Barnaby Lenon taught at Eton for 12 years, was the deputy head of Highgate School, head of Trinity School Croydon and head of Harrow for 12 years. He then helped establish the London Academy of Excellence in East London, one of the most successful state sixth form Academies. He has been a governor of 25 state and independent schools. He was a member of the board of Ofqual during the implementation of the Gove reforms to GCSEs and A-levels. He was chairman of the Independent Schools Council for 13 years. He is a trustee of the 14 schools of the King Edward’s Foundation in Birmingham and trustee of the Yellow Submarine charity in Oxford for young people with learning disabilities. He has recently been awarded a CBE for contribution to education and in 2025 won the Times Educational Supplement Lifetime Achievement Award.
He has written many books including Much Promise about high-achieving state schools and Other People’s Children about the least academic 50% in England. His most recent publication, Introduction to Teaching, is a research-evidence based account of the characteristics of the best teachers and the most effective teaching methods.
Publications
- Lenon, B and Cleves, P, 1983, Techniques and Fieldwork in Geography, UTP
- Lenon, B., London, 1988, Unwin Hyman
- Lenon, B., 1993, London in the 1990s, Geographical Association
- Burnett, C., Flinders, K. and Lenon, B., 1995, The United Kingdom, Hodder and Stoughton
- Lenon, B and Cleves, P, 2015, Geography Fieldwork and Skills, Collins
- Lenon, B et al, 2016, Cambridge AS and A-level Geography, HarperCollins
- Lenon, B, 2017, Much Promise: successful schools in England, John Catt
- Lenon, B, 2018, Other People’s Children, John Catt
- Lenon, N and Smith, T., 2025, Introduction to Teaching, Hachette