红桃影视

Ask most people what they know about the Old Kent Road and they鈥檒l probably tell you it鈥檚 the cheapest property on the Monopoly board.

But nestled among the area鈥檚 vast council estates in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country is

Over the past two decades, as ministers have steered schools towards knowledge-rich curriculums and strict behaviour policies, this school has been quietly breaking the mould.

And as Labour shifts the agenda, Surrey Square is no longer a school that education policy forgot. It鈥檚 a trailblazer for many of the government鈥檚 new ideas.

Trainers allowed and 鈥榥o rules鈥�

鈥淲hat does the Monopoly board tell you about this area?鈥� associate head Nicola Noble asks me when I visit the school. 鈥淚t tells you it’s the cheap square, the brown square, the square that nobody wants. So culturally, it’s endemic within our society that this area is written off.

鈥淲hat we want [the children] to do is to really thrive and step into their light. Show the world the incredible human beings they are and change that square on the Monopoly board, change the narrative around it.鈥�

The moment you arrive on site, the school feels different.

Pupils can wear trainers and pick the colour of the T-shirt they wear under their optional branded SSQ jumpers.

Noble says there are 鈥渘o rules鈥�. Instead, she says 鈥渨e teach the values and we teach them from the child’s starting point and without judgment. If a child comes to school and they find it difficult to show compassion, we teach them.鈥�

鈥楤ehaviour is information鈥�

Surrey Square hasn鈥檛 permanently excluded a pupil in almost two decades. The school sees behaviour 鈥渁s information鈥�, Noble says.

鈥淚f a child is behaving in a challenging way for us, [we need] to understand what they’re trying to communicate to us, whether that be something that’s going on at home, or a learning need or something else.鈥�

These values sit at the core of a large wheel graphic that depicts the school鈥檚 ethos, alongside skills (maths, reading, writing and oracy), relationships and wellbeing.

鈥淲e talk about relationships being the precondition to any meaningful work. So we support people in how to develop, maintain, deepen and repair those relationships, because again, we believe that provides the foundation that’s needed.鈥�

Pupils 鈥榗an鈥檛 lose their joy time鈥�

Another difference in the school鈥檚 approach is how it preserves 鈥渏oy time鈥� for pupils.

Other schools might do 鈥済olden time鈥�, which you can earn or lose. But Noble says 鈥渏oy time for us is part of the curriculum鈥�.

鈥淚t鈥檚 fundamentally about children connecting with each other and with the adults, and about playing. You can’t lose your maths lesson. So, you definitely can’t lose your joy time. It’s a right for everybody.

鈥淎nd we would also say that children displaying some more challenging behaviours probably need joy time the most.鈥�

Such language and approaches are often dismissed as coming at the expense of academic rigour and discipline.

But Surrey Square鈥檚 progress scores are above average. Ofsted confirmed in 2022 the school remained 鈥榦utstanding鈥�, lavishing it with praise for putting wellbeing and mental health 鈥渁t the centre of the curriculum鈥�.

Last year, it also won the coveted primary school of the year at the National Teaching Awards

Pupils鈥� behaviour in lessons and around the school is also 鈥渆xemplary鈥�, the report added.

Inspectors also praised the school for adapting subjects 鈥渟o they are more relevant to the pupils at this school.

鈥淔or example, in year 3 pupils learn about the kingdom of Benin. This is because a large proportion of pupils have roots in Nigeria.鈥�

Noble recalls that when Ofsted visited, the inspector asked to see pupils鈥� history books.

鈥淲e were like, we don’t have history books. I said, I’ll go and get some children for you, because they’re the knowledge. And I brought the children in, and they sat and talked to her about their history learning.鈥�

Adapted curriculum frees up time

The school introduced an 鈥渋dentity curriculum鈥� around 10 years ago after realising 鈥渓ots of children weren’t quite sure who they were,鈥� says Noble. It is aimed at making the curriculum relevant to all pupils.

The school has now 鈥渞eally built this so that by the time they leave us, they understand their place as a global citizen and really just have a sense of who they are鈥�.

The way the school adapts the curriculum is key to its success, head Matt Morden says.

鈥淭he insistence on knowledge across the whole curriculum and the amount of knowledge that is intended to be taught is too much for people that follow it to the letter.

鈥淪o we look at all of the foundation subjects and go: what are the key things that we think our children need to understand from their context?鈥�

鈥淚t frees up some time,鈥� he adds. Whereas 鈥渙ther schools would feel they need to do everything鈥�, Surrey Square is confident in its rationale for 鈥渞educing some of that content鈥�.

