A top Highgate independent school is acting as the principle educational sponsor to a state-funded academy which opened its doors in Tottenham on Monday with the chief aim of providing disadvantaged students living in Haringey with a “first class” education.
Highgate School will recruit and deploy staff at the newly-opened London Academy of Excellence Tottenham, as well as assisting with wider administrative, pastoral and management support, while Tottenham Hotspur FC will provide financial aid as the principle business sponsor.
The sixth form, sitting on the site of the north London club’s stadium regeneration scheme, has similar admissions arrangements to its sister school London Academy of Excellence Stratford, prioritising students from Haringey who are most likely to benefit from an “academically-rigorous curriculum”, and those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Highgate School headteacher Adam Pettitt said: “We want to create opportunity at the heart of Tottenham to enable bright, local children, especially those with disadvantaged backgrounds, to access a high-calibre academic education and first-rate preparation for university and employment.
“For the last 10 years, Highgate has worked with a wide range of state primary and secondary schools across north and east London, and our involvement in LAE Tottenham represents the next significant stage in our partnership teaching programme with local state schools.”
The creation of LAE Tottenham – which has enrolled 127 students – is part of the ongoing sport-led regeneration of Tottenham, with the construction of a new 61,000-seater stadium that, once complete, is expected to support around 3,500 jobs, with £293 million pumped into the local economy each year.
Spurs executive director Donna-Maria Cullen added: “This is an extension of the club’s continued efforts to improve the educational and employment opportunities for local people as the ongoing regeneration of the area progresses.”
The North Road school’s partnership with Spurs was announced in May of last year, and the proposals were drawn up in close collaboration with Haringey Council and the Department for Education.
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