Drayton Manor High School, formerly Drayton Manor Grammar School, is an
academy school
An academy school in England is a state-funded school which is directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control. The terms of the arrangements are set out in individual Academy Funding Agreements. Most ...
located in
Hanwell
Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...
, west
London
London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The school was granted academy status in August 2011. Its emblem is a phoenix rising from a crown with the legend 'Nec Aspera Terrent', which means 'hardships do not deter us'.
History
Drayton Manor High School was founded in 1930 as a county
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
serving local children. With the reorganisation of schools in the
London Borough of Ealing
The London Borough of Ealing () is a London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (UB1, UB2). With a population of 3 ...
and abolition of the
tripartite system
The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the ...
, Drayton Manor received its first comprehensive intake in 1975 and changed its name to reflect this change in status.
In more recent years, Drayton Manor has distinguished itself as one of the borough's top performing state schools. It was awarded
Beacon
A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...
status in 2000 and won the School Achievement Award for Excellence three years in a row. In the 2012
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 ...
inspection report, the school was rated outstanding.
Students are presently allocated to one of four houses:
*
Caladrius - Blue
*
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
- Red
*
Griffin
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late Latin, Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail ...
- Green
*
Pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
- Yellow
Court case
On 28 October 2008, Drayton Manor High School successfully contested a ruling in the
High Court.
Ealing London Borough Council
Ealing London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Ealing in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London.
History
There have previously been a number of l ...
had accused the school of discriminating against children living in poorer areas by only admitting those that lived close to the school.
Notable alumni
*
Kamal Ahmed,
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
Editorial Director (2019-)
*
Adebayo Bolaji, stage and screen actor,
Ghost the Musical
''Ghost'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard.
Based on the hit 1990 romantic fantasy thriller film of the same name, the musical had its world premiere at the Manche ...
,
Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the villai ...
.
*
The Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New H ...
Music Ensemble
*
Vernon Coaker
Vernon Rodney Coaker, Baron Coaker (born 17 June 1953) is a British politician and life peer serving as Shadow Spokesperson for Home Affairs and Defence since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Gedling from ...
, life peer and former Labour MP for
Gedling
Gedling is a village in the Gedling district, in Nottinghamshire, England, four miles northeast of Nottingham city centre. The population at the 2011 census of the ward was 6,817 and 111,787 for the district. Gedling was recorded in the Domes ...
*
Peter Crouch
Peter James Crouch (born 30 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was capped 42 times by the England national team between 2005 and 2010, scoring 22 goals for his country during that time, and ...
, footballer
Hannah J. Davies Guardian journalist
*
Holly Earl
Holly Earl (born 31 August 1992) is an English actress. She is best known for her role as Zoe in ''Cuckoo'', Kela in '' Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands'', Agnes in the Channel 4 TV series ''Humans'' and Nita Clements in the BBC medical dram ...
, actress
*
The Revd Professor Paul Fiddes, DD, theologian
*Sir
Michael Fox,
Lord Justice of Appeal
A Lord Justice of Appeal or Lady Justice of Appeal is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales, the court that hears appeals from the High Court of Justice, the Crown Court and other courts and tribunals. A Lord (or Lady) Justice ...
*
Martin Hancock
Martin Hancock is an English actor best known for his roles as Geoffrey "Spider" Nugent in the English soap ''Coronation Street'' (between 1997 and 2003 and again from 2022 onwards) and as Reg Lund in ''Holby City''.
Early life
Hancock was bo ...
, actor
*
Ellie Harrison, artist
*
Shaparak "Shappi" Khorsandi, comedian
*
Stephen Kinnock
Stephen Nathan Kinnock (born 1 January 1970) is a Welsh politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberavon (UK Parliament constituency), Aberavon since 2015. A member of the Labour Party (U ...
, politician
*
Steve McQueen
Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...
, artist and film director
*
Alan Mehdizadeh
Alan Mehdizadeh ( fa, الان مهدیزاده; born 4 September 1982) is a British-Iranian actor, appearing on stage and screen. He has recently played the role of Monk in Graham Moore's '' The Outfit''. He played the role of Don in the West ...
, West End actor,
Billy Elliot the Musical
''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a coming-of-age stage musical based on the 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay. The plot revolves around Billy, a m ...
,
Kinky Boots
*
Charles Palmer Charles Palmer may refer to:
* Charles Palmer (1777–1851), Member of Parliament for Bath
* Sir Charles Palmer, 1st Baronet (1822–1907), English shipbuilder, businessman and Liberal Member of Parliament, 1874–1907
* Sir Charles Palmer, 2nd Ba ...
OBE, President of the
International Judo Federation
The International Judo Federation (IJF) was founded in July 1951. The IJF was originally composed of judo federations from Europe and Argentina. Countries from four continents were affiliated over the next ten years. Today the IJF has 200 National ...
from 1965–79
*
John Pencavel
John H. Pencavel is a British economist and academic, currently serving as Levin Professor of Economics (Emeritus) at Stanford University, having been at the institution since 1969. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society (1993), Fellow of Un ...
, economist
*
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s.
Born and raised ...
, rock musician
*
Nick Goolab, international distance runner
Head teachers
*Miss Lisa Mills (current Head Teacher, 1 Jan 2020 - now)
*Sir Pritpal Singh (past Head Teacher, 1992 – 31 Dec 2019 )
*Christopher Everest (past Head Teacher)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drayton Manor High School
Academies in the London Borough of Ealing
Secondary schools in the London Borough of Ealing
Hanwell
Educational institutions established in 1930
1930 establishments in England