Oliver Letwin/Lilian Baylis

Fri 28 Nov 2003

School Tory 'Would Beg to Avoid' Set for Glowing Report

By Dominic Hayes, Education Correspondent

PA News

The comprehensive that found itself at the centre of a political row after a senior Tory said he would rather beg on the streets than send his children there is to get a glowing write-up from England’s education watchdog, it emerged today.

PA News has learned that Ofsted inspectors who visited Lilian Baylis School in Lambeth, south London, earlier this month judged it a “good school” where 98% of lessons were satisfactory or better.

Shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin apologised after his declaration at the Conservative Party conference in October sparked a furore and led to a renewed debate about the quality of inner city state schools.

Mr Letwin, an Old Etonian who was shadow home secretary at the time, has twins aged 10 and lives in Kennington in Lambeth during the week, returning to his West Dorset constituency at weekends.

Although he did not name the school, it quickly became apparent that it was Lilian Baylis he had in mind.

He told a fringe meeting at the conference that middle-class parents paid to go private to avoid such schools.

“In Lambeth, where I live, I would give my right arm to send them to a fee-paying school.

“If necessary I would go out on the streets and beg rather than send them to the school next to where I live.”

Ofsted refused to comment on what its report on Lilian Baylis would contain except to confirm it was due to be published in January.

But it is understood that, when inspectors met the school’s governors and senior staff to give them oral feedback on what they had found, they said that 64% of lessons they had seen were good or better and all but 2% were at least satisfactory.

The proportion of pupils gaining a minimum of five GCSEs at grades C or better has almost trebled in a year from 6% in 2002 to 17%.

Ofsted’s report will say that “Lilian Baylis provides a good quality of education” where both the teaching and leadership by the headteacher and his senior staff is also good.

Attendance has improved to stand “at or above the national average”, inspectors are believed to have said.

“Overall, Lilian Baylis is a good school. It has made very good progress since its last inspection.

“It does well by its students, identifies their diverse needs and provides them with effective support,” inspectors added.

Their judgment contrasted with Ofsted’s last report, in 2001, which said: “Lilian Baylis has a troubled history.

“It has suffered from instability in its leadership, a high turnover of staff, uncertainty about its future and a poor, at one time deservedly so, reputation.”

Mr Letwin said: “If this is true, I’m absolutely delighted to hear of this massive improvement.

“I’m hoping in due course to visit the school and I congratulate them on their achievement.”

Lilian Baylis head Gary Phillips has asked Mr Letwin to come to visit the school.

Ofsted reports are supposed to stay under wraps until they are published and Mr Phillips could not comment on the specifics of the latest one on his school.

But he confirmed it was going to be positive and said: “The whole of the school community is ecstatic.

“It really vindicates the choice of parents to send their children here.”

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