London Diocese celebrates schools success

The Diocese of London is due to celebrate the success of its schools following their recent Ofsted inspections.

Of the 148 London diocese schools 145 have now been inspected and 72 per cent were found to be either “good” or “outstanding”.

A service to celebrate the success of the schools is being held on Wednesday at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church in London's Trafalgar Square. It will also mark the retirement of the Director of Schools for the Diocese of London, Tom Peryer.

There are currently 131 primary and 17 secondary London diocesan schools, educating over 48,000 pupils. A new academy is also due to open in September in Kensington and Chelsea.

The secondary school GCSE results have been consistently above the national average and last year 96.3 per cent of pupils received five or more A* to G grades.

The Bishop of London, Dr Richard Chartres, will lead the service that will have performances from seven diocesan schools, including steel bands from the John Keble School, Brent and The Green School, Haringey, and a performance by the BBC School Choir of the Year from Twyford School, Ealing.

Dr Chartres said, “The remarkable achievements of London’s church schools reflect our commitment to the education of children across the diocese.

"Today our schools serve 50,000 pupils, reflecting the full diversity of London’s citizens, and our work in education continues to grow and flourish. We are grateful to Tom for the significant part he has played in all of this - but also to the staff, pupils and parents that make up these thriving school communities.”

Mr Peryer, retiring Director of the London Diocesan Board for Schools said, “In my 10 years as Director of the London Diocesan Board for Schools, we have seen the quality of our church schools increasing year on year, the creation of three brand new secondary schools and a huge capital investment across the board.

"They have been exciting years of growth and renewal and I believe that the next ten years will continue that trend.”