Central Foundation Boys School

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Central Foundation's School Emblem
Central Foundation's School Emblem

Central Foundation is a school for 11-18 year olds situated in the London Borough of Islington, just off Old Street Roundabout on Cowper Street, EC2. It is located in the main business district of London with excellent transport links. The Old Street area is easily reached from as far as Stevenage with the local London Buses, London Underground services and the First Capital Connect service from Moorgate to the Hertfordshire area. The school is a specialist Business and Enterprise College.

Central Foundation has 786 students [1] as last updated by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

The school is split into two parts. The secondary school and the sixth form which is part of the Islington Consortium and is linked with two other schools in the Islington area. The secondary school runs from Year seven (sixth grade) to Year eleven (tenth grade). The school slogan is Spe Labore Fide, a latin phrase.

Contents

[edit] History

The School was founded by the Rev. William Rogers, Rector of St. Botolph's Church in Bishopsgate from 1863-1896. He was also Chaplain to H.M. Queen Victoria.

He recognised the need for providing for the education of children in the City of London and on 7th November 1865, at a meeting held at the Mansion House under the Chairmanship of the then Lord Mayor a scheme proposed by Rev. W. Rogers was approved, a Committee elected, and he was appointed Honorary Secretary.

By the end of the year 1865 the Munificent sum of £28,000 had been contributed by twenty-eight Banking and Mercantile Firms and by single individuals in the City. A further meeting was held on 11th January 1866, as a result of which it was decided to obtain temporary premises and by the time H.M. The Queen had granted a Royal Charter under the title of The Middle Class Schools Corporation the sum of £40,000 had been subscribed to assist the project.

Searches were made for a permanent site and whilst this was in progress arrangements were made for the School to be opened with 518 scholars in temporary premises in Bath Street. These premises had for some years been unoccupied having formerly been used as a Home for French (Huguenot) Weavers, and were secured for three years with an option to purchase at the end of that time.

The Rev. William Jowett, M.A. was the first Headmaster.

A photograph exists (date about April 1867) of the boys and their Masters in the playground at Bath Street with the Architect and the Headmaster looking at plans for projected new permanent buildings in Cowper Street where a site some two acres in extent had been purchased.

The new School Buildings in Cowper Street were opened on 29th February 1869, the Great Hall being erected and opened on 24th July 1873, when there were then over 900 boys in attendance. The School continued to flourish through the years and for a long time over 1,000 boys attended the School.

The Rev. William Jowett resigned in December 1874, to become the Rector of Stevenage but he continued to serve on the Governing Body of the School until his death in 1912.

The Prince and Princess of Wales (afterwards King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) visited the School in 1870, the King of the Belgians in 1872 and Prince Albert Victor and Prince George of Wales (afterwards King George V) in 1874.

From the latter arose the School colours of Royal Blue and Gold for it was at their suggestion these colours were adopted.

The Princess Louise presented the Prizes in 1871 at The Albert Hall.

Dr. Richard Wormell, M.A., who had been Second Master was appointed to the vacancy caused by the Rev. Jowett's resignation.

Under him the School continued to prosper. He retired in 1897.

Since that time the following Headmasters have all played their part in continuing to mould the School's purpose :-

Mr. F. Collins, M.A. 1897-1903 Mr. W.H. Wagstaff, M.A. 1903-1917 Mr. H.G. Abel, M.A. 1917-1922 Mr. N.M. Gibbins, M.A. 1922-1946 Mr. V. Barkway Pye, M.A. 1946-1952 Mr. J.P. Cowan, M.A. 1952-1965 Mr. J.D.E. Hollingworth, M.A. 1965-1970 Dr. A.R. Tomkins, M.A., Ph.D. 1970-1973 Mr. T.A. Barnes, B.A. 1973-1984 Mr. G.A. Clark, M.A. 1984-1989 Mr. A.J. Marshall, B.A. 1989- 1999 Ms J. Fortune, B.A. (Hons) 2000 -

During the 20th century the School had to contend with a great many problems.

Some of these problems which may be called landmarks in the history and progress of the school are mentioned below.

In February 1891 a Scheme was sealed by the Charity Commissioners under the Charitable Trusts Act by which the Middle Class Schools and the Bishopsgate Ward Schools, founded in 1726, were combined under one Governing Body, the boys of the latter School being transferred to Cowper Street.

By this Scheme an assured annual income was provided from the Estates of Alleyn's College of God's Gift, Dulwich.

It is interesting to note that the Rev. William Rogers, at that time a member of the Governing Body, was also the Chairman of the Estates Governors at Dulwich.

A revised Scheme was sealed in 1910 by the Board of Education and under this Scheme the endowment is administered under the name of the Central Foundation Schools of London.

