Central Foundation Boys' School

Central Foundation Boys' School

Motto	Spe Labore Fide
Established	1865
Type	Voluntary aided school
Religion	No specific religion
Headteacher	Mr J Brownhill
Specialism	Business & Enterprise
Location	Cowper Street, City Road London Greater London EC2A 4SH England
Local authority	Islington
DfE number	???/4614
DfE URN	100458
Ofsted	Reports
Staff	110
Students	805
Gender	Boys
Ages	11–18
Houses	None
Colours	Black and Blue
Website	Central Foundation Boys' School

Central Foundation Boys' School is a voluntary aided secondary school for boys aged 11–18, situated in the London Borough of Islington, just off Old Street Roundabout on Cowper Street, EC2.

Admissions

It is located in the main business district of London with excellent transport links at Old Street station. The Old Street area is easily reached from as far as Stevenage with the local London Buses, London Underground services and the First Capital Connect service from Moorgate to the Hertfordshire area. The school is a specialist Business and Enterprise College.

It is situated just east of Old Street A5021 and City Road A501 (Inner Ring Road, London) roundabout, south of Shoreditch on the eastern edge of Islington borough. It lies in the parish of St Leonard's, Shoreditch.

The school is split into two parts. The secondary school and the sixth form which is part of the Islington Consortium and is linked with two other schools in the Islington area. The secondary school runs from Year seven (sixth grade) to Year eleven (tenth grade). The school slogan is Spe Labore Fide, a latin phrase, translated as 'Hope, Labour, Faith.'

Its sister school is Central Foundation Girls' School in Tower Hamlets. Both schools are beneficiaries of the charity Central Foundation Schools of London,^[1] which in turn is a beneficiary of The Dulwich Estate, successor to the historic Alleyn's College charity.^[2]

Staff

There are around 100 members of staff in Central Foundation School which includes teachers, learning assistants, cleaners, technicians, cooks/dinner ladies and librarians.

The current Headteacher is Mr Jamie Brownhill.

Buildings and grounds

The School now has four blocks of teaching areas and the number of pupils taught in the school is 840.

Many improvements have been made in recent years, including refurbishment of the Laboratories and the provision of up-to-date computer suites; the latter was provided with the assistance of funds raised from a number of major companies and Old Boys of the school.

The most recent major improvements are the provision of a multi-purpose sports area on land adjoining the school that had been acquired by the Governors and the introduction of computers and interactive whiteboards into all classrooms. The school have expanded into their refurbished additional premises, in the adjoining wing of the site that used to house Shoreditch Magistrates Court, now that their 100 year lease from the trustees has run out.

Renovation projects

The school regained the west wing building of the school in 2007, after its 100 year lease as the Shoreditch Magistrates Court ran out. It became a part of the school grounds in 2009-2010 onwards.

The school has also sold the car-park, tennis court and the Astroturf in 2007 for an estimated £8.5 million. This area has been demolished and will become a new block of flats (the BÉZIER) which is open.

The renovation project that the former Shoreditch Magistrates Court had undergone was completed in early November 2008, at an expense of a reported £5.6 million. Designed by Dunthorne Parker Architects this new facility houses the entire Business Department and Technology Department, both with refurbished equipment. It also contains the school's ICT Department and 6th Form Area, whilst having two state-of-the-art multi-purpose gyms on the lower ground level. This is accompanied by brand new changing room and shower facilities, with lockers and new lavatories. It is also home to a brand new Learning Resources Centre, spread over two floors with over 30 computers, and over 15,000 books and 200 DVDs available for loan. In addition to all these facilities, on the top floor of the new building is a 150-seater Lecture Theatre, complete with projector and screen. The entire building is disabled-user friendly, with lifts and ramps available to move around the building. The opening of the new Court Building has expanded the size of the school dramatically, and will be extremely beneficial to the students who attend Central Foundation Boys' School.

History

It was established in 1865.

Grammar school

It was a boys' grammar school, run by the Central Foundation Schools of London, known as the Central Foundation Boys' Grammar School on Cowper Street. In the 1960s it had around 500 boys with a three-form entry.

Comprehensive

It started to became a comprehensive in September 1980 gradually year-by-year. It remained a three-form entry school, and did not amalgamate with nearby schools. In 2003, Diane Abbott, a local MP, was offered a place for her son, but she turned it down to send her son to City of London School.

