Making Tottenham an educational destination of choice

During last week’s official opening of the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, a new Sixth Form based on the site of the Club’s new stadium development, its headteacher Jan Balon delivered a speech to guests clearly laying out his vision for the school.

Jan said: “Our beautiful school building is located in the heart of the wider redevelopment of North Tottenham, and we have the fantastic stadium project right on our doorstep.

“Our mission here is simple: to provide a top class Sixth Form experience to academically motivated students from the local area and beyond.

“As someone who has worked in education locally for my entire career, I’m fully aware of the challenges which many local young people face. I also know, first hand, of the excellent work that happens in many of the local schools and colleges.

“However, for me the challenge has always been how to genuinely even the playing field between a young person growing up on a
Tottenham estate and their peer being raised three miles away in Highgate.

“While equality of opportunity for young people is surely the minimum aim of any fair-minded person, whether the issue is the lack of quiet space to complete homework, limited parental knowledge and confidence with the education system or a school struggling to maintain an excellent education for all with limited resources, the barriers to levelling this playing field have sometimes appeared insurmountable.

“Here at the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, we are uniquely blessed with a huge range of sponsors and partners, each bringing their expertise, social capital and financial resource to bare. It is therefore not our responsibility but more accurately, it’s our duty to harness these resources to unlock opportunities to this and successive cohorts of students.

“To this end, we are delighted that amongst the pioneering cohort of students, over half come from backgrounds with no history of higher education, nearly 60% from the most deprived postcodes in the country and all with a genuine burning desire for academic success.

“We know that the success of this project cannot be limited to the young people who gain a place with us. As such, we strive to become a beacon of academic success, not only providing an aspirational destination for local young people but also proving that Tottenham can be the educational destination of choice for academically ambitious young people from the surrounding areas.”

To find out more about the London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, visit laetottenham.ac.uk