Coopers' Company and Coborn School
| The Coopers' Company and Coborn School | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
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St Mary's Lane , , RM14 3HS England | |
| Information | |
| Type | Academy |
| Motto | Love As Brethren |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Christian |
| Established | 1536 |
| Founder | Nicholas Gibson (1536), Prisca Coborn (1701). United in 1891, moved in 1971-1973 |
| Department for Education URN | 136600 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Head teacher | Dr D J Parry MA |
| Staff | Approx 94 teaching staff |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 11 to 18 |
| Enrollment | 1319 |
| Houses | Coborn, Guild, Gibson, Ratcliffe |
| Colour(s) | Red, Blue, Green, Yellow |
| Website | http://www.cooperscoborn.org.uk |
The Coopers' Company and Coborn School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Upminster area of the London Borough of Havering, England.
Admissions
The school is (since 2005) a non-selective school described by Ofsted as "an exceptional school of real excellence". The school excels at Performing Arts and Sports. In 2004 as part of the European Year of Education through Sport it won the award of "Europe's most sport minded school".[1]
There have been no tests since 2001 nor interviews since 2004 for admission. Current applications are made via application form completed by the prospective students' parents and, months later, by a second form completed by the students themselves. This is not an examination but is heavily scrutinised. The school is heavily oversubscribed with approximately 5 applicants for each of the 180 places (Over 900 applicants per year group). Due to this issue, Coopers' recently appeared on an episode of Panorama, filmed by the BBC, to address this issue.
It is situated on St Mary's Lane (B187) about half a mile east of Upminster Station, just over a mile west of the M25, and two miles from junction 29 (A127).
General Information
The school is divided into 5 years, similar to other secondary schools in England. It is one of only a few schools in the London borough of Havering to also have a Sixth form. Other schools nearby, such as Gaynes and Hall Mead do not have this feature. The Sixth form building was built from the ground up, and opened in 2011. The Sixth form is primarily supplied with students from the years below who have graduated in Year 11. However it does allow external candidates from local schools without a sixth form to apply, and a minority of these students are accepted.
The school specializes in Humanities and sports (Geography, History, RE and PE). It has many sporting and academic successes including National Champions in hockey and winning Havering Young Chef of the year.
History
The Nicholas Gibson Free School was founded in 1536 by a prominent citizen of the City of London who earned his living as a grocer. On his death in 1549 Gibson's wife, Avice, took over the running of the school which could take up to sixty boys. In 1552 she asked the Coopers' Company to undertake the management of the School for her and thus the school included the Company's title in its name. The school was situated in Ratcliff, now present-day Stepney.
Prisca Coborn, the widow of a brewer, established a coeducational school in Bow in 1701 as a result of the terms of her will, published in the year of her death.
The school was first housed in a site east of Bow Church, quickly moving to a site between the church and Bow Bridge. In 1814 the school moved to a site which later became part of the Bryant and May match factory. In 1870 the school moved to a site in Tredegar Square.
In 1891 the two foundations were united with the boys moving to Tredegar Square; Coborn, now an all-girls school, moved to 86 Bow Road. In 1898 Coborn School was moved to 29-31 Bow Road where it remained until the move to Upminster. As a result of the amalgamation of the two schools to form the then voluntary aided school, the new site was first occupied in Upminster in 1971 and by 1973 the whole school had moved into these new premises.
The school converted to academy status on 1 April 2011.
Notable former pupils
The Coopers' Company and Coborn School
- Elizabeth Kucinich, (née Harper), wife of US Congressman and former Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich
- Alex Sibley, Big Brother contestant and media personality
- Lorne Spicer, journalist and TV presenter
- Jenny Watson, Chairwoman of the Electoral Commission since 2009, and from 2005-7 of the Equal Opportunities Commission
- Rochelle Wiseman, singer, S Club 8 and The Saturdays
- Rylan Clark, Media personality
- Stephen Peters, cricketer, Essex, Worcestershire and Northamptonshire[2]
- Daniel Barnes, Media personality and Advertising pioneer
- Riaz Amin, Stick Fighting
Coborn High School for Girls
- Dora Gaitskell, Baroness Gaitskell wife of Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour Party 1955-1963
- Elsie & Doris Waters The sisters of Jack Warner (see below). Their stage names were Gert & Daisy and were said to be as big as Bella Emberg in their time [3]
Coopers' Company's School
- Sir William Sydney Atkins CBE, founder of WS Atkins, one of Britain's largest civil engineering companies
- Bernard Bresslaw, actor. Appeared in a number of comedies including some of the Carry On film series.
- David Brewerton, journalist and former City Editor of The Independent
- Arthur Godman, former PoW
- Prof Tim Holt CB, Director from 1996-2000 of the Office for National Statistics and Registrar General for England and Wales, President from 2005-7 of the Royal Statistical Society, and Leverhulme Professor of Social Statatistics from 1980-2005 at the University of Southampton
- Prof Anthony Legon FRS, Professor of Physical Chemistry from 2005-8 at the University of Bristol and from 1984-2005 at the University of Exeter
- Richard Madeley, TV presenter
- Ronald Richardson CBE, electrical engineer and Chairman from 1969-70 of the National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting, and of the North Western Electricity Board from 1964–71
- Arnold Shaw, Labour MP for Ilford South from 1966–70 and 1974-9
- Prof Michael Spyer[dead link], Sophia Jex-Blake Professor of Physiology since 1980 at the UCL Medical School
- Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham, Foreign Secretary (twice) under Harold Wilson (Labour Party) Michael Stewart, Baron Stewart of Fulham
- Jack Warner OBE, actor, Dixon of Dock Green (1955–76)
- Jack Watling, actor
- Christopher Wicking, screenwriter
- R. D. Wingfield, radio dramatist
- Christian Burgess, Portsmouth F.C. Defender
References
- ^ Euractiv - European Year of Education through Sport draws to a close. Retrieved 16 September 2006.
- ^ http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/18513.html
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-13083497