Recommendation from one of our colleagues, Paul Sedgwick:

The Secret History of a School on BBC Radio 4.

“Alan Johnson, the former Education Secretary, tells the story of English education over the last 140 years through the prism of one school – St Michael and All Angels in Camberwell.

Over the decades, the school has undergone many transformations, including names, in response to changes in policy, but its purpose has remained constant – to provide decent and free education to local children.

The story is told through original documents – from headmasters’ logs and inspection reports – and the testimony of the children and teachers who went there. It is as much a social history of inner-city life down the ages as it is a study of our attempts to educate the children of poor families.”

(BBC, 2019, lines 3-14).

Reference:

BBC (2019) The Secret History of a School. [online] Available from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0002rk0 [Accessed 29/08/2019].