Sir Timothy Robert Peter Brighouse (born 15 January 1940) is a British educator. He was the Schools Commissioner for London between 2002–2007, where he led the

London Challenge The London Challenge was a school improvement programme launched by the UK's Labour Government in 2003. The policy document "Transforming London Secondary Schools" set out the aims of the programme, which was designed to create a "step change" in t ...

Biography

He was born in Leicestershire (1940) and was brought up there and in East Anglia. He was educated at

Loughborough Grammar School , religion = Christian , head_label = Headmaster , head = Dr Daniel Koch , r_head_label = Chaplain , r_head = Revd E J York , chair_label = Chairman ...

and at Lowestoft County Grammar School and

St Catherine's College, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford and is the newest college admitting both undergraduate and graduate students. Tracing its roots back to 1868 (although t ...

. He took his PGCE at the Oxford University Department of Education in 1961. He began his career as a schoolteacher, becoming a deputy head in a South Wales secondary modern school in 1966. In the early 1970s he worked for

Buckinghamshire County Council Buckinghamshire County Council was the upper-tier local authority for the administrative county and later the non-metropolitan county of Buckinghamshire, in England, the United Kingdom established in 1889 following the Local Government Act 1888 ...

's education department, and worked with Geoff Cooksey on plans for

Stantonbury Campus Stantonbury School (formerly known as Stantonbury Campus and Stantonbury International School) is a Mixed-sex education, coeducational secondary school located in north Milton Keynes, England, established in 1974. It is the second largest secon ...

, the first secondary school of Milton Keynes. Later he was Professor of Education at

Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...

(1989–1993), and Chief Education Officer in both Oxfordshire (1978–1989) and Birmingham Local Authorities. Whilst he was at Birmingham, he was described by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Education Secretary John Patten as a "madman....wandering the streets, frightening the children". Brighouse sued and won substantial damages, which he donated to charity. He used some of it to set up the University of the First Age, to encourage out of hours activities to enrich school children's learning. In May 1997 Brighouse was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

as Doctor of the University. He was the Schools Commissioner for London between 2002–2007, where he led the London Challenge. Brighouse was a Non-Executive Director of RM plc the UK educational IT company. Brighouse was knighted in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Personal life

He is married to Liz, who is leader of the Labour group on Oxfordshire County Council. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

Books

*The A-Z of School Improvement: Principles and Practice (28 Mar 2013) *Inspirations: A collection of commentaries and quotations to promote school improvement (1 Oct 2006) *What Makes a Good School Now? (6 May 2008) *How to Improve Your School (21 Jan 1999) *The Joy of Teaching (15 Apr 2008) *About our Schools, with Mick Waters (2022)

References

External links

Biography
at

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

Academics of Keele University British educational theorists Knights Bachelor Living people Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford People educated at Loughborough Grammar School 1940 births {{edu-bio-stub