Stephen Burley knows the value of a good education, and the lengths some people will go to get one.
Brought up in the North East by his mother, a hairdresser, he commuted nearly 2.5 hours a day by foot, bus, ferry and metro to attend what was then the independent .
It was from there that he was propelled towards an English literature degree at University College London, an M.Phil at Oxford and a Phd at the University of London.
My mother really valued education.
A PGCE from King鈥檚 College London kicked off a career in a series of top independent schools, teaching English and eventually becoming a school leader. He is also the author of , the early 19th century essayist and critic.
鈥淢y mother really valued education,鈥 says Burley. 鈥淪he鈥檇 grown up in council houses and hadn鈥檛 had an education,鈥 he adds, explaining that she was only able to pay the fees because she had received some money following the death of his father.
鈥淏ut she was always a reader. She鈥檚 saw education as a way forward and the best option for the future for me and my brother.鈥
She was so attached to education that later on in life she even did an English literature degree herself, following in her son鈥檚 footsteps. It is with this love of English literature in mind that Burley expresses his dismay at the national fall in take-up of English at A-level. He decries a cultural shift towards subjects perceived as offering a higher potential salary.
He says: 鈥淓nglish, the humanities, creative subjects, the performing arts are absolutely central to any education at all. It鈥檚 been a huge tragedy and a great shame that such emphasis has been placed on the monetary value of the courses that you study, especially at university.
鈥淓verybody knows how important STEM is鈥ut that doesn鈥檛 mean we should underfund the creative and performing arts, that there isn鈥檛 a vital place for English, history, the humanities in an inspiring, rounded education.鈥
He is also concerned about the way GCSE English literature and language are now examined.
He says: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a really important place for terminal assessments, a really crucial place for academic rigour, but it鈥檚 like everything in life, it鈥檚 about balance. One of the biggest problems and dangers of education is the one-size-fits-all and currently we have an academic system that is very largely academic in its focus and pathways.
It鈥檚 been a huge tragedy that such emphasis has been placed on the monetary value of courses.
鈥淭hat simply leaves out hundreds of thousands of young people every year who have incredible skills and talents, and a balanced education needs to embrace and celebrate a whole range of skills.鈥
He points to the fact that English is 100 per cent examination and some of the skills expected are at a very high level.
found that GCSE candidates in England spend 31.5 hours in exams, and called for the number of such assessments to be reduced.
鈥淚n English literature you have students across the country of all abilities comparing two unseen poems, and that is an advanced skill, I did that for my finals at university. In itself there鈥檚 nothing wrong with that but it鈥檚 going to be alienating for many many students.鈥
He would like to see the subject studied and assessed in a wider variety of ways, bringing out its scope for developing oracy and introducing coursework.
鈥淭here needs to be a range of different assessment methods that can allow all of the different types of students to succeed,鈥 he says. Teachers need more flexibility to be able to adapt to their students鈥 strengths and interests, he says. A less content-heavy specification would allow teachers more freedom, he adds.
The really inspiring educational vision behind IB has lasted with me.
Throughout his career, Burley has developed a strong interest in alternative pathways, since he was first introduced to the International Baccalaureate at his first teaching job at an international school in Bogot谩, Colombia.
He says: 鈥淭he educational philosophy behind that has lasted my whole career even though we don鈥檛 run IB at King鈥檚 High. The global perspectives, the range of assessment methods, the really inspiring educational vision behind IB has lasted with me.鈥
This came into its own when he was assistant head of English at Sevenoaks School, where he was involved in developing a GCSE-alternative for English literature.
He says: 鈥淪evenoaks was an exciting and innovative place to be 鈥 we were designing a lot of new courses, it was an educational philosophy inspired by the IB.鈥
Later, at Headington School in Oxford, he taught A-levels alongside the IB, putting the emphasis on 鈥渄eveloping a real buzz and excitement around English literature鈥 by bringing it out of the classroom and embracing activities such as theatre trips and poetry slams.
In 2017, he was made deputy head academic at King鈥檚 High, and was made head master in January 2021. His daughter also attends the school. Since then, the curriculum has been reformed to prioritise creative thinking, curiosity and future-readiness.
Sevenoaks was an exciting and innovative place to be.
Working as part of 鈥 a group of other schools rethinking assessment at Key Stage 4 鈥 King鈥檚 Curriculum of the Future Project has seen the introduction of two 鈥淔uture Ready鈥 courses. Designed by staff at King鈥檚 High, they are offered to pupils as a replacement to one or two of their GCSE choices.
The school鈥檚 offers units on social justice, global citizenship, climate change, and law and the legal system. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programme covers data analysis, sustainable engineering, neuroscience and entrepreneurship.
But why was it so important to Burley that the school introduce these courses?
鈥淭he idea was that they are responding to the world as it is now,鈥 he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of validity in the old academic route but we want our students to be really engaged by current affairs, by the problems that our world has and to reflect and evaluate how they can be active agents in trying to solve some of those problems. How do you solve the problems of climate change. How do you address issues of immigration?鈥
And what about the challenge of convincing parents and universities of their value?
鈥淚t was a relatively easy sell,鈥 says Burley. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had good discussions with our parents and our students about the number of GCSEs you actually need. Ten years ago, people were looking at 10,11, 12, but the tide is turning now saying that eight or nine is fine and in fact when you do the work with the universities, six and seven is fine. When you acknowledge that there鈥檚 a lot of latitude to innovate and to design exciting new courses,鈥 he says.
We鈥檝e had good discussions with parents and students about the number of GCSEs you actually need.
He says that when they contacted a range of top universities, 鈥渢he most conservative response鈥 was from Cardiff medical school, which said students needed eight GCSEs. The Schools Directed Courses Consortium, he says, is working to get some more clarity on what number of GCSEs is acceptable on an application.
鈥淚t would give greater confidence, to parents, to schools, if universities came out and said we do a grade average on your best six, which seems to be the norm.鈥
Alongside the innovations in qualifications, King鈥檚 High is putting the emphasis on exposing students to outside influences and encouraging engagement in the local community.
Special educational needs is a topic close to Burley鈥檚 heart 鈥 his son attends a specialist school 鈥 and King鈥檚 High has developed a partnership with the nearby Evergreen School, which caters for 300 children with SEND and learning disabilities.
It is just one initiative among many to encourage the girls to think outwards, beyond the strictures of the purely academic and consider their place in the world.
This embrace of innovation gives Burley something in common with his brother, a professor researching nanotechnology.
鈥淥ur mother is really proud of us,鈥 he says.
The long journey to school in Tynemouth, it seems, has paid off.
