City of London Academy Highbury Grove (formerly Highbury Grove School) is an 11–18 mixed secondary school with academy status in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...

, England. It is part of the City of London Academies Trust.

History

Highbury Grove School began life as an all-boys comprehensive in 1967. The founding headmaster was Dr

Rhodes Boyson Sir Rhodes Boyson (11 May 192528 August 2012) was an English educator, author and Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987. Early life B ...

. It was created out of three former boys' schools in the area, Highbury Grammar School, Barnsbury Boys' School, and Laycock School, as part of a comprehensivisation scheme by the then

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corp ...

. Boyson introduced a regime of strict discipline, including caning for misbehaviour. Excellent academic results were achieved, and the school was soon heavily oversubscribed. Boyson left in 1974 after being elected a Conservative MP; in the 1980s he was to become an education minister under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The school moved into a new building on the same site in December 2009. In its December 2016 Ofsted report the school was described as "inadequate" by Ofsted, with particular concerns about discipline, pupil progress, and finances. In January 2017, the head teacher Tom Sherrington abruptly left the school, which was put into special measures. This led to the school being taken over in September by the City of London Academy Trust. In September, Ofsted inspectors revisited the school and found a “well-ordered environment in which pupils behave well”.

Students

The school has approximately 1,200 pupils. A sizeable proportion of pupils have English as their second language. Over half the pupils are from Black Caribbean, Black African and Bangladeshi groups and about one third of pupils are from Turkish and other minority ethnic groups. Well over half of the pupils have been assessed with learning difficulties, disabilities, or literacy, dyslexia or language needs. As well, there is a school joined to the same building called 'Samuel Rhodes' (a school helping people who have needs and disabilities).

Notable alumni

Adebayo Akinfenwa Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Akinfenwa's professional breakthrough came at Doncaster Rovers, having spent time up until then in the lower leagues of English f ...

(The Beast) - Professional footballer for

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* Charlie Allen - local but Savile Row style tailor and designer. Sometime England kit designer. *Martin Burdfield - Gold medalist in Joinery at Worldskills, Educational consultant, chief examiner and author *Jason Chue ( Wookie) - Musician/Producer/DJ *

Micky Droy Micky Droy (born 7 May 1951 in Highbury, London) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League during the 1970s and 1980s, spending 15 years with Chelsea but also playing for Luton Town, Crystal Palace and Brentford. Playing ...

- Professional footballer for Chelsea F.C. *

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English former snooker player. The winner of the 2002 World Snooker Championship, Ebdon won nine world ranking events, placing twelfth on the all-time list of ranking tournament winners. In addit ...

- Professional snooker player and former world champion * Hogan Ephraim - Professional footballer for

Queens Park Rangers F.C. 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 Ro ...

currently on loan at

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was original ...

Leroy Logan Leroy Hugh Logan is a former police superintendent in the UK. He was both a founding member of the Black Police Association and its chairman for 30 years. Logan left the Metropolitan Police at the rank of superintendent having been involved in ...

- British author known for significant contributions to policing in the United Kingdom. Founding member and later chair for 30 years of the National Black Police Association *

Sid Owen Sid Owen (born David Sutton; 12 January 1972) is an English actor, television presenter and former singer, who played Ricky Butcher in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' on and off since 1988. He also appeared in the tenth series of ''Stric ...

(Ricky Butcher) EastEnders - Actor *

Joe Swash Joseph Adam Swash is an English actor and television presenter, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me ...

- Actor and Television presenter * Frank Warren - Boxing Promoter *

Jake Wood Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972) is an English actor and podcaster, known for his role as Max Branning in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. He has also made guest appearances in series including ''Only Fools and Horses'' and '' Red Dwarf'' ...

(Max Branning) EastEnders - Actor * Chris Whyte Footballer

References

External links

* {{authority control Secondary schools in the London Borough of Islington Academies in the London Borough of Islington Educational institutions established in 1967 1967 establishments in England