School in class of its own

 
Lesson to us all

By Chris Buckland

IMAGINE a school where all the children are polite.Where there is no running in the corridors. Where silence is golden.

Where the boys and girls are keen to learn, forming a long queue AFTER lessons to use the library.

A school that is an example of how our childrenSHOULD be educated in Britain, rather than in the "bog standard" academies of mediocrity—where learning takes a back seat in a losing battle to keep control of the class.

Nervous

Where is this school? Eton? Cheltenham Ladies College? No, the Perfect School is in one of the poorest parts of east London.

Three-quarters of the pupils qualify for free school meals. And for 70 per cent English is their second language.

The Sir John Cass Redcoat school in Stepney should be a riot...literally. So I spent a day in class more nervous than I was when my mum first took me to Rosehill Primary 55 years ago.

I needn't have worried. While almost 1.5 million secondary school kids are missing out on a decent education, I saw children being raised up rather than dragged down.

For the last three years the Sir John Cass has topped the "most improved school" table drawn up by inspectors. Yet 10 years ago, when the current head arrived, only EIGHT per cent of students gained five GCSE passes at A*-C. Now it's an incredible 87 PER CENT. Well above the national average of 57 per cent.

You can tell it's a good school from the moment you walk through the door. But this isn't just good—it'sAMAZING.

So who is the miracle worker who has turned an ordinary-looking inner-city school into a centre of learning? The sort of centre that would transform Britain into a nation of well-educated, decent citizens—if his leadership was imposed on ALL our schools? Step forward wiry, 57-year-old Welshman Hayden Evans, above. When he arrived there were only 40 applications for the 180 places available. This year there were 840.

Says Mr Evans: "We pick up on small things like running in the corridor. You sort out the minor things and the more serious things might never happen.

"That's the very simple logic of it. Zero tolerance.

"That's exactly what we use. We're not a totalitarian regime but they've got to know that intimidating classmates is unacceptable."

Smiling

But the greatest example to those schools turning out tomorrow's criminals, druggies and down-and-outs is the way the Sir John Cass emphasises self-motivation and independent learning

The head sums up a philosophy that should be put up in lights outside the Education Department. "One of the pleasures I have is watching all the children go home at night happy and smiling. I find it inspiring and it makes me work harder."

And you come away knowing that success is all down to leadership—whether it's a hospital, a police force or a school.

Or, come to that, a country.

Meanwhile down the road

A QUICK trip across the Thames is all it takes to see the other face of education.

Welcome to the all-girl Waverley School in Peckham, where only fools and horses would want to send their kids. At least that's what one mother said, adding: "My 12-year-old hates it." Here the number passing five GCSEs is 30 per cent—barely a third of the Sir John Cass pass rate.It is making some improvement with rates up from 23 per cent four years ago. But sadly headteacher Lesley Day didn't want to talk about her plans and dreams. She was more anxious about us taking pictures of the school and its logo.

"I shall complain if you use them," she said. Pity that's all she had to say about her school.