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Auld (1976) 1976 Auld Report (text) |
The Auld Report (1976) William Tyndale Junior and Infants Schools Public Inquiry A report to the Inner London Education Authority by Robin Auld QC London: ILEA 1976
Background notes The William Tyndale Affair William Tyndale was a small ILEA primary school in Islington, north London, where Brian Haddow was appointed as a class teacher in September 1973 and Terry Ellis became head teacher in January 1974. The two set out to pursue what some considered an extreme version of 'child-centred' education, as a result of which the behaviour of some children became a big problem. Parents began withdrawing their children from the school, and some members of the managing body took matters into their own hands. Chaos ensued. The affair was used by the 'Black Paper' writers and their friends in the right-wing press to attack progressive education. In Black Paper 5 (1977), for example, editors Brian Cox and Rhodes Boyson wrote that 'the William Tyndale scandal ... demonstrated the superiority of formal to informal teaching'. It did no such thing. The problems at William Tyndale were not caused by progressive education but by the incompetence of some of the staff and the breakdown of relations between them and some of the school's managers. For an account of the affair, see chapter 14 of my history - search for 'The William Tyndale Affair' and go to the second occurrence.
Sir Robin Auld QC ILEA commissioned Robin Auld to produce a report on the affair.
He failed the eleven-plus, attended Brooklands Technical College in Surrey, and went on to win a state scholarship to study law at King's College London. During his vacations he worked as a long distance lorry driver, baker's assistant and a labourer on roadworks, gaining an HGV lorry driver's licence and a qualification in bread baking. He graduated with first-class honours in Law in 1958 and was called to the bar in 1959. As a barrister, he chaired or took part in a wide range of public inquiries both in the UK and abroad. He was awarded a PhD in Law in 1963. He became a Fellow of King's College in 1987 and was appointed Visiting Professor for three years from 2007. He has served in a number of roles associated with the College. In 1988 he was appointed a Justice of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court and was knighted. He became a Lord Justice of Appeal and a Member of the Privy Council in 1995. Since his retirement from the Court of Appeal in 2007, he has undertaken a wide range of part-time judicial, academic and other work. (Incidentally, Auld's career indicates the hopelessness of the eleven plus as a predictor of future achievements.) The Report Auld's Report is a remarkable piece of work, setting out clearly and in great detail exactly what happened and who said what to whom. It makes fascinating reading! The full text of the report (including the 15 Appendices) is presented in a single web page. I have corrected numerous typing errors and, for convenience, I have continued the consecutive page numbering into the Appendices.
The above notes were prepared by Derek Gillard and uploaded on 12 November 2024. 
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Auld (b. 1937) has had an extraordinary career.
