Davenant Foundation School is a Christian

Ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

, founded in 1680, currently in Loughton, Essex, England.

History

Foundation in Whitechapel

In February 1680 the Reverend

Ralph Davenant Reverend Ralph Davenant founded Davenant Foundation School in February 1680, when he left £100 in his will to start up a school for 40 poor boys of Whitechapel, London. 1492-1680 and before he died he was half way through making Davenant founda ...

, rector of St Mary's Whitechapel, drew up his will, leaving all of his household goods and plate to his wife with the provision that it should eventually be sold and that the monies raised should be used to build a school for 40 boys of Whitechapel in the

East End The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

of London. In addition to this bequest, a number of properties were also given over to the school so that rents and capital could be raised. These consisted of a farm at Sandon near Chelmsford, the site of Tilbury Fort and land on which the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway was built. Funds raised thereby went towards the additional educating of 34 poor girls. Boys were to learn reading, writing and arithmetic, whilst the girls were to learn reading, writing and sewing. A site for the proposed school was found in the Whitechapel Road on the Lower Burial Ground. The old school buildings still stand there. In 1813, Davenant earned itself the title of 'Cradle of the National Schools of England'.

Monitorial system

Dr Andrew Bell Andrew Bell (27 March 1753 – 27 January 1832) was a Scottish Episcopalian priest and educationalist who pioneered the Madras System of Education (also known as "mutual instruction" or the "monitorial system") in schools and was the founder of ...

invented a system for educating hundreds of children with only one Master assisted by senior boys. This became known as the

monitorial system The Monitorial System, also known as Madras System or Lancasterian System, was an education method that took hold during the early 19th century, because of Spanish, French, and English colonial education that was imposed into the areas of expansion. ...

. 1,000 children (600 boys and 400 girls) were educated by this system in a new building which was erected in Davenant Street. The charity school continued to function in the original buildings which were eventually enlarged in 1818 to accommodate 100 boys and 100 girls. The school by now maintained two institutions educating 1,200 children – extraordinarily large for 1818. The third strand of the school came into being in 1858 when a Commercial or Grammar School was built in Leman Street under the direction of the Reverend Welden Champneys, the then Rector of Whitechapel. In 1888 the two charities of Whitechapel and Davenant merged to become 'The Foundation School'.

New buildings

In 1896, the new Renaissance Building was erected behind the 1818 building providing additional classroom space and an assembly hall which remains. In 1939 the school was evacuated and the buildings were taken over by the Heavy Rescue Service. In 1944 the school became Davenant Foundation Grammar School for Boys, a title which it retained until 1980. By then it educated only some 200 boys.

Move to Loughton

In 1965, at the invitation of the Essex County Council, the school moved to the suburb of Loughton.

Comprehensive and coeducational school

The school continued as a two-form entry boys' grammar school until 1980. In that year Her Majesty

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 ...

made her second visit to the school, to celebrate 300 years since its founding. The school returned to co-educational status and developed as a Christian Ecumenical School for 1,000 girls and boys. The school also gained specialist status as a Language College and a Sports College.

Academy

The school converted to academy status on 1 April 2011.

Television

Davenant students appeared on Channel 4's ''Teens'' programme in 2015.

House system

A new house system was introduced in 2005 with the school being divided up into six houses, one for each form in each year. The houses are named after places in the school's surrounding area. The houses were: * Debden - Mascot: Dragons - Colour: Red * Abbey - Mascot: Angels - - Colour: Blue * Valley (after

Roding Valley Roding may refer to: * River Roding, Essex and Greater London, UK * Roding Automobile, an automotive manufacturer based in Germany * Roding, Germany, town in the Upper Palatinate of Bavaria * Roding, sound produced during the mating display of sn ...

) - Mascot: Lions - Colour: Yellow * Epping - Mascot: Tigers - Colour: yellow * Nazeing - Mascot: Shark - Colour: Purple * Theydon (after Theydon Bois) - Mascot: Phoenix - Colour: Green The initial letters of the house names were D, A, V, E, N, T; which are the letters that make up the school's name - Davenant (minus the repeated letters). Each house had a mascot, house colour, sixth form house prefects, and a member of staff as head of house. In 2019, the house system was changed. The houses stayed as individual form groups, while three new houses were introduced. The houses are: * Gillingham - With forms D and E in this house * Salisbury - With forms A and N in this house * Whitechapel - With forms V and T in this house These houses are named after significant places in Davenant's history.

Rugby

The school has been on four rugby tours so far; Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and South America. On the tour to South Africa the team won 3 matches out of 5; while on this tour Davenant played a team which came from the local townships. The Canada tour in 1994 was more successful as all 5 games were won.

Notable former pupils and staff

* James Brokenshire, Conservative MP for Hornchurch since 2005. He was appointed the Northern Ireland Secretary in July 2016 in Theresa May's cabinet. * Sir Samuel Goldman , civil servant and banker * Phil Piratin, Communist MP for Mile End from 1945 to 1950 * Sir Martin Roth, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge from 1977 to 1985 and president of the

Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental health ...

from 1971 to 1975 *

Leslie Solley Leslie Judah Solley (15 December 1905 – 9 January 1968) was a British politician and barrister. Solley was born in London and educated at Davenant Foundation School then the University of London. He worked as a scientist and then a barrister. ...

, Labour MP for Thurrock from 1945 to 1950 (expelled from the Labour Party in 1949 for opposing the North Atlantic Treaty) * Carl Jenkinson, Charlton Athletic,

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and West Ham United footballer, 2003–10 * Naomi Scott, actress, singer and musician, star of ''Aladdin'' *

James Bransgrove James Arthur Bransgrove (born 12 May 1995) is a retired professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Enfield F.C. Bransgrove was signed by Brentford from Waltham Abbey in 2012, and a year later he was signed to Colchester United's A ...

, Colchester United footballer

Cycling event

The school was the start and end point for the 2017

London–Edinburgh–London London–Edinburgh–London ''(LEL)'' is a randonnée bicycle event of approximately over an out-and-back course between the capital cities of London (England) and Edinburgh (Scotland). It has been described as a contender for hardest cyclin ...

cycle ride.

References

Ofsted reports on Davenant Foundation School

External links

Davenant Foundation School
Official School website

old boys' memories site {{authority control Educational institutions established in the 1680s 1680 establishments in England Academies in Essex Secondary schools in Essex Loughton Relocated schools