LESSONS FROM LONDON Each report has focused on a different factor, and taken together they provide important lessons for governors around the country. Know and respond to your community The most recent report1 reveals that ethnicity and immigration can explain all of the London advantage in value added scores at key stage 4 (if you include GCSE equivalents). However, ethnic minority pupils do not do better because of innate differences. Instead, Professor Burgess emphasises the importance of “engagement, hard work and aspiration”. Research by Sam Baars supports this, showing that aspirations tend to be higher in inner-urban neighbourhoods where school performance and pupil progress is also highest. These neighbourhoods, often defined by an ethnically mixed population, are heavily concentrated in the capital. This highlights the challenges for governors of schools in predominantly white British areas. Research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation2 shows that simply boosting aspirations by getting pupils to aim higher is unlikely to raise achievement. Instead schools should work with parents to improve the home learning environment and emphasise the link between hard work and achievement. They also need to highlight the opportunities available beyond pupils’ everyday experience.
Don’t underestimate the influence of primary school In terms of absolute attainment at GCSE rather than progress (still including equivalents), London schools do better than schools elsewhere – even when you take into account ethnicity. A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests www.nga.org.uk
With five reports published in as many months, there can be little doubt as to the importance of the London story, says Loic Menzies
this may, at least in part, be due to achievement levels at primary school3. The authors speculate that London’s involvement in the national literacy and numeracy strategy pilots may have contributed. Governors of primary schools should be in no doubt about the profound long-term impact of achievement at primary level.
lessons for governors • focus on recruiting, developing and retaining the best staff • work with middle tier, local and regional bodies as well as other schools and chains to build a collaborative and supportive system • be positive and emphasise moral purpose, not just accountability frameworks • use comparative and contextual data to drive improvement • be pragmatic about picking the structure that best suits your school
Focus on the workforce Use of non-GCSE, so-called ‘equivalent qualifications’ makes like-for-like comparisons of achievement difficult. However, when equivalents are excluded, pupils in London schools continue to do better than elsewhere, even taking into account ethnicity or primary attainment. Something special therefore still seems to be happening in London schools. Lessons from London Schools4 shows that a particular approach has characterised school improvement in London over the last decade and provides transferable lessons for governors5. Firstly, barriers to success such as dilapidated buildings and oversized deficits were systematically removed and a focus on improving the workforce reduced vacancy rates and staff churn. Meanwhile, numerous initiatives professionalised the workforce by showing that teachers and leaders were valued. There was also a consistent focus on creating a collaborative culture of moral purpose through careful attention to language and an emphasis on social justice. This made teachers and leaders feel they were ‘part of a whole’. Forensic analysis of data allowed persistent underperformance to be tackled. Underperforming heads were encouraged to leave and in many cases schools federated or academised to bring in better leadership.
As the evidence base on London’s success grows, so does the complexity of the story. Yet each report has provided new and more detailed lessons for schools around the country. Rather than copying the superficial characteristics, governors should bring these insights together with their understanding of their own context to develop the right approach for their school and community. & Burgess, S, Understanding the success of London’s schools www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/papers/2014/ wp333.pdf 2 Carter-Wall, C, Whitfield, G,The Role of Aspirations, Attitudes and Behaviour in Closing the Gap www.jrf.org. uk/publications/aspirations-attitudes-educationalattainment-roundup 3 Greaves, E, et al, Lessons from London Schools for Attainment Gaps and Social Mobility www.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/321969/London_Schools_-_FINAL.pdf 4 Cook. C. How strong is schools’“London effect”? 2014 www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30019031 5 Baars, S., et al, Lessons from London Schools: investigating the success http://cdn.cfbt.com/~/media/cfbtcorporate/ files/research/2014/r-london-schools-2014.pdf 1
Loic Menzies is an ex-teacher and director of the education and youth ‘think and action-tank’ LKMco. www.lkmco.org January/February 2015 | Governing Matters | 23