Making the Grade: a Primary Concern

Education in Hackney is not one of the borough's strong points. But recently a Stoke Newington primary school has been doing its best to buck the trend, as Liz Gyekye reports.

Hackney does not evoke images of educational success. It is one of the most deprived areas of the country, which is notorious for its teenage gangs, and is, according to Channel Four, the worst place to live in London.

It is no surprise then to learn that its state schools consistently under perform, with only 47 per cent of pupils achieving five GCSEs at grades A-C. Last week the Hackney Post revealed that the borough’s primary schools also score some of the worst results in London, despite significant government funding.

Yet, at Grasmere Primary School in Stoke Newington, black pupils are doing well. There are 240 children on the school roll, 13 per cent of whom are Afro Caribbean. It is ranked fourth in the borough, and its test scores are well above the national average.

The school has achieved its success by introducing an intensive programme of mentoring, showcasing the achievements of JP Morgan employees. A substantial government Ethnic Minority Grant (EMG) helped fund these initiatives.

Grassmere head teacher Mark Derrington explains his success: “News reports consistently say that boys of Afro Caribbean origin are underperforming, but in our school they perform very well” he says, “Targeted programmes like the EMG are taking us in the right direction.

“We are instilling a belief in each child that he or she can do well. We involve the parents a lot. We also get the boys to ask what they want to be doing when they are older, and we then tell them the routes they should be taking to become that successful 23 year old.”

Statistics show that boys from Afro Caribbean heritage start school at average academic levels, but begin to fall behind when they reach GCSEs. In 2006 just over 44 per cent of black Caribbean pupils gained five good GCSEs, compared with 57 per cent of their white counterparts.

Diane Abbot, MP for Stoke Newington and North Hackney, believes male role models can help improve Afro Caribbean boys’ performance. “We need to have more men in primary schools,” she says, “and we also need more black teachers. Many of these boys are coming from homes where there's no father figure. They don't see education and reading of books as something that a real man does. I believe more male role models at the primary school level are the key.”

But some argue that not enough emphasis is laid on the successes of black children. Alan Wood, Chief Executive of The Learning Trust, says: “Far too often when we talk about black children we talk about negatives. We fail to understand that so many are successful. Good teaching and dynamic leadership is the key to success. Black children do well in schools that are successful. Most successful schools are the ones with the highest parent input.”

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