Working with England’s ‘worst-performing school’ Lilian Baylis Sixth form to raise aspirations and engage with politics.
Background
Whitehouse worked with the Lilian Baylis Technology School in Lambeth to help develop its pupils’ interest and knowledge in politics and current affairs. This started by supporting pupils during their citizenship lessons and now involves three separate projects working exclusively with the school’s Sixth Form.
Our Stratagy
Whitehouse worked to raise the aspiration of its pupils and encourage them to participate in an area of society they may otherwise feel alienated from – the Eduction Services. This included working with the school’s Sixth Form students to support the running of the Lilian Baylis debating club, providing students with consultants’ experience and advice about politics and their expertise in making polished arguments on behalf of clients, and supporting the school with a mentoring programme, providing a student guidance and support with their academic and career aspirations.
Once England’s “worst-performing school” according to The Guardian, Lilian Baylis Technology School was rated as “outstanding in all areas” in its 2013 Ofsted inspection, despite the fact that three-quarters of pupils at Lilian Baylis are eligible for free school meals, one-fifth are refugees or asylum seekers and ten per cent have special educational needs.
Our partnership with Whitehouse has allowed our students the unique opportunity to work with professionals to develop their ability to research and make the case for a point of view and to hear from a wide range of influential speakers
