Clapton Girls' Academy (formerly Clapton Girls Technology College) is a secondary school with academy status located in Lower Clapton, in the

London Borough of Hackney London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, London, England. The school is situated north of Hackney Central on the A102. It is a few hundred metres west of

Homerton University Hospital Homerton University Hospital is a teaching hospital in Homerton in the London Borough of Hackney. It is managed by Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins in the Homerton Fever Hospital, which op ...

. It lies in the parish of St James, Clapton.

Admissions

There are 900 pupils in the school. As Clapton Girls Technology College, the school was amongst the top 5% of schools that had improved nationally. More than half the pupils that attend are eligible for

free school meal A school meal or school lunch (also known as hot lunch, a school dinner, or school breakfast) is a meal provided to students and sometimes teachers at a school, typically in the middle or beginning of the school day. Countries around the world ...

s and under a third have special educational needs. More than 50 languages are spoken at the school and 70% of the pupils hold English as an additional language.

History

The school is located in Laura Place, on the site occupied by

Newcome's School Newcome's School was a fashionable boys' school in Hackney, then to the east of London, founded in the early 18th century. A number of prominent Whig families sent their sons there. The school closed in 1815, and the buildings were gutted in 182 ...

, a fashionable boys' school, from the early 18th century until 1815, and occupied after 1825 by the

London Orphan Asylum London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Grammar school

On 21 September 1906 the County Secondary School for Girls, South Hackney, opened on Cassland Road in Hackney. In May 1916 it moved to Laura Place and changed its name to Clapton County Secondary School for Girls. In September 1939, owing to the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the school was evacuated to

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

.Clapton Girls' Academy school history
Retrieved 22 April 2020. In 1947 the school was renamed the John Howard School, after the 18th century prison reformer

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

, and had around 450 girls. The school motto ''Possunt Quia Posse Videntur'', commonly translated as "they can because they think they can", was adopted in the 1950s, and

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

paid a visit to the school in 1966.

Comprehensive

In 1977 the school absorbed Clapton Park School, a

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

with 1,000 girls on Chelmer Road in

Homerton Homerton ( ) is an area in London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is bordered to the west by Hackney Central, to the north by Lower Clapton, in the east by Hackney Wick, Leyton and by South Hackney to the south. In 2019, it had ...

, and adopted the motto ''Wisdom and Togetherness''. It became a comprehensive school for girls aged 11–16. In 1999 the school was awarded Technology College status and changed its name to Clapton Girls Technology College. The former Clapton Park School, located off Glyn Road near

, has since been turned into flats. In June 2008 Clapton Girls Technology College achieved an "outstanding"

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

report. Following a subject inspection in December 2006, the Mathematics Department was also deemed to be "outstanding". SATs and

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

results improved significantly after the school became a Technology College in 1999. The school also became a

Leading Edge Partnership The Leading Edge Partnership programme was established in 2003 by the Department for Children, Schools and Families in the United Kingdom. The programme's intention was to encourage Secondary schools in England to work in partnership to solve som ...

school, and its leadership and management were also recognised in an

Investors in People Investors in People is a standard for people management, offering accreditation to organisations that adhere to the Investors in People Standard. From 1991 to January 2017, Investors in People was owned by the UK government. As of 1 February 20 ...

assessment in 2007. The school site was transformed under the

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. The programme was ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicia ...

programme, with new and refurbished buildings, as well as landscaped grounds. The school received many awards in recognition of the education delivered, including Artsmark Gold and Inclusion Quality Mark, and the status of Healthy Schools and International Schools. The Clapton Girls Technology College

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

opened in 2007. From September 2010 it has operated in collaboration with the sixth form at Our Lady's Convent Roman Catholic High School, giving the opportunity for an increased course offer.

Academy

On 1 September 2011 the school formally gained academy status and changed its name to Clapton Girls' Academy.

Academic performance

In the year 2006, 59% of the pupils left with 5 A*–C compared to 34% in 2002. The year 11 Class of 2010 have also received the highest target ever set for year 11 pupils in the history of the school. It gets GCSE and A-level results slightly above the England average. In 2013, 71% of pupils left with 5 A*–C including English and Maths. This was a new school record. It had also been inspected by Ofsted earlier that year and was said to be outstanding in all areas.

Notable former pupils

John Howard School

Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota Beatrice Serota, Baroness Serota, DBE (''née'' Katz; 15 October 1919 – 21 October 2002) was a British Government minister and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords. Early life Beatrice Katz was brought up in the East End of London, the ...

(1919—2002), politician *

Josephine Wagerman Josephine Miriam Wagerman (née Barbanel; 17 September 1933 – 16 October 2018) was a British teacher and Jewish leader. She was born in London, the eldest child of Emmanuel Barbanel, a tailor's presser, and his wife Jane (née Limberg), a wai ...

(1933–2018) teacher and first woman President of the

Board of Deputies of British Jews The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...

Clapton Park School

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as possessing "th ...

(b. 1946), singer Clapton Girls Academy

Paigey Cakey Paige Meade (born 18 January 1993) better known by her stage name Paigey Cakey is an English MC, singer and actress, from Hackney, London. In an interview with the MOBOs she revealed that "Cakey" was a childhood nickname, that referred to her p ...

, rapper and actress

References

External links

Clapton Girls' Academy Website

EduBase
{{Authority control Academies in the London Borough of Hackney Girls' schools in London Educational institutions established in 1906 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Hackney 1906 establishments in England Clapton, London