Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School was a secondary school and

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 ...

located in the Blackheath Standard area of Blackheath, in the

Royal Borough of Greenwich The Royal Borough of Greenwich (, , or ) is a London borough in southeast Greater London. The London Borough of Greenwich was formed in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. The new borough covered the former area of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. Its closure was announced in January 2012 and the school formally closed at the end of August 2014.

History

The Greenwich Blue Coat Girls' School in

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

was founded in 1700 by "several charitable ladies of this town". It is also mentioned by Dorothy George in her book about London life in the 18th Century. One of these ladies was Mrs Margaret Flamsteed, wife of the first

Astronomer Royal Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834. The post ...

John Flamsteed John Flamsteed (19 August 1646 – 31 December 1719) was an English astronomer and the first Astronomer Royal. His main achievements were the preparation of a 3,000-star catalogue, ''Catalogus Britannicus'', and a star atlas called '' Atlas C ...

, who was appointed by King Charles II in 1675. The school began with 30 poor girls who were taken in for four years to be trained in household matters as well as reading, writing and the church catechism. The girls were found positions in service in local houses. The school rented a building in London Street (later Greenwich High Road) and was closely associated with the Parish Church of St Alfege. It moved to Lime Kiln Lane (later South Street) in 1756 and then in 1825 to a site at the top of Royal Hill, later Point Hill, Greenwich. The school remained there until 1959. On the other side of Blackheath, the St John's Church of England National School was founded in 1854 as the first Church of England school in Blackheath for boys, girls and infants. The girls and infants were on a site in Russell Place (now Reynolds Place) and the boys in a local Mission Hall. In 1907 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 ...

withdrew its support from the Boys' School and an appeal was launched to build a new school. The result was the Blackheath and Kidbrooke National Church of England School, built on a site adjoining the old school in Old Dover Road. The school became a secondary mixed school. In 1945 the London County Council felt that the Greenwich Girls' Blue Coat School, which by then was a technical school providing

tuition Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...

in housecraft,

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and needlework to 60 girls aged 14–16, was too small. In 1959 the school amalgamated with the Blackheath and Kidbrooke School to form the Blackheath & Bluecoat School. The old buildings in Point Hill were used as an annexe until 1963 when extensions were completed on the Old Dover Road site. In 1965 the school became known as Blackheath Bluecoat School. A scheme to expand the school came to fruition in 1972 when building began on land adjoining the school. The new school was fully comprehensive with a target role of 1050 pupils including

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 ...

. The school was awarded specialist status in September 2008 and specialised in the learning and teaching of mathematics and computing.

Closure

In 2009 the school became part of a federation with

Saint Cecilia's Church of England School Saint Cecilia's Church of England School (commonly referred to as 'Saint Cecilia's') is a Church of England secondary school in Southfields, south-west London. It opened in 2003 as Saint Cecilia's, Wandsworth Church of England School, and was r ...

in south-west London. However, in September 2011, it was announced that London Borough of Greenwich was considering closing the school and a public consultation process began to decide the school's fate. Closure was confirmed at a council meeting on 17 January 2012. Phased closure started from July 2012, with final closure of the school in August 2014. The Old Dover Road buildings were later (2017–18) used to accommodate the secondary stage of Saint Mary Magdalene Church of England All Through School prior to its move to a new purpose-built school on

Greenwich Peninsula The Greenwich Peninsula is an area of Greenwich in South East London, England. It is bounded on three sides by a loop of the Thames, between the Isle of Dogs to the west and Silvertown to the east. To the south is the rest of Greenwich, to the s ...

. The school was then demolished and the site used for construction of another secondary school,

Leigh Academy Blackheath Leigh Academy Blackheath is an 11–18 mixed, free secondary school and sixth form in Blackheath, Greater London, England. It was established in September 2018 in temporary accommodation, with the first cohort of Year 7 pupils. It is part of ...

Notable former pupils

* Janice Atkinson,

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

MEP *

Duwayne Brooks Duwayne Lloyd Anthony Brooks (born 27 September 1974) is a former councillor in the London Borough of Lewisham. He was a friend of Stephen Lawrence and was with him when he was murdered. Early life Brooks was born in Lewisham to Jamaican paren ...

, friend of

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

and politician *

Janet Daby Janet Jessica Daby (née Sarju; born 15 December 1970) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham East since 2018. A member of the Labour Party, she was Shadow Minister for Faiths from April to December 202 ...

, MP * Paul Elliott, English footballer *

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and w ...

, English footballer *

, murder victim

References

External links

bluecoathistory.co.uk
{{authority control Bluecoat schools Defunct schools in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Educational institutions established in 1700 Blackheath, London Defunct Church of England schools 1700 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in England