Langdon Academy (formerly Langdon School) is a mixed

all-through school All-through schools educate young people throughout multiple stages of their education, generally throughout childhood and adolescence. Definition The term "all-through" can be legitimately applied to establishments in many different circumstan ...

with academy status, located on Sussex Road,

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a Major Centre. The population is 76,186. It was originally part of the Becontree Hun ...

in the

London Borough of Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the s ...

, England. It is situated in East Ham, close to the junction of the

A124 List of A roads in zone 1 in Great Britain beginning north of the River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longe ...

(Barking Road) with the North Circular Road (

A406 The North Circular Road (officially the A406 and sometimes known as simply the North Circular) is a ring road around Central London in England. It runs from Chiswick in the west to Woolwich in the east via suburban North London, connecting ...

): the school playing fields border on to the A406. This is near the eastern end terminus of the A406 with the A13 in

Wallend Wall End (sometimes spelt as Wallend) is a locality in East Ham in East London, located in the borough of Newham. It is a little-used name for the area lying to the north of Beckton between Barking and East Ham. The name stems from an embankment ...

, close to the boundary of Newham and

Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. It lies around 9 miles (14.4 km) east of Central London. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London Riverside section of the Thames Ga ...

and

Barking Creek Barking Creek joins the River Roding to the River Thames. It is fully tidal up to the Barking Barrage (a weir), which impounds a minimum water level through Barking. In the 1850s, the creek was home to England's largest fishing fleet and a Vict ...

. The

River Roding The River Roding () rises at Molehill Green, Essex, England, then flows south through Essex and London and forms Barking Creek as it reaches the River Thames. Course The river leaves Molehill Green and passes through or near a group of eight o ...

runs behind the school in Barking.

Admissions

Langdon Academy is a school for pupils aged 3–16, which admitted its first primary cohort in 2011. A £26 million building works programme has been completed in time for the 2013/14 academic year, in time for the appointment of Principal Chris Mallaband, who left the academy at the end of the spring term. Peter Whittle was the principal between 2014–2018. Now Jamie Brooks is the new principal of the academy.

History

In 1905 a mixed

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 ...

was opened on Barking Road. East Ham Grammar School for Girls was opened on Plashet Grove in 1932, and this became

Plashet School Plashet School is a secondary girls school in East Ham, London with approximately 1,350 students. It was previously a grammar school. In 2009 Ofsted highlighted Plashet as one of 12 outstanding schools serving disadvantaged communities. History ...

, a separate school, in 1972. The Langdon buildings were completed in 1953 on former marshland on the eastern border of

with

Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

, when administered by the County Borough of East Ham. They consisted of three schools: Burges Manor (girls), Thomas Lethaby (boys) and East Ham Grammar School for Boys. The two

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 ...

s, Burgess Manor and Thomas Lethaby, had been newly formed for the site in 1950/1 but the Grammar School had previously occupied a site at East Ham Town Hall and was founded in 1905. It moved from Barking Road to Langdon Crescent in 1952.

Comprehensive

In 1972 the two secondary modern schools and the boys' grammar school were amalgamated to create a large 12-form entry mixed

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

. Newham created thirteen 11–18 comprehensives, later to dispose of many sixth forms in 1992 except for two faith schools. In September 1998 Langdon School was awarded sports college status by the

DFES The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. Th ...

. On 12 October 2005 Her Majesty Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

visited the school and met some children who had been Young Ambassadors to the Olympic vote in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

in July of that year. Former UK Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

also visited in the same year. Visitors from around the world came to visit the school to share in the outstanding progress made there during the Headship of Ms Wiseman, (1992–2009) with the school being awarded three Outstanding grades in OFSTED Inspections, the last being in 2009. Pupils attended the Youth Debate in front of the world leaders assembled for the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. They also met the former President of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

at a rally in London to promote the aims of the Milleninum Goals. Langdon also received many visitors from around the world during this period.

Academy

The school converted to academy status on 1 January 2014 and was renamed Langdon Academy. The school is now sponsored by the Brampton Manor Academy Trust.

Notable former pupils

East Ham Grammar School for Boys

* Barry Bloomfield, President from 1990–2 of the

Bibliographical Society Founded in 1892, The Bibliographical Society is the senior learned society dealing with the study of the book and its history in the United Kingdom. Largely owing to the efforts of Walter Arthur Copinger, who was supported by Richard Copley ...

