An academy for all ages: Why 'all-through' state schools are booming

From the outside, the most striking thing about St Matthew Academy, south London, is its shiny new, zinc-tiled building. But inside, things quickly get stranger. There are the usual things you would expect to find in such a school: art room and science labs and hulking teenagers lounging in front of computers. But there are other things, too – a line of infants scampering up the stairs to lunch, a bright corridor of primary classrooms, and pupils aged five to 16 sitting together in a house assembly.

There are also mixed ages in some classrooms. In a lesson on enterprise, 13-year-olds are designing board games, and younger children are helping them.

"We tell them what colours we like, red, black, pink and multicoloured," says Skye Thompson, seven. "We help them because the games are for people our age," says Alicia Hutchinson, also seven.

Welcome to the all-through school, where pupils start in the nursery or reception class and go through to 16 or 19. This model is familiar in public schools, which have long got their hands on children early, but is now taking off among state schools. By the end of this year there will be 14 all-through academies, with more in the pipeline.

"Academies and their sponsors are very keen on all-through schools and more and more are coming up with proposals, says schools minister Andrew Adonis. "They see the advantages of getting children at a younger age. And we are receptive to such proposals, although we are not saying they should become the standard that everyone should follow. They may have implications for how schools work, but we will have to wait and see how they do."

Yet the spotlight is certainly turning onto this model. This week sees the annual conference of the Consortium of All-Through Schooling, which now has 120 members. And two weeks ago a massive new all-age school was announced for Nottingham, which will take more than 3,500 pupils and be the largest school in the country.

This, however, like most all-through schools, will retain separate primary and secondary buildings and heads. Merged and federated schools are the most common models for all-age schools.

But at St Matthew, which opened last September for children aged three to 16, the primary and secondary schools have been fully amalgamated – and everyone is delighted with the result.

"There's less arguing and fighting, because it makes the little ones cry," says Dane Moore, 13. "You have to be setting an example."

For Monica Cross, the principal, the advantages are legion. "Our teachers are teachers of children, not primary and secondary school teachers," she says. Primary teachers turn to subject teachers for specialist help, and secondary teachers learn from their primary colleagues about running lively, interactive lessons and putting up great classroom displays. The pastoral care is integrated, and there's a cost saving on facilities. Primary pupils use the art and music rooms – although not the science labs, where the benches are too high – and share the library. Teachers share professional development, and the all-through structure is expected to eradicate the traditional dip in achievement as students change to secondary school. It also allows gifted primary children to join in with older lessons, and struggling older ones to get primary help with the basics.

This is south London "gangland", though, so many parents were nervous about the thought of their little children being around "bad-ass" teenagers, and 10 families from the primary school that was being replaced voted with their feet. But those that stayed are more than happy, and numbers wanting to come to the school are rising. Monica Cross says the all-through structure generates "a real sense of belonging – and if you get parents on board early you've got them for life".

Any problems are practical ones, such as pressure on the use of specialist drama, music and art spaces, and having to pay for booster seats for the minibus. But the advantages far outweigh difficulties. "At our sports day last year, the pupils were chanting for their houses, and the older ones were organising events for the younger ones," says Cross. "It was all very Hogwarts! But they loved it."

Heads of all-through schools that have been going for longer are even more enthusiastic. Hilary Macaulay, principal of West London Academy, Northolt, which opened three years ago, adds a list of other advantages – improved welfare and special needs services. "How many primary school children have access to a counsellor?" she asks. There's also a seamless English and maths curriculum, and improved status for primary teachers because all teachers are paid on a common pay scale.

"Our building was designed by Foster and Partners. It's one big curve, a quarter-of-a-mile long, and pupils progress along the curve. We have no such thing as transition. It doesn't exist." The school has a children's centre and a further education centre, and is improving rapidly. In 2007, 47 per cent of pupils got five good GCSEs, a 19 per cent jump on the year before.

Richard Gilliland, the executive head of a trust overseeing a group of new academies in Lincoln, one of which will be an all-through school, believes the model provides all-round benefits. In fact the integrated model can only happen when a new school is being built from scratch, so many schools are now developing local federations, to bring primary and secondary pupils closer.

The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust has produced "top tips" on transition for secondary schools, including encouraging primary pupils to visit secondaries, having secondary pupils talk to primary pupils and introducing curriculum projects that span the divide.