Bancroft's School

This article is about the school in England. For the school in the United States, see Bancroft School.

Bancroft's School

Motto	Unto God Only Be Honour and Glory
Established	1737
Type	Independent
Religion	Church of England
Head	Mrs M.E. Ireland
Chaplain	Rev. I Moore
Chairman of Governors	Stephen Foakes, TD, DL, FCIB
Founder	Francis Bancroft
Location	High Road Woodford Green Essex IG8 0RF England
Local authority	Redbridge
Staff	c.90
Gender	Coeducational
Ages	7–18
Houses	North, East, West and School
Colours	Red, Green, Yellow and Blue
Website	Bancroft's School Web-site

Coordinates: 51°36′17″N 0°01′39″E / 51.60482°N 0.02742°E / 51.60482; 0.02742

Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent school in Woodford Green, London. The school has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18. The Preparatory School has 200 pupils and the Senior School has 800.

History

The school was founded in 1737, following the death of Francis Bancroft,^[1] who gave a sizeable sum of money to the Drapers' Company, which continues to act as trustee for the school. Bancroft's began in the Mile End Road in London's East End as a small charitable day school for boys, with an attached almshouse for 24 elderly gentlemen, and over the next 250 years it evolved steadily to its present form.

The foundation was originally known as Bancroft's Hospital and until the late 19th century also acted as home for the almsmen. The school then moved to a new site at Woodford Green and the original buildings were demolished; the site is now occupied by Queen Mary College, one of the colleges of the University of London.

A school cricket match in front of the prep school

The new school in Woodford Green occupies four and a half acres, and the main buildings were designed by Arthur Blomfield, who was also responsible for Selwyn College in Cambridge. Originally there were just a hundred pupils, including sixty boarders, but the numbers grew steadily during the twentieth century until there were nearly one thousand on the roll. The buildings were also extended, with the Science Block (1910), a new Assembly Hall (1937), the Adams Building (1964), a new Gymnasium Block (1975), the Prep School (1990), the Courtyard Building (2006), new Sports Block (2007), and Prep School Extension (2009).

Following the Education Act 1944, Bancroft's became a direct grant grammar school. However, the removal of this status in the 1970s prompted the Governors to decide on three courses of action. These were to discontinue boarding, to admit girls for the first time and to build a new Preparatory Department. These were all completed by 1990; the School now takes half its pupils from age 7, and half the pupils are now girls. In 1997, the Government abolished the Assisted Places Scheme, which had helped children from poor families to attend the school; the Governors replaced these by Francis Bancroft Scholarships, which were supported by the Drapers' Company and by the residue of Francis Bancroft's original will. These awards are means-tested, and can be worth the entire school fee.

In 2004, a new major building programme began. The Courtyard Building, consisting of new kitchens, a communal atrium, staff offices, further teaching rooms and a new Sixth Form Centre, was opened by Chris Woodhead in February 2006, and a new large Sports Hall was completed at the beginning of the Summer Term 2007. In 2009, a conversion of the old gymnasium into a modern Drama Centre was finished with students enjoying the new facilities available. A large new building for the prep school and a second floor in the historic library for additional computer usage was completed in 2010. Most recently in 2011, an extension to the recently built 6th form block compromising of a number of new facilities including a separate 6th form library was completed. The school also continues to invest heavily in it's IT infrastructure with the roll out of new hardware and software systems recently being completed.

Mrs Mary Ireland became headmistress in January 2008, succeeding Dr Peter Scott. She last worked at Christ's Hospital where she was deputy head to Dr Peter Southern, himself a previous headmaster at Bancroft's.

The school team won the Kids' Lit Quiz in 2009 at the world final in South Africa.^[2]

Year groups

The preparatory school has four years which are known as:

• Alpha (Year 3); Beta (Year 4); Prep One (Year 5); Prep Two (Year 6)

The senior school has its own naming system, in ascending age order:

• Thirds (Year 7); Removes (Year 8); Lower Fourth (Year 9); Upper Fourth (Year 10); Fifth Form (Year 11); Lower Sixth (Year 12); Upper Sixth (Year 13)

Curriculum

For the first two years, students study the following subjects: English, Maths, French, ICT, Combined Science, Drama, Classics (in Thirds, Year 7), Religious Studies, Geography, Latin (from Removes, Year 8) and upwards, PSHE, History, PE, Games, Music, Technology and Art.

In the Lower Fourth year, students choose a second language (Spanish, German or Ancient Greek) and to drop two creative subjects (from Art, Music, Design Technology & Electronics, and Drama).

At GCSE level, all pupils take the following common core subjects: English, English Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Four additional subjects are chosen, one of which must be a modern language: Art, DT, Electronics, Music, Spanish, German, French, Latin, Ancient Greek, Greek Civilization, Religious Studies, Geography and History.

The school has opted to follow the IGCSE syllabus in Mathematics. About 2 fifths of the pupils take this a year early, and go on to take Additional Maths in the Fifth Form. A similar proportion take French a year early, and then go on to study a third of the AS Level course and now Critical Thinking as well, with the option to take the AS exam in Critical Thinking at the end of the year.

