Jonnie Noakes, Director of Teaching and Learning at Eton College, reflects on his experiences working with the Sutton Trust.
The Sutton Trust does ground-breaking and important work on social mobility and improving the life chances of young people, work which is directly relevant to the Eton’s fast-growing partnerships programme. In particular, our plans to build three new sixth forms in Dudley, Oldham and Teesside alongside Star Academies. Working in areas of high deprivation is not entirely new to Eton (we co-founded the London Academy of Excellence in Newham 12 years ago and have worked closely with them since) but we need to inform ourselves even more deeply about the complex issues that schools in such areas contend with.
We have built a relationship with the Sutton Trust over some years and more recently this association has become more closely aligned. Nick Harrison, the CEO of the Sutton Trust since May 2023, has been helpful in strengthening this relationship, and he spoke at our inaugural Eton Star Partnership conference in February this year on Social mobility and raising aspirations among 16-18 year olds.
I have always derived a very personal fulfilment from supporting Eton’s commitment to making its education available to those who cannot otherwise afford it.
Having attended Eton on a partial bursary myself and benefitted in life-changing ways from the experience, I have always derived a very personal fulfilment from supporting Eton’s commitment to making its education available to those who cannot otherwise afford it. The Sutton Trust’s core purpose of promoting social mobility through research resonates strongly and personally with me. I have been fortunate to be a governor and trustee of a number of state schools, one of which (The Grey Coat Hospital) was at the time among the top 20 schools in the country for the achievement of its most disadvantaged students.
Since returning to Eton as a teacher I have had numerous opportunities to contribute to and at times lead partnership projects here. For instance, a colleague and I developed an experiential course in leadership which we made available, alongside Etonians, to state school pupils in Windsor; and the research centre that I run (CIRL) has created a Leadership Institute for pupils both at Eton and at the London Academy of Excellence (LAE), which is in its eighth year. My links with LAE go back to its foundation, when as Head of English at Eton I had the task of setting up and initially running the English Department at LAE, and I now act as an advisor to governors on their Education Committee.
The CIRL (The Tony Little Centre for Innovation and Research in Learning) at Eton works in collaboration with a new CIRL at Holyport, our closest state school partner. It is exciting therefore to have the chance to contribute to Eton’s ongoing partnership work with Star Academies by developing research-based programmes for curriculum design, teaching and learning and continuing professional development, which will in time be driven through a network of CIRLs in these partner state schools. In all these ways I have been glad to play a part in working in close partnership with the state sector, and I have always been grateful to the Sutton Trust for the help and research expertise that they have shared with us.
Finally, especially impressive for me is the way the Sutton Trust conducts and uses its own research both to underpin its work and to influence policy. Eton’s CIRL takes an evidence-based approach to supporting Eton’s partnership work to achieve maximum impact. CIRL is currently working on laying solid foundations for the Eton Star Partnership and we have been in conversation with the Sutton Trust about the research they are currently conducting into school admissions. They have generously shared with CIRL their experience and expertise in building trust in communities, working with families and informing parents about potential benefits for their young, all of which are key objectives for our own work in Dudley, Oldham and Teesside
We greatly value our links with the Sutton Trust and their willingness to help us to serve the agenda of social mobility and improving the life chances of young people.
