I have just visited two schools in New York where they teach a core knowledge curriculum, underpinned by the pedagogy of Ed Hirsch. It aims to provide all children with the knowledge they need to be included in a national literate culture, whatever their background. Both schools are in areas where only the poorest live. Buildings are protected with bars, all doors are locked and a policeman guards the entrance. One of them, in Brooklyn, was surrounded by social housing estates or "projects", and the streets were dotted with unemployed youths. In London, we'll often point out that some 30 per cent of pupils are on free school meals to demonstrate how disadvantaged its intake is. In these New York schools, 100 per cent of the children are entitled not only to a free lunch, but breakfast too.

But inside these schools was laughter, and high-quality work displayed on every wall. Pupils are aged four to 13 and the quality of their written work far outstripped much that I have seen in British secondary schools. I sat in a Grade 1 class with six-year-olds, all various shades of brown and black. They sat on the carpet with their teacher, discussing George Washington, later writing about his achievements. I passed a wall of essays by seven-year-olds on Shakespeare. The principal also showed me their abridged versions of various Shakespeare plays. Some of the poorest children in New York are discussing Orsino and Viola in Twelfth Night at four years old.

The principal has made the core knowledge curriculum a priority for the past decade. "The teachers and others didn't believe it was possible when we first started," she says. "Even some parents insisted their kids couldn't do it." To convince the parents, she would invite them in for a day and let them follow their children around, so that they could see just how clever they could be. "People think that all these kids can read is about Dr Seuss. It isn't true."