Bancroft's School
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| Motto | Unto God Only Be Honour and Glory |
|---|---|
| Established | 1737 |
| Type | Independent day school |
| Religion | Church of England |
| Headteacher | Mrs M.E. Ireland |
| Chaplain | Rev. I Moore |
| Chairman of Governors | Stephen Foakes, TD, DL, FCIB |
| Founder | Francis Bancroft |
| Location | High Road Woodford Green Essex IG8 0RF England Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Local authority | Redbridge |
| DfE number | 317/6063 |
| DfE URN | 102875 Tables |
| Staff | c.90 |
| Students | 1000 (including 200 in the preparatory school) |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 7–18 |
| Houses | North East West School |
| Colours | Navy blue, Black |
| Former pupils | Old Bancroftians |
| Website | www.bancrofts.org |
Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent school located in Woodford Green, Essex and the London Borough of Redbridge. The school currently has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 200 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School and 800 of whom are pupils of the Senior School. Typically around 10% of students from the school go on to study at either Oxford or Cambridge University, putting the school, as of June 2009, at 68th in the country in terms of Oxbridge acceptances as a proportion of all UCAS applications.[1]
Contents
History
The school was founded in 1737, following the 1728 death of Francis Bancroft,[2] who bequeathed a sizeable sum of money to the Drapers' Company, which continues to act as trustee for the school. Bancroft's began in the Mile End Road in London's East End as a small charitable day school for boys, with an attached almshouse.
The foundation was originally known as Bancroft's Hospital and until the late 19th century also acted as home for almsmen who had been freemen of the Company of Drapers. [3] In 1884 the almshouse was abolished and the school moved to a new site at Woodford Green and the original buildings were demolished; the site is now occupied by Queen Mary, University of London.
The new school in Woodford Green occupies four and a half acres, and the main buildings were designed by Arthur Blomfield, who was also responsible for Selwyn College in Cambridge. Originally there were just a hundred pupils, including sixty boarders, but the numbers grew steadily during the twentieth century until there were nearly one thousand on the roll. The buildings were also extended, with the original Science Block (1910) then further extended (1969/70 and officially opened by Sir Solly Zuckermann), new Assembly Hall (1937), the Adams Building (1964), a new Gymnasium Block (1975), the Preparatory School (1990), the Courtyard Building (2006), new Sports Block (2007), and Preparatory School Extension (2009).
Following the Education Act 1944, Bancroft's became a direct grant grammar school. However, the removal of this status in the 1970s prompted the governors to decide on three courses of action: to discontinue boarding, to admit girls for the first time and become fully independent. Some years later the decision was also taken to build a new preparatory school. These were all completed by 1990; the school now takes half its pupils from age 7, and half the pupils are now girls. In 1997, the government abolished the Assisted Places Scheme, which had helped children from poor families to attend the school; the governors replaced these by Francis Bancroft Scholarships, which were supported by the Drapers' Company and by the residue of Francis Bancroft's original will. These awards are means-tested, and can be worth the entire school fee.
In 2004, a new major building programme began. The Courtyard Building, consisting of new kitchens, a communal atrium, staff offices, further teaching rooms and a new Sixth Form Centre, was opened by Chris Woodhead in February 2006, and a new large Sports Hall was completed at the beginning of the Summer Term 2007. In 2009, a conversion of the old gymnasium into a modern Drama Centre was finished with students enjoying the new facilities available. A large new building for the preparatory school and a second floor in the historic library for additional computer usage was completed in 2010. In 2011, an extension to the recently-built 6th form block comprising a number of new facilities including a separate 6th form library was completed. The school also continues to invest heavily in its IT infrastructure with the roll-out of new hardware and software systems in 2007.
Mary Ireland became headmistress in January 2008, succeeding Peter Scott. She last worked at Christ's Hospital, where she was deputy head to Peter Southern, himself a previous headmaster at Bancroft's. It was announced in October 2015 that Mary Ireland will be succeeded by Simon Marshall as Head following the academic year 2016-2017.[4]
The school team, led by teacher Kevin Gallagher won the Kids' Lit Quiz in 2009 at the world final in South Africa.[5]
Year groups
- Preparatory School
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| Year 3 | Alpha |
| Year 4 | Beta |
| Year 5 | Prep 1 |
| Year 6 | Prep 2 |
- Senior School
| Year | Name |
|---|---|
| Year 7 | Thirds |
| Year 8 | Removes |
| Year 9 | Lower Fourth |
| Year 10 | Upper Fourth |
| Year 11 | Fifth Form |
| Year 12 | Lower Sixth |
| Year 13 | Upper Sixth |
Preparatory School
| Established | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Type | Preparatory day school |
| Head | Joe Layburn |
| DfE number | 317/6071 |
| DfE URN | 132134 Tables |
| Students | 200~ |
| Gender | Coeducational |
| Ages | 7–11 |
| Website | Preparatory School website |
The Preparatory School was founded in 1990 after the senior school had converted from a direct grant grammar to an independent school. Unlike most traditional preparatory schools, the final year is Year 6 (age 11) and not Year 8 (age 13). It is situated near Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green.
