London Challenge

[Tim Lund]

London Challenge is the name given to a programme to improve standards in London schools, which ran for several years until 2011, and was written up in the Telegraph last month here

'London schools are a UK education success story'

Here's some of what there is to say about it:

Sir Tim Brighouse, who as London Schools Commissioner played an important role in setting up London Challenge, emphasised the way that London schools improved through both competition and collaboration.

He stressed how important it was that the improvement was driven by professional analysis rather than a culture of blame. Professor David Woods, who helped to shape the London Challenge project, highlighted a relentless focus on teaching and learning as a key to its success.

Dame Sue John, a London head teacher, talked about how London Challenge was ‘data-driven’; the conversation about school improvement was enhanced by the supply of powerful school performance data, comparing the often different performance of schools serving similar communities.

For my money, if ever there was a well deserved knighthood, it was the one awarded Tim Brighouse.

So why do I mention it now? Well, I want to respond positively to what Nigel wrote in the thread I started yesterday about converting offices to flats. I think the main difference between us is that he sees the threat to the economic security and way of life of indigenous Londoner which comes from uncontrolled immigration, while I see opportunities for growth, adaptation and new things to add to the already rich mix of lives we have here. It's not that I don't see the threats, but I think they are uavoidable. I know many of the less fortunate native Londoners will not be able to find the jobs their parents might have expected them to find, and it's not as if I don't care about them. I just don't think protectionism is the answer.

The answer has to be to help prepare people growing up here for the competition they will face in our increasingly competitive world, which means education. This is exactly what London Challenge was about, and thanks to it London's schools have improved enormously. It's good news - of just about the best sort we could have - and all of us will be benefiting over the coming years.

So Nigel, don't give up on London.