London Borough of Harrow

London Borough of Harrow
—  London borough  —
Coat of arms Council logo
Harrow shown within Greater London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	London
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Status	London borough
Admin HQ	Civic Centre Station Road Harrow HA1 2XY
Incorporated	1 April 1965
Government
– Type	London borough council
– Body	Harrow London Borough Council
– Leadership	Leader and Cabinet (Labour)
– Mayor	Cllr Asad Omar
– MPs	Gareth Thomas Bob Blackman Nick Hurd
– London Assembly	Navin Shah AM for Brent and Harrow
– EU Parliament	London
Area
– Total	19.5 sq mi (50.47 km2)
Area rank	270th (of 326)
Population (2010 est.)
– Total	230,100
– Rank	62nd (of 326)
– Density	11,808.1/sq mi (4,559.1/km2)
– Ethnicity[1]	47.5% White British 3.7% White Irish 4.9% Other White 0.7% White & Black Caribbean 0.4% White & Black African 1.0% White & Asian 0.9% Other Mixed 22.0% Indian 2.5% Pakistani 0.6% Bangladeshi 5.5% Other Asian 3.0% Black Caribbean 3.5% Black African 0.5% Other Black 1.4% Chinese 1.9% Other
Time zone	GMT (UTC0)
– Summer (DST)	BST (UTC+1)
Postcodes	HA , NW
Area code(s)	020
Police force	Metropolitan Police
Website	harrow.gov.uk

The London Borough of Harrow ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a London borough of north-west London. It borders Hertfordshire to the north and other London boroughs: Hillingdon to the west, Ealing to the south, Brent to the south-east and Barnet to the east.

History

Harrow within Middlesex in 1961

Harrow was formed in 1934 as an urban district of Middlesex by the Middlesex Review Order 1934, as a merger of the former area of Harrow on the Hill Urban District, Hendon Rural District and Wealdstone Urban District. The local authority was Harrow Urban District Council.

The urban district gained the status of municipal borough on 4 May 1954 and the urban district council became Harrow Borough Council. The 50th anniversary of the incorporation as a borough was celebrated in April 2004, which included a visit by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1965 the municipal borough was abolished and its former area was transferred to Greater London from Middlesex under the London Government Act 1963 to form the London Borough of Harrow. It is uniquely the only London borough to replicate exactly the unchanged boundaries of a single former district. This was probably because its population was large enough. According to the 1961 census it had a population of 209 080, making it the largest local government district in Middlesex.

Demographics

The presence of Harrow School on the main 'hill' of Harrow has preserved it as a very affluent, leafy area (recent house price averages on the hill were £1,500,000), but the affluence of the hill is now surrounded by typical north-west London suburbia of semi-detached houses and flats.

It is still considered affluent in comparison to other similar areas of London. Crime figures are low; the borough had 1,111 notifiable offences in April 2007, compared with an average of 2,204 across London's boroughs.^[2] Harrow Council is focusing regeneration efforts on areas such as Wealdstone and South Harrow and many new 'key service workers'-type flats are springing up. In the north part of the borough, there is a greenbelt strip of highly affluent housing in the areas of Northwood, Pinner and Stanmore. Its site on and near the greenbelt and ease of access to central London (20 minutes by train to Marylebone and 12 minutes to Euston via London Midland) makes Harrow a good place to live not only for families but affluent singles as well. Rising property prices in all London areas have helped to see a large increase in property redevelopment of its existing Edwardian and 1920s to 1940s housing stock, which in turn is attracting new residents looking for a clean, safe, and relatively green environment to live in, close to central London.