Headmasters

• Henry Abel 1918-22
• Richard Wormell 1874-1900
• Mr Tomkins Mid-70s
• Mr Barnes Late 70s

Notable alumni

• Barney Clark, actor
• Danny Foster, member of pop group Hear'say
• John Halls, footballer
• Charlie G. Hawkins, actor
• Lee Hurst, comedian and TV presenter
• Martin Kemp, musician, Spandau Ballet, actor
• Karim Kerbouche, ice hockey player
• Trevor Nelson, DJ
• Reggie Yates, TV presenter and radio DJ

Central Foundation Grammar School for Boys

• Montague Arnold, Chairman from 1971-81 of BPC Publishing, and Chief Executive from 1982-4 of the Property Services Agency
• David Barbarossa drummer & percussionist with Adam And The Ants and Bow Wow Wow
• Sir Ernest Benn CBE, publisher and writer, uncle of Tony Benn
• Selig Brodetsky, Professor and Emeritus Professor of Applied Mathematics from 1924-48 at the University of Leeds, Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Institute of Physics. Past President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews
• Jacob Bronowski, mathematician, biologist and historian and Director from 1950-9 of the Coal Research Establishment. Author of The Ascent of Man and writer & presenter of the BBC documentary series of the same name
• Stanley Chapple, conductor
• Prof Aubrey Diamond, Professor of Law from 1987-99 at University of Notre Dame, and President from 1988-90 of the British Insurance Law Association
• John Forrest, pioneer of preventative dentistry, and President of the British Society of Periodontology and British Endodontic Society
• Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner, barrister, Deputy High Court Judge, member of the Bank Of England Financial Services Law Committee (2002-05), non-executive chairman of Arcadia Group Ltd
• Prof Max Hamilton, first President of the British Association Of Psychopharmacology, inventor of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and former President of the British Psychological Society
• Lee Hurst, comedian & broadcaster
• Martin Kemp, actor and bassist with Spandau Ballet
• Dr Nyman Levin, Director from 1959-65 of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
• James Loring CBE, Director from 1967-80 of the Spastics Society, and President from 1978-84 of the International Cerebral Palsy Society. Author of 'Teaching The Cerebral Palsied Child' (1965)
• Prof Ashley Montagu, Professor of Anthropology from 1949-55 at Rutgers University
• Paul Moody, Chief Executive since 2005 of Britvic
• Sir Gilbert Morgan OBE, former Mason Professor of Chemistry at the University of Birmingham
• Trevor Nelson MBE, broadcaster and DJ
• David Peacock, Professor of Chemistry from 1922-40 at the University of Rangoon (now the University of Yangon, Burma) and chemical adviser from 1942-5 to RAF Bomber Command
• Daniel Pedoe, mathematician
• Woolf Phillips, orchestra leader
• Max Rayne, Baron Rayne, property developer, supporter of medical, educational, religious and arts charities
• Prof Norman Rydon, Professor of Chemistry from 1957-77 at the University of Exeter
• Leonard Sainer, businessman who helped to set up Sears plc
• Ronnie Scott, jazz tenor saxophonist and founder of the world-renowned club Ronnie Scott's
• Richard Seifert, architect who designed Centre Point, Tower 42 and King's Reach Tower
• Reuben Smeed CBE, transport researcher known for Smeed's law
• Prof Alan Stuart, Professor of Statistics from 1966-82 at the LSE
• Christos Tolera, actor, artist, model & vocalist with Blue Rondo A La Turk
• Brig George Webb, commanded the 1st Royal Tank Regiment from 1942-5
• Dennis Wesil CBE DSO, in charge of developing the UK's postal code system
• Barrie Whipp Founder & Executive Chairman, Crimson Tide Plc

Achievements

The school's GCSE results and its value added scores are above the National Average for both boys and girls in the country having been low from the start of the century. The school also has a 100% pass rate^{[citation needed]} during A Levels.

The school has also been nationally recognised for its excellent work on an anti-bullying initiative known as the Anti Bullying Massif (ABM). The ABM runs a peer-mentoring scheme counselling young people, operates an anonymous teacher to student or student to student referral process and raises awareness through workshops and assemblies about bullying in their school and local area. The team have won awards such as The Diana, Princess of Wales Anti-Bullying Award for their excellent work.

The school also actively encourages many extra curricular activities, taking part in the Shakespeare Schools Festival annually and having recent success with the prestigious Young Enterprise scheme. Links with Capco and other firms in the City have also been established via workshop sessions throughout the year. The Carnegie Medal and Pupil Parliament are just some of the other activities the school's students take part in.

These are some of the many aspects of the schools work which led OFSTED to report in 2006 that the school was good in every aspect and that its care of students was "outstanding".

It gets GCSEs at the England average but its A-level results are well below-average.

References

1. ^ Central Foundation Schools of London, Registered Charity no. 312695 at the Charity Commission
2. ^ The Dulwich Estate, Registered Charity no. 312751 at the Charity Commission

External links

• Central Foundation Boys' School website
• Central Foundation Schools of London, Registered Charity no. 312695 at the Charity Commission
• Profile at Direct.gov
• EduBase