The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy is a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

secondary school located in the

Thornton Heath Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around north of the town of Croydon, and south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the Co ...

area of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, South London, named after Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089.

History

The school was founded in 1931 as a boys' school in Thornton Road, Thornton Heath, near the junction with Mitcham Road and is close to

Mitcham Common Mitcham Common is 182 hectares (460 acres) of common land situated in south London. It is predominantly in the London borough of Merton, with parts straddling the borders of Croydon and Sutton. It is designated a Site of Metropolita ...

. In 1953 work began on a new school nearby in Mitcham Road, being opened in 1956 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher. On 9 August 1961, 34 boys and 2 members of staff from the school were killed when their plane crashed near Stavanger Airport, Sola,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The fiftieth anniversary was marked by a book published in summer 2011, ''The Lanfranc Boys'' by Rosalind Jones, sister of Quentin Green, one of the victims. The school converted from

secondary modern 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 usuall ...

status to comprehensive in 1970, merging at the same time with the girl's school of the same name. It became a comprehensive foundation school in 1998, administered by

Croydon London Borough Council Croydon London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, electing 70 c ...

. The Archbishop Lanfranc School converted to academy status in September 2014 and was renamed The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy. However, the school continues to coordinate with Croydon London Borough Council for admissions. The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy featured in the 2014 fly-on-the-wall documentary, '' Tough Young Teachers''.

Description

The Ofsted report of June 2009 states that the school "is a specialist sports college serving a part of Croydon of considerable ethnic and cultural diversity. The school is average in size and has a significantly higher proportion of boys than girls. The proportion of pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational need, is above average. The school holds several national and local awards including the National Association for Able Children in Education (NACE) Award and the Investors in People standard."OFSTED report on 2009 inspection, retrieved 2 August 2009
/ref> There is a Nursery overseen by the governing body, and judgements about its effectiveness were included in this report. The privately run Lanfranc Pre-school was inspected and reported on separately. The report stated that the quality of education provided by the school was at least satisfactory in all respects with some key aspects as good and others outstanding.

Notable former pupils

Paul Oakenfold Paul Mark Oakenfold (born 30 August 1963), formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer, remixer and trance DJ. He has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Mas ...

, record producer, DJ, remixer * Wayne Alexander, boxer * Hannah Barrett, '' The X Factor 2013'' contestant, 2007–2012 * Wayne Routledge, footballer, 1996–2001 * Moses Swaibu, footballer, 2000-2005 *

Fuse ODG Nana Richard Abiona (born 2 December 1988), better known by his stage name Fuse ODG, is a British singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "Antenna" and " Dangerous Love", and for featuring on Major Lazer's " Light It Up ...

, rapper, 1999–2004 * Jermaine McGlashan, footballer 2007–present * Carmaine Walker, England footballer, 2003–2004 * Stuart Humphryes, film and video colouriser, 1981–1986 * Dale Jasper, footballer

Headteachers

*James Harper (?–1977 *Ronald Blackman (?–1983) *Robert Pope (1983–1994) *David Clark (1994–2014) *Michael del Río (2014–2021) *Simon Trehearn (2021-Present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Archbishop Lanfranc School Secondary schools in the London Borough of Croydon Educational institutions established in 1931 1931 establishments in England Academies in the London Borough of Croydon Thornton Heath