Clapton Girls Technology College

Clapton Girls Technology College

Motto	Wisdom and Togetherness
Established	1906
Type	Community school
Headteacher	Ms Cheryl Day
Specialism	Technology
Location	Laura Place, Lower Clapton Road Lower Clapton Greater London E5 0RB England
Local authority	Hackney
DfE number	???/4302
DfE URN	100278
Ofsted	Reports
Students	981
Gender	Girls
Ages	11–19
Former name	John Howard School
Website	CGTC

Coordinates: 51°33′15″N 0°03′07″W / 51.55423°N 0.05197°W / 51.55423; -0.05197

Clapton Girls Technology College is a secondary school located in Hackney, London, England.

Admissions

There are 900 pupils in the school. Clapton Girls Technology College is amongst the top 5% of schools that have improved nationally. More than half the students that attend are eligible for free school meals and under a third have special educational needs. As well as that, more than 50 languages are spoken at the school and 70% of the students hold English as an additional language.

It is situated north of Hackney town centre on the A102. It is a few hundred metres west of Homerton University Hospital. It lies in the parish of St James, Clapton.

History

On 21 September 1906, the school opened as the County Secondary School for Girls' South Hackney.

Grammar school

In May 1916, the name was changed to Clapton County Secondary School for Girls when it moved to new buildings in Laura Place. Due to WWII, in September 1939, the school was evacuated to Bishop's Stortford. It was called the John Howard Grammar School for Girls, named after John Howard (prison reformer) (1726-90), in 1947 and had around 450 girls. In 1966, the Queen Mother visited the school.

Comprehensive

In 1977, the school absorbed the Clapton Park School, a secondary modern school with 1,000 girls on Chelmer Road in Homerton, and the school adopted the motto Wisdom and Togetherness. It became an 11-16 girls' comprehensive school. Finally, in 1999, the school was awarded Technology College status, hence the new name. The former Clapton Park School has been turned into flats, and was off Glyn Road to the east of the hospital. ^[1]

Clapton Girls’ Technology College enables every student to achieve their best. In June 2008 Clapton GTC achieved an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted report. Following a subject inspection in December 2006, the Maths Department was also awarded an ‘outstanding’. SATs and GCSE results have improved significantly since becoming a Technology College in 1999. The school is in the top 5% of schools nationally for Contextual Value-Added (measuring student progress whilst at the school). By becoming a Leading Edge Partnership school further improvement will be made by meeting even more challenging targets. Clapton GTC’s high quality of leadership and management was also recognised in the last Investors in People assessment in 2007.

As a Technology College, the school receives additional resources to support the curriculum and has excellent facilities. The school site has recently been transformed under the Building Schools for the Future programme, now having newly-built and refurbished buildings, as well as landscaped grounds. The school has a reputation for having a very high percentage of students entering further education and has achieved many awards in recognition of the high quality education delivered, including Artsmark Gold and Inclusion Quality Mark, and the status of Healthy Schools and International Schools.

Clapton GTC Sixth Form which opened in 2007 is now a thriving and exciting learning environment, building on the successes and aspirations of Key Stages 3 and 4. From September 2010 the Sixth Form will operate in collaboration with Our Lady’s Convent High School Sixth Form, giving the opportunity for an increased course offer.

Clapton GTC is the lead school in the Clapton Community of Schools’ Improvement Partnership, a group of schools working together to raise achievement. The schools ‘family’ of nearby primary, special and secondary schools share the school’s expertise and facilities. The school is open on Saturdays and during holidays, providing additional learning opportunities for our students and pupils from primary feeder schools. Parents can also attend adult classes and curriculum evenings.

Academic performance

In the Year 2006, 59% of the students left with 5 A*-C compared to 34% in 2002. The Year 11 Class of 2007 have also received the highest target ever set for Year 11 students in the history of the school.

It gets GCSE and A-level results slightly below the England average.

Notable alumnae

John Howard Grammar School for Girls

• Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota, mother of Sir Nicholas Serota

Clapton Park School

• Helen Shapiro, English singer was a pupil of the Clapton Park School before the merger with John Howard in 1975.

References

1. ^ School history

External links

• Clapton School Website
• EduBase