* Sir

Norman Browse Sir Norman Leslie Browse (1 December 1931 – 12 September 2019) was a British surgeon and President of the States of Alderney from 2002 to 2011. Professional life Between 1965 and 1996, Sir Norman was Professor of Surgery and a Consultant Su ...

, President from 1992–95 of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. The ...

Ronnie Boyce Ronald William Boyce (born 6 January 1943) is an English former professional footballer who played his entire career for West Ham United, making 282 Football League appearances for them. Career Boyce played for England schoolboys football team ...

, midfielder for West Ham United F.C. * John Buck, Ambassador to Portugal from 2004–7 *

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1957 – 13 March 2013) was an English drummer. He was a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Career Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979. Auditioning and joining ...

, drummer * Prof

William Harold Joseph Childs Prof William Harold Joseph Childs FRSE (19 January 1905 – 26 April 1983) was a British physicist and academic author. Life He was born in Bromley-by-Bow in London on 19 January 1905, the son of William and Elizabeth Jane Childs. He was educat ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

, physicist *

Terrance Dicks Terrance William Dicks (14 April 1935 – 29 August 2019) was an English people, English author and television screenwriter, script editor and Television producer, producer. In television, he had a long association with the BBC science-fictio ...

, scriptwriter, especially for ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' * Sir Christopher France,

Permanent Secretary A permanent secretary (also known as a principal secretary) is the most senior Civil Service (United Kingdom), civil servant of a department or Ministry (government department), ministry charged with running the department or ministry's day-to-day ...

from 1992–5 of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and from 1987–92 of the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

* Roy Hammond, Director from 1979–85 of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic (now

Birmingham City University Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 and gai ...

) * Peter Hucker, goalkeeper for

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus R ...

* Derek Johnson,

800m The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

runner who won silver at the

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

Barrie Keeffe __NOTOC__ Barrie Colin Keeffe (31 October 1945 – 10 December 2019) was an English dramatist and screenwriter. Best known for his screenplay for the gangster classic, ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren, Keeff ...

, playwright who wrote ''

The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Set in London, the storyline weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, ...

'' *

Barry Knight (cricketer) Barry Rolfe Knight (born 18 February 1938) is a former English cricketer, who played in twenty nine Tests for England from 1961 to 1969. Cricket correspondent Colin Bateman remarked, "a flamboyant cricketer... nightwas an elegant middle-order ...

, played for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Wolf Mankowitz Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustma ...

, playwright

Langdon Secondary School

* Kane Robinson (Kano) Rapper and Actor *

Kele Le Roc Kelly Biggs (born 5 October 1977 in East Ham, London), better known by her stage name Kele Le Roc, is a British R&B and UK garage singer. Career Biggs began singing at the age of three, and she attended Langdon Comprehensive School in East Ham ...

, Singer * Reece Burke, Hull City defender *

Michael Hector Michael Anthony James Hector (born 19 July 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Charlton Athletic. Born in England, he represents the Jamaica national team. Hector began his career in the youth teams at Millwall an ...

, Fulham defender *

Les Sealey Leslie Jesse Sealey (29 September 1957 – 19 August 2001) was an English professional footballer and coach. He played as a goalkeeper, most notably in the top flight for Coventry City, Manchester United, Aston Villa, and West Ham United. ...

, Retired Professional Footballer *

Izzy Iriekpen Ezomo "Izzy" Iriekpen (born 14 May 1982) is an English former footballer who played as a defender. Club career West Ham United Born in Newham, London, Iriekpen joined West Ham United as a trainee in August 1998. He captained their FA Youth ...

, Retired Professional Footballer

Former teachers

* Dame

Joan McVittie Dame Joan Christine McVittie, (born 1952) is a British head teacher. She graduated from Birmingham University with a BSc in Biological Sciences in 1974.

(Deputy Head Teacher from 1996–98 of Langdon School), President from 2011–12 of the

Association of School and College Leaders The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), formerly the Secondary Heads Association (SHA), is a UK professional association for leaders of schools and colleges. History The Association of Head Mistresses (AHM) was founded in 1874. The ...

* Vanessa Wiseman CBE (Head Teacher from 1992-2009 of Langdon School)

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in the London Borough of Newham Primary schools in the London Borough of Newham Academies in the London Borough of Newham East Ham