A-Level students pick four of the subjects from the list that the school offers: Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Critical Thinking, Design Technology, Drama, Economics, Electronics, English Literature, French, Geography, German, Greek, History, Latin, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Religious Studies and Spanish. There are also courses to AS level in Government and Politics, and Music Technology. Play Directing, German (beginners), Spanish (beginners), Circuit Training, Creative Writing, Music Theory, Financial Studies, Medicine, ICT (ECDL) and Critical Analysis are also offered to students choosing to continue with only three of their A-Level choices in the Upper Sixth.

Grading system

The pre-GCSE students (Thirds, Removes and Lower-Fourths [up to the last half-term of Lower-Fourth]) are still given grades with A to D measuring effort (With A representing the highest level of effort given) and 6 to 1 measuring achievement (With 6 representing the highest level of achievement). Now the grading system for GCSE students has changed. The numbers of achievement scale from 1 to 9, 9 being a high A*, 8 being an A*, 7 being a A/A*, 6 being an A, and so on. Three letter grades are given - one for Attitude, one for Classwork and one for Homework. In the sixth form, the grading system changes. Effort is still measured by letters from A to D but achievement is measured on a scale of 1 to 9 against a baseline grade (This is calculated based on GCSE grades and Centigrade tests conducted in earlier years) The numeric grade is an indication of a pupil's expected AS or A level results.

School song (Latin and translation)

Floreat Bancroftia,
Floreamus pueri,
Vivat et memoria,
Fundatoris nostri.
Nobis en aeternum,
Magni sint honores,
Floreat Bancroftia,
Floreant rectores.

Previous headmasters

Name	Joined	Left
Peter Southern	1985	1996
Peter Scott - left	1996	2008
Mary Northern Ireland	2008	-

Notable alumni

Name	Birth	Death	Achievements
Connop Thirlwall	1797	1875	Bishop of Saint David's, 1840–1874, and historian
Sir Allan Powell	1876	1948	Chairman of Governors of the BBC, 1939–1946
Henry Mess	1884	1944	Social worker and sociologist
Sir Reader Bullard	1885	1976	Ambassador to Iran, 1943–1945
Robert "Eddie" Cruickshank	1888	1961	World War I Victoria Cross
Sir Leslie Peppiatt	1891	1968	Solicitor
Gilbert Waterhouse	1893	1916	Trench poet
Sir Kenneth Peppiatt	1893	1983	20th Chief Cashier, Bank of England, 1934-1949
Anthony Jacques Mantle, DFC	1899	1988	World War I Distinguished Flying Cross
Sir Wilfrid Sheldon	1901	1983	Paediatrician
Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Charles Newman	1904	1972	World War II Victoria Cross
Flt Lieutenant Leslie Brodrick			World War II List of Allied airmen from the Great Escape
Sir Frederick Warner	1910	2010	Chemical engineer
Denis Quilley	1927	2003	Actor
John Bromley	1934	2002	Sports broadcasting executive
Sir Neil Macfarlane	1936		Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam1974–1992
Graham Edward Alfred Kentfield	1940		The 28th Chief Cashier - Bank of England (1991–1998)
Martyn Turner	1948		Political cartoonist
David Pannick	1956		Barrister
Michael Richard Lynch	1965		The first British-based internet billionaire entrepreneur
Alan Davies	1966		Comedian and actor
Martin Fitzpatrick	1967		Head of Music ENO
Hari Kunzru	1969		Novelist
Samantha Smith	1971		Former British No. 1 ladies tennis player
Peter Erskine			Chief Executive Officer, O2 plc
Joe Lovejoy			Chief Football Writer, The Sunday Times
Adam Foulds	1974		Novelist and poet
Russell Lissack	1981		Lead Guitarist, Bloc Party
Andy Saull	1988		Professional Rugby Player, Saracens FC
Samantha Spiro	1968		Actress
Norman Suckling	1904		Biographer, composer, pianist, writer on music, and educator
Ed Gleave	1985		Showbiz reporter, Daily Star Sunday newspaper
Bobby Friedman	1985		Author, John Bercow biography made bestseller list

The Old Bancroftian Association

The Old Bancroftian Association (OBA) started in 1892 when the Old Bancroftians' Football Club was formed, although there were already a few unofficial groups which had been around since the 1860s. The first meeting was held in 1896 at the Haunch of Venison in Fleet Street. However, a constitution was not agreed until 1909, when the first President, H.C Playne^[3] (who was also the school's Head Master), was appointed. The idea of the association was to keep young and old members together.

The association grew rapidly over the years and in 2005 membership for life was introduced for all Bancroftians, by which time there were 3,175 members.^[4]

The association provides many services for former members of the school including reunions and various sports teams, including cricket, rugby and golf.

References

1. ^ The Drapers' Company - Francis Bancroft's Trust, accessed May 2008
2. ^ KLQ 2009
3. ^ The Old Bancroftians Association
4. ^ Bancroftian Network: A Brief History of the OBA

External links

• Official website
• The Virtual Learning Environment
• Profile at the Good Schools Guide
• Old Bancroftians website