Harrow is considered a borough of "contrasts", with high levels of affluence in such areas Harrow-on-the-Hill, Pinner, and Stanmore and high levels of deprivation in Wealdstone. Save the Children reported in 2011 that over 7,000 children are living in poverty in the Borough.^[3]

Harrow is a diverse borough, having 55.2% of its population from the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) communities, with the largest group being of Indian ethnicity.^[4] Since 2005, on the last Sunday in June Harrow Council hosts Under One Sky - Harrow's largest festival, to celebrate and the joint communities of Harrow.^[5] This has a programme of dance, world music, sports activity, youth music, spoken word, free children's activity, a carnival parade, information and stalls, health promotion, a world food zone and outside radio broadcast. Harrow is the most religiously diverse local authority area in the UK, with a 62% chance that two random people are from different religions, according to Office of National Statistics, Oct 2006.^[6] It has the highest density of Gujarati Hindus in the UK.^[7] A large number of Jewish people live in Stanmore and Hatch End. The Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue boasts the largest membership of any single synagogue in the whole of Europe.^[8]

According to the 2001 Census, approximately 16% of Harrow identified as non-religious, or chose not to state their faith.^[9]

Education

The borough is often perceived as having a good educational record, and features many state-funded primary and secondary schools as well as a handful of large tertiary colleges. The state school system differs slightly from other London Boroughs, with entry to secondary school starting at the age of 12+ as opposed to 11+, following on from middle schools. Similarly, for a long time the secondary schools of Harrow did not feature integrated sixth-form education, with all school leavers having to join the large tertiary colleges such as Harrow College, Stanmore College or St Dominic's Sixth Form College. There have been critics of the tertiary colleges, with many arguing the standard of education does not continue the standard set by the Borough's secondary schools. Indeed, Harrow suffers a significant number of pupils leaving the Borough for their tertiary education. However, as of 2005-2006 session, select Harrow secondary schools introduced sixth forms in the hope to retain more of the pupils and to provide them an alternative to the large tertiary colleges. From September 2010, the primary sector will be modified to enable transfer to secondary education at age 11 in line with other London Boroughs.^[10]

The Borough has a Music Service which provides instrumental tuition for 15% of all Harrow state sector pupils (the national figure is 8% of all state pupils receiving instrumental tuition) and a range of ensemble opportunities for pupils.^[11]

The independent schools of the Borough are dominated by the presence of Harrow School, John Lyon School for boys, North London Collegiate School for girls, and Heathfield School, Pinner for girls,^[12] which consistently rank as among the best schools in the country. Notable independent primary schools include Orley Farm School and Reddiford School, both of which are co-educational.

There are also a number of voluntary aided schools in the Borough. These include: Salvatorian College (Roman Catholic, Boys), Sacred Heart Language College (Roman Catholic, Girls) and Moriah Jewish Day School (Jewish, Co-ed).

There are two special needs high schools; Kingsley High School (Co-ed) and Shaftesbury High School (Co-ed).

Other state secondary schools in the London Borough of Harrow are: Bentley Wood High School (Girls); Canons High School (Co-ed); Harrow High School (Co-ed); Hatch End High School (Co-ed); Nower Hill High School (Co-ed); Park High School (Co-ed); Rooks Heath College(Co-ed); Whitmore High School (Co-ed).

Middle schools include Whitchurch Middle School.

GCSE examination performance

School	A*-C Pass Rate 2008	A*-C Pass Rate 2009	A*-C Pass Rate 2010	English Baccalaureate Pass Rate 2010
Bentley Wood High School	59%	58%	61%	30%
Canons High School	49%	46%	54%	2%
Harrow High School	52%	43%	31%	5%
Hatch End High School	51%	59%	55%	24%
Nower Hill High School	68%	57%	79%	27%
Park High School	66%	72%	66%	15%
Rooks Heath College	37%	42%	52%	11%
Sacred Heart College	76%	86%	77%	53%
Salvatorian College	67%	67%	74%	27%
Whitmore High School	65%	64%	60%	35%
Average for London Borough of Harrow	57.7%	60.8%	60.7%	22.6%
Average for England	47.6%	50.7%	55.2%	15.1%

• The table on shows the percentage of students gaining five A* to C grades, including English and Maths, for state schools in the London Borough of Harrow
• The rightmost column shows the percentage of students gaining five A* to C grades, in five core subjects - maths, English, two science qualifications, a foreign language and either history or geography.

