There's a rather poignant article by John Crace in The Guardian this morning about Haverstock comprehensive, the alma mater of the Miliband brothers and Oona King. The headline on the paper's website reads 'Move Over Eton' – a reference to the fact that Haverstock could boast the next Prime Minister and the next Mayor of London among its alumni – and the piece ends with a little table comparing the two schools. But the sad truth is that Haverstock is a long, long way from posing any meaningful challenge to David Cameron and Boris Johnson's alma mater. In the third paragraph Crace reveals that only 38% of the school's students got five GCSEs at grade C or above including Maths and English last year. That's well below the London average of 53%.
Why isn't the school doing better? Not surprisingly, it has nothing to do with a lack of resources. As New Labour discovered during its 13-year reign of error, pouring money into state schools has little impact on attainment and Haverstock is no exception. It was expensively rebuilt six years ago and boasts a state-of-the-art modern facade. (To read more, click here.)
