The New Principal

Overview

Battersea Technology College in London is one of the roughest comprehensive schools in the country. The local council, Conservative flagship Wandsworth, is the first council aiming to abolish the comprehensive system by introducing "aptitude selection" for all new entrants. To ring the changes and sort out the staff (most have had to reapply for their own jobs), the council brought in a new principal specially head-hunted for the job. Inside Story has spent a year inside Battersea Tech following the new principal, Michael Clark, as he tries to turn this "sink" school into a success. "We are 4,382nd in the league tables - 18th from the bottom," says Clark. "In some ways it's very depressing. In other ways it is an interesting starting point. One can only get better."