Damian Lewis shrugs off Eton row as he launches celebrations for a London comprehensive

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"2">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>Critics who slammed Eton-educated Damian Lewis for opening the anniversary celebrations of a local comprehensive school missed the point&comma; he said at the event&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Homeland and Wolf Hall actor instead heaped praise on the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;creativity” and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;diversity” of Acland Burghley School in Camden&comma; north London&comma; which launched its 50th anniversary celebrations on Wednesday&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Former students started a petition against his role as guest of honour after claiming he represented &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;privilege and inequality” and his invitation was not appropriate given the school’s &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;long and proud tradition in comprehensive education”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Standing next to headteacher Nicholas John and Lucy Amis&comma; daughter of the school’s architect Stanley Amis&comma; Damian joked that he was the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;best available” and apologised to those hoping to see notable former students Eddy Grant&comma; Ms Dynamite or Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;For those people out there who suggested by kindly writing into the newspapers this morning that perhaps I shouldn’t be here at all because I wasn’t at the school&comma; what I would say to them is I think they are missing the point slightly because it seems to me that this evening is about more than that&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It seems to me that this evening is about a celebration of our community here in Tufnell Park and the role the school has played here in Tufnell Park in the last 50 years&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Damian&comma; whose wife&comma; actress Helen McCrory&comma; stood in the audience as he addressed a crowd of approximately 450 before starting a countdown to a laser show&comma; said he had lived in the area for 10 years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It strikes me every time I walk down the street that there is more creativity&comma; independence and support in this neighbourhood than any other neighbourhood I have lived in in London&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;That is of course exactly the qualities they teach the students here at Acland Burghley&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s central to its ethos&comma; and why it has been such a success and why it has been recognised as special status in performing arts and creative studies&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He added that he was lucky to benefit from a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;thriving creative community” at Eton and that schools were more successful if they excelled in the arts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;84964" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-84964" style&equals;"width&colon; 600px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignleft"><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;1453972432-5111af1221acc99fed3ace776ca3686c-600x370&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-84964"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;londonglossy&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;1453972432-5111af1221acc99fed3ace776ca3686c-600x370&period;jpg" alt&equals;" Acland Burghley school " width&equals;"600" height&equals;"370" class&equals;"size-full wp-image-84964" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-84964" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Acland Burghley school<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Speaking from notes&comma; he concluded&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I share with you the hope that Acland Burghley can continue to grow and be a beacon of curiosity&comma; independence&comma; creativity and diversity right here in the heart of Tufnell Park&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While many parents and students celebrated his appearance as an &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;inspiration” – including 13-year-old Louie Cooper who jumped into a picture with the actor&comma; some disagreed&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Rachel Cohen&comma; 44&comma; attended the school between 1982 and 1989 and started the petition which had garnered 100 signatures before the event&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s really just about how do you celebrate the anniversary of a really good comprehensive school that has always taken a very radical and socially progressive attitude towards education and been very committed to inclusive education within the community and arts being very central to that&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But she insisted it was not a personal protest against Damian and she hoped he would become more involved in the school in the future&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Headteacher Mr John&comma; who joined the school in September&comma; is hoping the start of the celebrations will help him to raise money to improve some of the half-century-old buildings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He said he wanted the school to focus on improving its academic standards and continue excelling in the arts and engagement with the community&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The fact that he is an actor involved in the community is great&comma;” he said about Damian&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It’s about community and creativity&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68e494160253f">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; 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