Islington Green School
Islington Green School was a comprehensive mixed secondary school from 1966 to 2008. The school was situated in North London and had an age range of 11 to 16. The City of London Academy in Islington replaced Islington Green School in September 2008[1]
The school controversially failed its Ofsted inspection in 1997. The school had received a respectable 38 per cent pass rate the previous year and despite shortcomings the staff were convinced that the school was not failing. The decision caused the school to "implode". The headteacher under enormous pressure to make visible changes discarded mixed-ability teaching, many teachers decided to leave and the pass rate dropped below 25 per cent. The school went through nine inspections before it finally came out of special measures in 2000 and serious weaknesses in 2003.[2]
Ken Muller, a teacher at the school, made a request to Ofsted under the new Freedom of Information Act to see the documents relating to the judgment. Twenty working days later, he got a reply. Most of the documents had been destroyed, said the email, but there was one that might be of interest. Attached was a memo dated November 1997, from HMI Barry Jones to the then chief inspector Chris Woodhead, making clear that the HMI team, of which Jones was a member, had disagreed with Ofsted's judgment, and noting that they were "of the unanimous view that the school was not failing".[3]
Peter Hyman, former spin doctor for Tony Blair, decided to leave politics and teach at Islington Green School. He wrote a book of his experiences, '1 Out Of 10: From Downing Street Vision To Classroom Reality'.
Students from the school were featured in Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall in the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)".[4]
The school was used as a location to film the BBC drama That Summer Day, a fictional account of the effect the bombings of the London public transport system on 7 July 2005 had on six children.[5] Some of the school's younger students were allowed to be extras in the film.
Notable alumni
- Ray Burdis – actor, writer,director,producer. (Love Honour and Obey, Operation Good Guys).
- Shana Swash – actress
- Natalie Cassidy – actress
- Pauline Quirke – actress
- Claire Martin – CBC weather presenter, appeared in the Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" video but did not sing
- Billy Godleman - cricketer
- Paloma Faith - singer
- Thomas Cruise - Arsenal footballer
External links
- Islington Green School Choir at IMDb
Head Teachers
- Margaret Maden (1975-1983)
- Marion Parsons
- Trevor Averre-Beeson
References
- ↑ Islington council announcement
- ↑ Rebecca Smithers (4 February 2005). "Woodhead overrode inspectors to fail improving school". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ↑ Barry Jones (27 November 1997). "Islington Green High School". Her Majesty's Inspector (The Guardian). Retrieved 11 June 2011.
- ↑ "Pink Floyd pupils claim royalties", BBC News Story (accessed 12 October 2006)
- ↑ "How 7/7 impacted on the nation's children", BBC press release. (accessed 6 July 2006)
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Coordinates: 51°32′10″N 0°05′52″W / 51.5361°N 0.0979°W