Plaistow County Grammar School, also known as "Plaistow Grammar" or "PGS", was a local authority mixed gender

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 Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

established in 1945 and located on Prince Regent Lane (A112) in Plaistow, in the County Borough of West Ham and then 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 ...

east London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. It was disestablished in 1972 upon its merging to create a

Comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 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 restricted on the basis ...

History

The school first opened in 1926 as Plaistow Secondary School on the site in the south of the borough, and was designed to cater for 250 pupils A second quadrangle was completed in 1930 increasing the capacity to 600, reaching a similar enrolment to that of West Ham Secondary School (until 1925 known as West Ham Central Secondary School), its counterpart in the north of the borough. In 1930 the school magazine ''The Plaistovian'' (Plaistovian meaning of or belonging to Plaistow) was launched and publication continued until the school was merged in 1972. Among the initial editorial staff was pupil Norman Price who later became Chairman of the Board of Inland Revenue and obtain a knighthood. The Latin motto of the original secondary school was ''Non Quo, Sed Quomodo''. Dr Harold Priestley's book ''Plaistow Sec: The Story of a School'', credits this to Miss M "Maggie" Lamb, MA, an English teacher who joined the school in 1927 and who translated it as "Not to what end, but how" (also translated as "Not by whom but in what manner"), in other words the end does not justify the means or (colloquially) ''"It ain't what you do it's the way that you do it"''. In the 1950s the motto of the County Borough of West Ham, ''Deo Confidimus'' (translated as "In God we trust"), was adopted. After West Ham joined with the

County Borough of East Ham East Ham was a local government district in the far south west of Essex from 1878 to 1965. It extended from Wanstead Flats in the north to the River Thames in the south and from Green Street, London, Green Street in the west to Barking Creek in t ...

and small parts of Barking and Woolwich to form the London Borough of Newham in 1965, the school's motto remained. Before and during the

second world war World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, pupils and staff were evacuated at various times to (briefly)

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in Somerset, then to Weymouth in Dorset, South Molton in Devon, Helston and

Newquay Newquay ( ; ) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a civil parishes in England, civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries with an airport and a spaceport, and a fishing port on t ...

, both in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. The school became Plaistow Grammar School in September 1945 as a result of the Education Act of 1944, and subsequently Plaistow County Grammar School. The school's badge was featured in the 16 July 1960 issue (No.1829) of the British comic The Rover. In 1972, following the 1965 changes in educational infrastructure proposed by the Ministry of Education, the school was merged with Faraday Secondary Modern School of Denmark Street, E13, to become Cumberland Comprehensive School. The name Cumberland Comprehensive was taken from Cumberland Road, which ran past Faraday Secondary Modern and past the Cumberland Road Playing Fields which abutted the grammar school and were routinely used by it for physical education. Cumberland operated across both sites, with the lower school occupying the former Faraday premises and the upper school using the former grammar school buildings.

Houses

Plaistow Secondary School and Plaistow Grammar operated a

House system The house system is a traditional feature of schools in the United Kingdom. The practice has since spread to Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries. The school is divided into units called "houses" and each student is allocated to on ...

to create competition, rivalry and team spirit. Pupils were allocated to one of four Houses – Barking, Regent, Beckton and Cumberland (named after four roads to the north, east, south and west of the school). Each House had a distinctive colour worn for sports and during physical education.

Admissions

The selective admission to the grammar school was gained through the

Eleven plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...

although in some cases pupils were able to transfer from a

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. Secondary modern schools accommodated the majority (70–75%) of pupils ...

school on evaluation by the local education authority.

Curriculum

The broad curriculum was focused on academic rather than vocational education, and included languages, sciences, art, and music subjects, culminating in RSA, CSE, GCE O-level and GCE A-level exams, while other certificates were also offered. Examination results became among the best in the borough, with many pupils gaining entrance to university.

Notable alumni

* Paul Bach, journalist * Joe Brown, MBE, singer/entertainer * Paul Brush, soccer player *Sir Ben Helfgott, MBE, Olympic weightlifter * Fred Jarvis, CBE, trade unionist * Allan Levene, information technology specialist * Malcolm McFee, actor * Chris Stamp, music producer and manager, psychodrama therapist *

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades in ...

, actor

Current use

Cumberland eventually moved to a single site. The borough of Newham adopted a re-organised

sixth form In the education systems of Barbados, England, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wales, and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepa ...

education system, establishing the Newham Sixth Form College which, after some new construction work, moved in to the Prince Regent Lane premises and opened its doors to students in September 1992. The majority of the old, single-storey, Plaistow Grammar classrooms still exist but, over the years, many new buildings have been added by the college.

References

External links

EduBase2
(for Cumberland School) {{authority control Defunct grammar schools in England Educational institutions disestablished in 1972 Defunct schools in the London Borough of Newham Educational institutions established in 1945 1945 establishments in England 1972 disestablishments in England Plaistow, Newham