It seems this is the only assessment that matters.” “It’s not based on whether these children are in productions, or are happy or are encouraged to play musical instruments. He warned: “Unless somehow the reins are loosened a bit to allow more space and more time, I’m afraid it will be more assessment. They can’t be seen to miss those baseline marks, those scores – they’ve got to achieve, otherwise they are deemed to be underperforming, poor schools, which they are not. “They can’t be seen to take their eye off the assessment ball. “In our academy trust, the leadership there is really keen to try to help develop these things in the school, but are finding it difficult timewise and because of resources. Jack Whitehall is among the Dragon school’s famous alumni. “They don’t have the time or the space to do some of the incredible things other children in other schools can do.”īaugh has witnessed some of the constraints facing state school teachers as a result of the Dragon school’s role as lead sponsor of the Blackbird academy trust, which includes three primary schools in Blackbird Leys, a deprived area of Oxford. You don’t have to take the conventional route.”Īsked whether he thought the school’s success could be replicated in the state school system, Baugh said: “It’s very hard because of the resourcing, and there’s an obsession with Sats, which seem to be the only measure of whether a school is deemed to be successful or not. If you want to be an actor or actress, that’s OK. “If you want to be a young comedian, a young Jack Whitehall, go on and do it. It’s more that the school teaches them that it’s OK to have a go, it’s OK not to follow convention. “We’ve some great drama teachers,” said Baugh, who has been head since 2002, “but I don’t think it’s that particularly which allows children to develop in this area. Other famous alumni – or “eminent Dragons” as the school puts it – who have made careers on both stage and screen include Harry Potter star Emma Watson, comedian Jack Whitehall, Pirates of the Caribbean actor Jack Davenport, BBC crime series Silent Witness actor Tom Ward, Max Irons (the actor son of Jeremy), stage and screen actor Christopher Cazenove, and Hugh Dancy, star of US TV series Hannibal. Term fees at Dragon school are £9,340 for boarders and £6,480 for day pupils.

Dragon school oxford staff