Thomas Tallis School

Thomas Tallis School is a large mixed comprehensive school for pupils aged 11–19, located in Kidbrooke in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, London, England. The school benefited from a new building in 2011, part of the Building Schools for the Future programme. Occupancy of the new school took place on 7 November 2011. The school was officially opened by the Rt Hon David Miliband in May 2012.

The school was built in 1971. It now has 1657 students on a new site. It is built on the site of a former RAF airfield. A blue plaque to recognise this was put up on one of the corridors connecting the old school's buildings.

The former Thomas Tallis School concourse.

The school and its facilities

Working closely with architects, John McAslan + Partners, some of the design features of the old school that were felt to be crucial in having helped shape its ethos have been retained. A good example is the central concourse which functions as a social hub and outdoor performance space.

The former Thomas Tallis School concourse.

The past

In 1998, the school was awarded Specialist Arts College status and has successfully been re-designated twice. In 2005 the school was awarded Leading Edge status. The school belonged to the Creative Partnerships network of schools from its inception in 2002. In May 2008, the school became one of only thirty schools in the country to be awarded the status of School of Creativity.^[1] The school has two dedicated special provision centres for students who are deaf or with autism and language impairment. A text book designed by German publisher Ernst Klett Verlag uses pictures of the school.

The school features in Jamie Oliver's TV series Jamie's School Dinners in which Oliver seeks to improve school dinners in Britain.^[2]

In 2007, the school was featured in the Channel 4 documentary Make Me a Tory, directed by former pupil Daniel Cormack.^[3]

In December 2009, Director of Tate galleries, Sir Nicholas Serota was invited to become the school's head teacher for the day.^[4]

The present

The school has undergone a £50 million pound renovation as part of the Greenwich Building Schools for the Future programme.

The interior buildings are colour-coded and signs exist to ease navigation. The majority of the classrooms are contained in three blocks to the west of the site. Sports facilities, a canteen, performing arts spaces, specialist broadcast and music studios and other specialist classrooms make up the other blocks. The school has also paid close attention to the dining area and toilets, areas which deserve to be of the highest standards.^[5] Prior to occupation of the new building designers Gilles and Cecilie Studio was commissioned to create large murals for the new school.^[6] The aim of this project was to express the ethos and ambitions of the old school on the walls of the new one. More recently, the designers were commissioned to create new furniture, wall graphics and decorations for the school's entrance.^[7] These have been featured in Creative Review magazine.

Access to community facilities has been made easier and circulation around the building is enhanced by multi-level walkways. There is a close connection between indoor and outdoor learning facilities.^[8]

Notable former pupils

• Ihsan Rustem - British dancer and choreographer
• Dominic Cooper - Actor
• Patrick van den Hauwe, Professional footballer, attended from 1972-1977
• Richard Colvin Reid - Failed terrorist

References

External links

• Thomas Tallis website

Coordinates: 51°27′53″N 0°01′36″E / 51.4647°N 0.0266°E / 51.4647; 0.0266