Paddington Academy - one of three new schools for north Westminster

We stand poised on the edge of the most dramatic series of changes in education provision that has occurred in Central London for decades. Next week, two new academy schools open their doors as replacements for North Westminster Community School. Although not quite yet in their final homes, which are due for completion in the next few months, the Paddington and Westminster Academies will nonetheless start now in offering pupils a new approach to learning, under new leadership. Backed by the £25 million in investment in each new school, the Academies give us a fantastic opportunity to realise the potential of thousands of local children, many from extremely deprived backgrounds. Nor are these two schools the end of the story. New academies are also planned for Church Street, and to provide a fresh start for Burlington Danes, on Wormwood Scrubs, which a number of local children attend.


Meanwhile, £140 million in government support will help Westminster to modernise those secondary schools which are outside the academy programme. This does not only involve a building programme- though new buildings are clearly essential in some cases- but a £10 million plus investment in new technology for schools. This ‘Building Schools for the Future’ scheme, which will be under way from early 2008, involves a total approach to schools that links investment to the schools’ improvement plans. In other words, this is much more than new windows and a coat of paint- it is using the largest amount ever invested in a school’s programme to maintain the drive to higher educational standards.


There is more! Schools are increasingly expected to operate as ‘extended’ schools- offering access to their buildings and facilities to children, parents and the wider community outside of school hours. Backed by yet more government money, the extended schools scheme now unfolding has already been found by the schools inspectorate OFSTED to ‘improve users’ attitudes to learning; relationships and self-confidence and to raise aspirations’.

None of this gives any grounds for complacency. Fifteen years after the self-styled ‘flagship’ authority, Westminster, took over education from the Inner London Education Authority, other inner London boroughs continue to achieve better results- with a particular problem occurring at Key Stage 3 (14 year olds). A series of decisions by the Conservative council- ranging from the closure of the local educations inspection team to a refusal to pass on all the government’s extra funding for schools- have taken their toll. Boys are continuing to lag behind girls, in what is turning into one of the greatest educational challenges of our time. And variations between schools are not limited to exam results but also show striking differences in the proportions of children from ethnic minorities, with special needs and from families on low incomes. We will simply not offer all children a fair crack if those who begin with the greatest disadvantages are crammed into the same schools- as is demonstrably still the case.


So, as always, there is still so much to do. The £200 million of government support flowing into the physical environment of Westminster schools is a huge help, but the challenges are there to be met, even with all that help. Whether approached in terms of children’s life chances; community cohesion or the future demands of the economy for skills, nothing could be more important than getting this right.