But Dunford argues that this is not an issue for secondary heads.Funding is not the only thing on heads' minds. Twelve months ago secondary heads were on the brink of industrial action over performance-related pay. It was the first time such action had been contemplated in the SHA's history. In the event, the dispute was settled at the 11th hour when funding was increased by £100m.Dunford is now unhappy with that settlement. Some schools are unable to fund the rises; the system is "unsustainable" and must be redesigned, he says.

That aside, he is delighted with the new direction the DfES is taking under Clarke. He likes his stance on specialist schools, the education of 14 to 19-year-olds and his crackdown on bad behaviour and exclusions.Dunford also believes ministers have finally understood that British youngsters are the most examined in the world. "We have been saying this for years, but it's only now the Government recognises that we were right."education independent.co.uk. ou can drive from the Royal Ballet School in White Lodge, Richmond, to Brampton Manor School in Newham in two hours.

West to east the journey takes you from the leafy confines of Richmond Park, where the ballet school nestles among leafy green trees and where well-heeled families exit en masse on bicycles when the weather is fine, right across London and out the other side to East Ham, where Brampton Manor does its nestling alongside the A13 flyover to Barking. You can drive from the Royal Ballet School in White Lodge, Richmond, to Brampton Manor School in Newham in two hours. Near the heart of the old docklands, Brampton Manor inherits many of the problems thrown up by the surrounding poverty.But walking in, you are met with a couple of surprises. The modern buildings might still be a building site, but the courtyards are being elegantly landscaped – in one case into a map of the world, though the banana tree planted in Africa died during the winter. And, hidden away on the ground floor, there is a bright new dance studio with a special black floor and a ballet barre done up in bubble wrap and waiting to be installed.If you express any surprise about the popularity of classical ballet in a comprehensive school, you are given a friendly ticking off about stereotyping from the head, Neil Berry. If you're a teenager, he says, being a good dancer is very cool. The kids who dance at Brampton Manor – whether they choose classical or street dance – gain high status.It was Berry's belief in the quality of dance in the school and what he thought it could do for his pupils that led him, over a year ago, to make the phone call that started a unique partnership between Brampton Manor and the most prestigious ballet school in the country.After an Ofsted report had highlighted the quality of dance teaching, Neil Berry decided to trawl the inspectorate's website for an independent school "that did dance well" to link up in an independent-and-state-school partnership.As luck would have it, the Royal Ballet School had just received an Ofsted report as well, and was second on the list.