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Hackney schools are often in the news and are not always depicted
in a flattering light. It’s good to know that at least one local school is doing very
well.
Built in the 1960s, Stoke Newington Comprehensive sprawls along Clissold Road, dominated
by the glass and brick boiler house which gives its name to the school’s theatre. Its
low-rise buildings and quadrangles are redolent of the ‘new’ universities
springing up at that time — albeit a considerably shabbier version. But this campus
offers up some quirky features — not least the set of Fives Courts — a game
usually associated with the best of boys’ boarding schools. What were the
educationists thinking of then? Still, to give them their due, the Courts have been
renovated recently and are actively used — two girls are now in the national team.
 There will be a new all-weather
pitch and the nearby Leisure Centre (when it finally opens) will be used extensively by
the school. There is a good feeling about the place. If you are there during the
boisterous toing and froing which marks the change of lesson time, you genuinely feel the
kids like being there.
The school is not resting on its laurels. Following hot on the heels of a positive Ofsted
report, it’s now submitting a bid to the government to become an Arts College —
a first for the area. Now the most popular school in Hackney, with a waiting list of over
a hundred for places next year, SNS is clearly going well.
‘We believe the strength of this school lies in the fact that it caters for all the
children in the community. We want to ensure that we build on our strengths and continue
to offer the best quality education to all our children. The Ofsted report picked up on
the positive ethos of the school’, commented Steve Belk, Headteacher of SNS.
The Ofsted report also praises the continuing and significant improvement the school has
made since the last inspection — something Steve Belk attributes to the hard work and
dedication of the staff. Another aspect of the Inspection was the positive support shown
by parents, particularly their belief that the school cares about their children’s
well-being. Overall the report demonstrated that compared with similar schools with a
similar intake of pupils — 38.5 per cent of students have English as an additional
language — SNS is well above average, particularly in its GCSE examination results.
‘Our GCSE results continue to rise steadily and we are committed to seeing this
continue. We are particularly pleased with the excellent results achieved in the Arts and
the performing Arts. We have long had a reputation for excellent standards in these
subjects and this has given us the impetus to apply to the Department for Education and
Science to become a Performing Arts College. We hope that by next year we will be able to
open our doors as the leading provider of Performing Arts education for all young people
in Hackney’, said Mr Belk.
If SNS achieves its ambitious goals, the whole community will benefit, particularly kids
in the area’s primary and other secondary schools as well as those attending Hackney
Community College. All the extra facilities — particularly the renovated theatre and
the information technology based resource centre, will be available to the wider
community, allowing innovative courses such as the study of individual standard recording,
music-making and multi-media art forms. The school plans video conferencing link-ups with
schools in France and Spain to develop collaborative projects.
‘We have no intention of losing sight of the fundamental importance of the core
curriculum subjects — Maths, English, Technology and Science. We intend to build
clear and beneficial links between these subjects and the Arts, incorporating projects
such as the development of control systems and set design. We are confident that the whole
curriculum will benefit from us becoming an Arts College’, continued Mr Belk.
Of course it is not all sweetness and light. The school badly needs repairs, while support
for pupils with English as a second language and those with special educational needs is
not as strong as it should be. Plans to rectify these problems are incorporated in the
Governors Action Plan.
‘We are also concerned about the imbalance between girls and boys at this
school’, said Steve Belk. ‘Because there is no boys’ school in this area,
we get a disproportionate number of boys applying, and getting, places at the school. We
feel we are not a truly mixed community school when two-thirds of our intake are
boys.’
Those girls who do get places at SNS are doing particularly well and are the envy of the
boys because the school ensures they are very well looked after. They have a special room
where they can go for snacks, play pool and so on. No wonder the boys snipe. The results
of the girls defy mutterings that single sex schools are the best place to achieve good
GCSEs — they are consistently high and around the national average.
Talking to Year 11 students soon to leave the school having taken GCSEs you get a better
feel of what this school is really about. One said: ‘It’s been a good five
years. Lots of good friends, liked the work, and I’m ready to go on to A levels and
university.’ Just about sums it up really.
Jan Fry is a parent governor of Stoke Newington School.
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