Thomas Tallis School

Thomas Tallis School is a large mixed comprehensive school for pupils aged 11-19, located in Kidbrooke in the Borough of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom. The school is a specialist Arts College, Leading Edge School and national School of Creativity.

The School was built in 1971, originally for 850 pupils, but now packs in nearly 1700. It is built on the site of a former RAF airfield. However, the school has now won funding for an entirely new state-of-the-art building, due to open in September 2009.

The school and its facilities

Thomas Tallis currently has two main buildings, which are joined together by two 'links'. In between the two buildings is a concourse area, which is where the majority of students congregate before school and at break times. The buildings remain similar to how they were after construction in 1971;the school was opened in 1973 and that year had its mixed girl boy students the previous two years were based at briset rd off the old rochester way and both years were jusy boys. however the school has expanded with a series of huts being built around the two main buildings. The huts hold classes, meetings and exams. The school also uses two fields and a caged concrete area for recreational purposes. The main field is located to the left after entering the school, while the other field is behind the school itself. Moreover, in 2004 an obstacle course including climbing facilities was constructed behind one of the school buildings on the opposite side of the school to the main field. The school itself has two gymnasia, several computer labs, a specialised deaf support center and various other on-site facilities.

The past

Richard Reid, also known as "The Shoe Bomber," attended Tallis. [cite web|last=Nzerem|first=Keme|title=At School with the Shoe Bomber|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,659184,00.html|publisher=The Guardian|date=2002-02-28|accessdate=2007-03-15] In 1997, one of the school's pupils, fifteen year old Nathan Brown, a member of a triad-style gang called the Golden Snakes, murdered CJ Rickard, 14, a pupil from the neighbouring Kidbrooke School with a 17-inch machete. Six other pupils of the school were jailed for a total of 20 years after admitting conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm with intent. [cite web|title=Cj's Murderer To Appeal Against Sentence|url=http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/archive/display.var.353346.0.cjs_murderer_to_appeal_against_sentence.php|publisher=News Shopper|date=1998-06-20|accessdate=2007-03-15]

Others have been much more positively successful. One instance amongst many: a more recent student at Tallis, Dominic Cooper, originated the role of Dakin in Alan Bennett's play "The History Boys" at the Royal National Theatre, going on to play Dakin on tour in New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong and on Broadway and in film and radio versions of the piece. The school was filmed for some short cut-scenes projected onto a screen onstage at the National.

The A-level class of 2006 was the year of the Scientist, school pupils Ashish Shrestha, Piratheesh Rabendran and Sir Vincent Mong were legends in the school. and to this day they still remain the most popular pupils of all time.

Ashish Shrestha became a Doctor and is currently the head of Oncology at University College hospital.Piratheesh Rabendran has successfully opened a chain of Pharmaceuticals company that has reinvented the way the public buy drugs.Vincent Mong is set to walk the moon after he completes his astronaut training in the US.

The present

In 1998, the school was awarded specialist arts college status and has successfully been re-designated twice. Further recognition of its general excellence and high attainment came when the school was awarded Leading Edge status in 2005. This accolade refers to the fact that the school is seen as being involved in the development of innovative teaching methodologies and ways of increasing the attainment of children. Thomas Tallis School has belonged to the Creative Partnerships network of schools since 2005. In May 2008, the school became one of only thirty schools in the country to be awarded the status of School of Creativity. The school is also acknowledged for its Deaf and Hearing unit (to which several rooms are dedicated), in which deaf and hearing impaired students can interact more socially and achieve good results.

The school has also recently been in the news for being involved in TV chef Jamie Oliver's campaign to improve school dinners in Britain. It features in his TV series "Jamie's School Dinners" - for instance, the students feeling a bit sick as they are shown how a 'Turkey Twizzler' is really made are in one of Tallis's Food classrooms. Since then the menu has changed and a new healthy panini and fair trade cafe has opened.

A text book designed by German publisher [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Klett_Verlag Klett] uses pictures of the school and, as a consequence, German students frequently contact Thomas Tallis in search of pen pals.

The future

The school is part of the British government's Pathfinder Building Schools for the Future programme. Building work on a new school adjacent to the current site begins in 2007 with occupancy of the new school scheduled to take place in 2009. Staff and students (as of October 2006) are actively involved with the architects in the design of the new school.

Notable alumni

*Richard Colvin Reid - terrorist
*Charley Kazim Uchea - Reality TV Contestant in Big Brother 2007 (UK)
*Alex Slater - Reality TV Contestant in Beauty and the Geek (UK TV series)
*Dominic Cooper - Actor
*Sam Spruell - Actor
*Patrick van den Hauwe, professional footballer, attended from 1972-1977
*Nikki Mariam Soetan- A Singer

References

External links

* [http://www.thomastallis.co.uk/ The school's website]
* [http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/communitiessummit/show_case_study.php/00175.html Case Study on the School's Eco Programme by The Sustainable Development Commission]