”, but added: “Kids from a low income background are still not achieving anywhere near what they can. There’s still a long way to go but the last 10 years serve as a great base for that future growth.”

Private schools should be expected to help close the gap, according to Clarissa Farr, head of St Paul’s Girls’ school, who pointed out 20 per cent of London schoolchildren are educated privately — double the national average.

“I know no head who is not working actively with maintained schools,” she added.

“Within education, we don’t see this divide. Let’s be proud, let’s be ambitious for our young people and let’s work together.”

Robert Peston, the BBC business editor who founded Speakers for Schools and went to a comprehensive himself, said state schools could learn from the sense of history at many private institutions.

He said that when he was a pupil at Highgate Wood, in Crouch End, the school was proud of ex-student Laurie Cunningham, the first black England footballer. But when he went back a while ago, the head did not know who Cunningham was.

Mr Peston said: “I’m afraid to say that would not have happened in a fee-paying sector. Somehow we have to get pride and a sense of history and memory back into these institutions.”

Dr Tony Sewell, founder of Generating Genius, argued there were also lessons to be learned from private schools about how to attain the best grades and give pupils a shot at Oxbridge.

He warned against “inverted snobbery” and said state pupils should be taught Shakespeare, Blake, Latin and classical Greek, adding: “That’s where I think working class students should be — not in some caricature of Jeremy Kyle.”

The panel also praised the “transformational” effect of teachers.

Ms Farr said this couldn’t be replaced by “the power of technology”, adding: “Everybody in this room I’m sure can remember an inspirational teacher who influenced them.

“It’s incredibly important that we protect teaching as a noble profession. It needs to be a profession that people are proud to go into.”

She made the comments in response to Wonga founder Errol Damelin’s claim that the education system was outdated, causing a “shortage of critical skills”. He called for technology to be “embedded” within the curriculum to better equip pupils.

The panel took questions from the audience. Sarah Metcalf, 18, from City Year asked how schools can empower children to make a difference. The City Year charity puts volunteers into London schools to act as “near peer” mentors, who help raise aspirations.

Dr Tony Sewell

Founder of Generating Genius

“The new battleground in education is working-class children, children from backgrounds with no advantage and who aren’t able to reach the top table. That’s a critical issue in London, and how do we provide a pipeline for those students to get there? One thing I’m concerned about is why the private schools still have the best toys. I don’t mean whiteboards by the way. They are the way in which they are able to still get those students into our top universities. We must learn from that and I would ask us not to go down an inverted snobbery route. I’m fully behind the free school movement.”

Lucy Heller

Chief Executive of ARK

“The poorest children in London are 60 per cent less likely than their richer counterparts to end up with the five As to C. There’s a lot of talk at the moment about this from all sides of the political spectrum and it tends to focus on the romance of the poor but brilliant. I think it’s too narrowly focused. If we are looking at social justice and the performance of this country as a whole, then actually education standards for everybody need to be high. What about the poor but dim? What about the people who most need their schools to provide them support and to give them the basis for effective life as a citizen?”

Robert Peston

BBC business editor and founder of Speakers for Schools

“There is a problem of our schools not doing enough to lift up the most disadvantaged. Our record on social mobility is worse than anywhere else in the world, except for one place — America. So we do face the prospect of not only having less resources but a much more divided society so this is a huge and pressing problem. I’m not much of a fan of the fee-paying sector because I worry about the extent to which it takes the parents and kids who tend to raise standards out of state schools. One of the things that has consistently worried me about state schools is the constant reinvention over the past few years that makes it very difficult to know what’s expected of teachers or heads.”

Clarissa Farr

Headmistress of St Paul’s Girls’ school

“We need to be aware of what happens when it’s no longer ‘Go West, young man’ but ‘Go East, young person’. By 2030, China will have replaced the US as the dominant world economy, and our young people need to be ready to work in those emerging economies. We need to do better in the teaching of modern foreign languages, and in particular in the teaching of the languages of those countries.

It’s incredibly important that we protect and develop teaching as a noble profession. TeachFirst has made it fashionable to become a teacher — it has become cool.

It needs to be a profession that people are as proud to go into, as they are into medicine. When our best graduates think like that, then we will really have ensured the future for teaching.”

Brett Wigdortz

CEO of TeachFirst

“Over the last 10 years, inner London has gone from the second worst area of Britain in terms of education to the second best. I used to visit schools and would ask teachers what they wanted for the children. They would say for them to be happy and off the streets — you don’t hear that response very much any more. Now when you visit, you see exciting things happening. You see leaders and teachers fighting for their kids and pushing for innovative ideas.

There are lots of reasons for that — London Challenge, sharing of good practice, great collaboration and great heads.”

Errol Damelin

Founder of Wonga

“A kid growing up in London has every opportunity of building the next iPhone app or website or of solving the next consumer problem and making a real impact on the world. It’s hard to remember a world before the iPhone, and that was only seven years ago. Imagine what the next decade, two decades, are going to look like, and yet we are putting kids through the same educational system that was designed decades ago. We need to focus on embedding core technology inside the curriculum, and to focus not just on students but on teachers.”