That process is aided by an experienced staff. The average length of service here is 11.2 years. Noble has worked at the school for 17 years; Morden for 10.

That retention is 鈥渟o important鈥�, because 鈥渆ach year, they see what’s working for their class and the community, and it builds in that way鈥�, says Morden.

Inside 鈥楾he Hive鈥� resourced SEND provision

Children can join Surrey Square aged two via its on-site nursery provision, a colourful, fun space in purpose-built facilities funded by the sale of some of the school鈥檚 land for flats.

The school already offers free breakfast clubs for all pupils, another policy the government wants to emulate. All pupils are entitled to free school meals under a long-running Southwark council scheme. Take-up is around 90 per cent.

In what used to be the caretaker鈥檚 house, the school also operates 鈥楾he Hive鈥�, a resourced provision for around 16 pupils with the most complex needs.

Again, this is exactly the sort of provision Labour is looking to emulate as it seeks to make mainstream more inclusive.

I ask some of its pupils what they like about the school, and learning in The Hive.

鈥淟earning and maths!鈥� one pupil exclaims. 鈥淏eing creative,鈥� says another. They tell me they like it that there are only a few of them with two staff.

The children are transfixed by our photographer鈥檚 cameras. With his guidance, they take photos of Noble.

We meet Nicky, a parent who joined the school鈥檚 staff 17 years ago and now leads one of the groups in the Hive.

鈥淚 love it. I really do,鈥� she says, 鈥渟eeing the children achieve, children who really, really struggle. Seeing them able to shine.鈥�

Supporting the school community

Hannah also started as a parent and has been on a 鈥渂ig journey鈥� with Surrey Square.

When her children were pupils, the school stepped in to help her family move out of damp, mould-infested housing. It set her up with counselling when her former partner struggled with drug addiction. And the 鈥榝amily wellbeing lead鈥� supported her to tell her children when their father died.

鈥淭he first place I came was to school. I wouldn’t have got that [support] elsewhere,鈥� she tells me. 鈥淛ust to have an establishment, a group of just lovely people, showing me empathy and humanity was life-saving.鈥�

Eniola Ogundolie was a pupil here until 2015. She joined in year 1 when her family arrived from Nigeria. She says: 鈥淭he help that they provided, especially [with] that big a transition, it was amazing.

鈥淎fter me, my two younger siblings came. They really make you feel like you’re part of the community, it’s a family.鈥�

The school helped her get British citizenship. She kept in touch while her siblings were there, came back to volunteer, and now serves the school as a learning facilitator.

鈥淚’m 10 years down the line, and they’re still doing things for other young kids that they did for me, it’s so consistent.鈥�

‘Our families are just told to be grateful…it’s not OK鈥�

Schools at the hearts of their communities is another idea that Labour is keen on. At Surrey Square, pupils come up with ways of solve local problems.

For example, year 3 pupils wrote to the council to complain of rodents in their homes, using rat-shaped paper. Their local councillor then visited the school to hear concerns.

鈥淚t is about challenging the status quo. So many of our families are expected to just be grateful for what they have,鈥� Noble says.

She shows me a picture she has been sent of a family鈥檚 bathroom on a local estate, covered in black mould.

鈥淭hey were told that they should be grateful for this bathroom, and that’s not OK.鈥�

鈥榃e鈥檝e got much higher expectations鈥�

Originally separate infant and junior schools on the same site, the school formed in 2009 when the two settings merged.

It became an academy in 2018 when its then-head Liz Robinson formed the Big Education trust with Peter Hyman, a former adviser to Tony Blair and more recently to Sir Keir Starmer in opposition.

Robinson, the trust鈥檚 chief executive, recalls last year鈥檚 Labour conference and says: 鈥淭here was a lot of articulation about thriving and inclusion. Nicola and I were sitting there thinking 鈥榳e鈥檙e already doing it; it鈥檚 possible’.”

She describes Surrey Square as the 鈥渆mbodiment of a nuanced approach which avoids the ridiculous binaries of being child-centred or knowledge-rich, progressive or traditional鈥�.

The school teaches maths mastery and synthetic phonics, for example. But other things are 鈥渧ery different鈥� from other schools, like the identity curriculum.

Robinson speaks of the need to 鈥渕orally re-conceptualise what success is, because I will not be comfortable as a headteacher or CEO with a model of education that does not allow for success for every pupil鈥�.

She also dismisses any potential accusation of low expectations. 鈥淚’ve got much higher expectations, because I’ve got expectations about every child, and I’ve got expectations around a broader range, which is inclusive of very high academic achievements, but not limited to.鈥