Madani Girls School is an Islamic independent secondary school in
Whitechapel
Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...
,
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, London borough covering much of the traditional East End of London, East End. It was formed in 1965 from the merger of the former Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, metropol ...
,
East London
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...
.
It also operates a college and
alimah programme. The school opened in September 1991.
Building History
The main (southern) school building was originally occupied by Myrdle Street Central School. It was designed in 1905 by
Thomas Jerram Bailey,
[Cherry, Bridget, O'Brien, Charles and Pevsner, Nicholas (2005]
''Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England, London: East Vol 5''
Yale University Press, (p. 439) the Architect of the Education Department of the
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
. Myrdle Street was one of the first of the LCC's "
central school
A central school was a selective secondary education school with a focus on technical and commercial skills in the English education system. It was positioned between the more academic grammar schools and the ordinary elementary schools where m ...
s" that offered higher than elementary education. The building is described in the
Pevsner Architectural Guide
The Pevsner Architectural Guides are a series of guide books to the architecture of Great Britain and Ireland. Begun in the 1940s by the art historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the 46 volumes of the original Buildings of England series were published b ...
for London East as a "unique, outstanding design" featuring two semicircular staircase towers with copper domes.
[ It became a Grade II ]Listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
in 1973.
Notable former pupils of the Myrdle Street Central School include Hannah Billig, a British-Jewish doctor
Doctor or The Doctor may refer to:
Personal titles
* Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree
* A medical practitioner, including:
** Physician
** Surgeon
** Dentist
** Veterinary physician
** Optometrist
*Other roles
** ...
who worked in the East End during the London Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
when she became known as "The Angel of Cable Street". Also Morris Harold Davis, the President of the Federation of Synagogues The Federation of Synagogues is a British Jewish organisation with headquarters in Hendon, London. It comprises a network of 19 constituent and seven affiliated communities.
As well as looking after its member synagogues , the Federation has a beis ...
(1928–1944) and Labour Party politician.
After World War II
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 ...
, it became a special school
Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
and changed its name to Grenfell Special School, which closed on 31 July 1999. In 1977, the school began to be used as a social center for the local Bangladeshi community, including evening language classes.
References
External links
Madani Girls School
{{authority control
Private schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Islamic schools in London
Educational institutions established in 1991
1991 establishments in England
Private girls' schools in London