During the 1914-18 war the School remained at Cowper Street and suffered little damage although a bomb, which fortunately did not explode, fell through the roof of the Great Hall.

The Governors acquired playing fields at Muswell Hill (3.75 acres in extent) in 1923 and the lease of the Science Wing of the former Finsbury Technical College adjoining the School in 1932. This wing provided a most important and necessary addition to the School - Chemical and Physics Laboratories - an Art Room and a Gymnasium.

The lease of these premises was purchased by the Governing Body at a cost of £14,000 in 1962.

During the Second World War (1939-45), in company with other London schools, it was evacuated, first to Newmarket and then to Fakenham. 450 boys went away with the School but only 50 presented themselves for re-admission to Cowper Street in 1945 when the School re-opened.

The School buildings were badly damaged by bomb blast and fire during 1940 and the Governing Body were able to carry out little repair work until after the war ended in 1945.

When the School re-opened, therefore, only two classrooms were available for use, the remainder of the School buildings being in a terrible condition.

Repairs were undertaken but owing to regulations, restrictions and shortages these went on, but slowly, and it was not until 1951 that the Great Hall was re-opened by the Lord Mayor.

By 1954 the Physics Lecture Theatre, which was totally destroyed, had been rebuilt and this was declared open by H.R.H. The Duchess of Gloucester in December of that year.

Early in 1955 the Governing Body were able to provide for the erection of a new pavilion with showers, etc. on the Muswell Hill Playing Field.

Under the Education Act 1944 tuition fees were abolished and the School was transitionally assisted by the Local Education Authority (the London County Council) until in 1952 when the Governing Body accepted aided status and the School became an Aided Grammar School under the Act.

At that time the school had a 3 form entry (90 pupils per year) which has gradually increased to the present 5 form entry (150 pupils per year).

Since 1952 many improvements have been carried out by the Governing Body, both major and minor, with the help of the Local Education Authority and grants from the Education Ministry. The largest project undertaken since the School was built was a three-storey Science and Sixth Form block in 1967.

The project cost £80,459 and was planned to implement policies which were at the forefront of educational thought at that time.

In 1974 Governors acquired the former Whitfield Tabernacle and were able to fund the provision of a Games Hall and Art Room on the top floor.

From 1988 to 1995 Governors were able, with grant aid from the Department for Education, to provide six additional teaching rooms on the ground floor of the 'Tabernacle' building.

[edit] Teachers and Staff

There are around 100 members of staff in Central Foundation School which includes teachers, learning assistants, cleaners, technicians, cooks/dinnerladies and librarians.

The current Headteacher if Ms Judith Fortune with Mr Jamie Brownhill, Mr Alan Woods and Ms Pravati Osman being the Deputy Headteachers. Is Ms Judith Fortune was to leave Mr Alan Woods would be the next Headteacher.

The school also has a Governors Body who have the job of improving the schools standard and reputation. There is only several teachers acting as Governor with most of them being voluntary but at the moment it is Mr Robert Gricia who is a Governor as well as a science teacher.

[edit] Buildings and Grounds

The School now has four blocks of teaching areas and the number of boys in the school is 840.

Many improvements have been made in recent years, including refurbishment of the Laboratories and the provision of up-to-date computer suites, the latter was provided with the assistance of funds raised from a number of major companies and Old Boys of the school.

The most recent major improvements are the provision of a multi-purpose sports area on land adjoining the school that had been acquired by the Governors and the introduction of computers and interactive whiteboards into all classrooms. The school will shortly be expanding into refurbished additional premises, in the adjoining wing of the site that used to house Shoreditch Magistrates Court, now that their 100 year lease from the trustees has run out.

[edit] Renovation Projects

The school have purchased a nearby building in 2007 which is to become part of school grounds in 2009-2010 onwards. This new building will contain an indoor games hall as well as an extended maths block.

The school has also sold the car-park, basketball court and the Astroturf in 2007 for a rumored £8.5 million. This area has been demolished and will become a new block of flats which is to open in the future.

[edit] Notable alumni

[edit] Achievements

The school's GCSE results and its value added scores are above the National Average for both boys and girls in the country and have been so for the last few years. The school also has a 100% pass rate during A Levels.

The school has also been nationally recognised for its excellent work on an anti-bullying initiative known as the Anti Bullying Massif (ABM). The ABM runs a peer-mentoring scheme counselling young people, operates an anonymous teacher to student or student to student referral process and raises awareness through workshops and assemblies about bullying in their school and local area. The team have won awards such as The Diana, Princess of Wales Anti-Bullying Award for their excellent work.

This is one of the many aspects of the schools work which led OFSTED to report in 2006 that the school was good in every aspect and that its care of students was "outstanding".

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