• Source: Department for Education ^[13]

Pupil Exclusions 2007/2008

The London Borough of Harrow has one of the highest pupil exclusion rates in Greater London, coming second to the London Borough of Croydon.

School	No. of Permanent Exclusions		School	No. of One-term Exclusions
Nower Hill High School	0		Bentley Wood High School	68
Bentley Wood High School	1		Canons High School	68
Harrow High School	1		Nower Hill High School	70
Rooks Heath High School	3		Park High School	71
Whitmore High School	4		Whitmore High School	75
Park High School	4		Salvatorian College	87
Salvatorian College	5		Harrow High School	135
Hatch End High School	10		Rooks Heath High School	161
Canons High School	11		Hatch End High School	230

Note: The figures for Sacred Heart High School are not included.

Source: Harrow Observer^[14] The London Borough of Harrow claim that these are the latest figures available.

All of Harrow's pupils have the chance to be elected on to the Harrow Youth Parliament. This is a group of around 50 young people in the Borough who come together to work on projects that benefit other young people. They are also the official youth voice for the Council and are in constant communication with the Council on all youth matters.

Notable residents

Main article: List of people from Harrow

Crime

	HARROW COUNCIL	ENGLAND AVERAGE
Population	215,000	-
Households	83,000	-
Violence against the person	18.6	15.0
Sexual offences	0.8	0.9
Robbery offences	2.5	1.0
Burglary dwelling offences	7.4	4.3
Theft of a vehicle offences	2.0	2.3
Theft from a vehicle offences	7.4	6.3

Districts and postcodes

Further information: List of districts in the London Borough of Harrow

Transport

In April 2009, the borough voted unanimously at a full council meeting to support in principle the proposed North and West London Light railway (NWLLR). Harrow would benefit because all its radial Underground and main-line railway routes would be interconnected by this light-rail system, even though it would not actually pass through the borough.^[15]

London bus route 32, 79, 92, 107, 114, 140, 142, 182, 183, 186, 204, 223, 251, 258, 282, 288, 292, 302, 303, 324, 340, 395, 398, 487, H9, H10, H11, H12, H13, H14, H17, H18, H19, night route N5, N18 and N98.

The numerous National Rail, London Overground and London Underground stations in the borough are:

• Canons Park tube station
• Harrow & Wealdstone station
• Harrow-on-the-Hill station
• Hatch End railway station
• Headstone Lane railway station
• North Harrow tube station
• Northolt Park railway station
• Pinner tube station
• Rayners Lane tube station
• South Harrow tube station
• Stanmore tube station
• Sudbury Hill tube station
• Sudbury Hill Harrow railway station
• West Harrow tube station

See also

• Harrow parks and open spaces
• Harrow Borough F.C.

References

1. ^ Data Management and Analysis Group, Greater London Authority, Demography Update October 2007, (2007)
2. ^ Police web site download in Excel format^{[dead link]}
3. ^ http://www.harrowobserver.co.uk/west-london-news/local-harrow-news/2011/03/17/thousands-of-brent-children-in-severe-poverty-116451-28354694/
4. ^ London against gun and knife crime
5. ^ Under One Sky
6. ^ [1]. National Statistics. Retrieved 8 October 2006.
7. ^ Minority religions mainly in London. National Statistics. Retrieved 5 June 2006.
8. ^ Jewish Agency
9. ^ http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/00aq.asp
10. ^ "School reorganisation to change the ages of transfer". London borough of Harrow. 2009. http://www.harrow.gov.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?categoryID=49&documentID=1361. Retrieved 2009-04-24. 
11. ^ [2]
12. ^ "Welcome to Heathfield School". .gdst.net. http://www2.gdst.net/heathfield/. Retrieved 2010-06-03. ^{[dead link]}
13. ^ [3]
14. ^ Karen Kannair
15. ^ The Times Comment on NWLLR light-rail proposal

External links

• Harrow Council
• Harrow Borough F.C.
• Metros Running Club (Harrow road running club)
• Old Salvatorians (unofficial)
• Harrow Times

Coordinates: 51°34′N 0°20′W / 51.567°N 0.333°W / 51.567; -0.333