Curriculum
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. For the first two years, students study the following subjects: English, Maths, Spanish, German, Combined Science, Drama, Religious Studies, Geography, PSHE, History, PE, Games, Music, Technology and Art.[6]
In the Remove year (Year 8), students also study Latin as well as choosing two languages between French, German and Spanish.
In the Lower Fourths (Year 9) students choose three subjects from Latin, Classics, Ancient Greek, Russian, French, Spanish and German and choose two creative subjects (from Art, Music, Design Technology, Electronics and Drama).
At GCSE level, all pupils take the following common core subjects: English, English Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Four additional subjects are chosen, one of which must be a modern language: Art, DT, Electronics, Music, Spanish, German, French, Latin, Classical Civilisation, Ancient Greek, Religious Studies, Geography, History and Ancient History of which the majority of students[7] choose to specialise in Greek Civilisation .
The school has opted to follow the IGCSE syllabus in Mathematics and English. About a quarter of the pupils take Mathematics a year early, and go on to take Additional Maths in the Fifth Form. A similar proportion take French a year early, and then go on to study a third of the AS Level course and now Critical Thinking as well, with the option to take the AS exam in Critical Thinking at the end of the year.
A-Level students pick four of the subjects from the list that the school offers: Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Critical Thinking, Design Technology, Drama, Economics, Electronics, English Literature, French, Geography, German, Greek, History, Latin, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Physical Education, Physics, Religious Studies and Spanish. There are also courses to AS level in Government and Politics, and Music Technology.
Play Directing, German (beginners), Spanish (beginners), Circuit Training, Creative Writing, Computer programming, Music Theory, Financial Studies, Medicine, ICT (ECDL) and Critical Analysis are also offered to students choosing to continue with only three of their A-Level choices in the Upper Sixth.
Grading system
Pre-GCSE students (Thirds, Removes and Lower-Fourths [up to the last half-term of the year]) are given grades with A to D measuring effort (With A representing the highest level of effort given) and 6 to 1 measuring achievement (With 6 representing the highest level of achievement). GCSE students receive a number grade for achievement ranging from 1 to 9, 9 being a high A*, 8 being an A*, 7 being a A/A*, 6 being an A, and so on, along with three separate letter grades, which are based on a student's attitude, classwork and homework. Students who achieve 9A* or more (usually around 5% of a cohort), will be awarded an honorary scholarship, which also gives the student membership to the Drapers Company. In the sixth form years, grading is carried out using the same letter and number grades as those used for GCSE students, but numeric grades correspond to expected AS or A Level results instead.
Heads
| Name | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|
| Herbert Clement Playne | 1906 | 1931 |
| Thomas Grantham Wells | 1931 | 1943 |
| Sydney Adams | 1944 | 1965 |
| Ian MacDonald Richardson | 1965 | 1985 |
| Peter Campbell David Southern | 1985 | 1995 |
| Peter Scott | 1995 | 2008 |
| Mary Ireland | 2008 | - |
Notable alumni
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The Old Bancroftians Association
The Old Bancroftians Association (OBA) was founded in 1892 when the Old Bancroftians' Football Club was formed, although there were already a few unofficial groups which had been around since the 1860s. The first meeting was held in 1896 at the Haunch of Venison in Fleet Street. However, a constitution was not agreed until 1909, when the first President, H.C Playne[9] (who was also the school's Head Master), was appointed. The idea of the association was to keep young and old members together.
The association grew rapidly over the years, to a size of 3175 members in 2005, when membership for life was introduced for all Bancroftians.[10]
The association provides a range services for former members of the school, including the organisation of reunions and sports acivities, including cricket, rugby golf, and Masonic Lodge.
References
- ↑ Degrees of Success: University Chances by Individual School - The Sutton Trust, see page 18
- ↑ The Drapers' Company - Francis Bancroft's Trust, accessed May 2008 Archived August 15, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://www.bancrofts.org/index.php/senior-school/the-curriculum
- ↑ citation needed
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The Old Bancroftians Association
- ↑ Bancroftian Network: A Brief History of the OBA
