Mulberry Academy Shoreditch is a comprehensive

co-educational 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 ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

for students aged between 11–18 in the

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

neighbourhood of the Borough of Tower Hamlets in

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 ...

. The school was founded in 1959 as Daneford School, as a result of the merger of Mansford Secondary School and Daniel Street School. Beginning in 1997, the school used different names including Bethnal Green High School, Bethnal Green Technology College, Bethnal Green Academy and Green Spring Academy Shoreditch before adopting its current name in 2018.

History

Mulberry Academy Shoreditch originated as Mansford Secondary School, which was founded in 1896, and Daniel Street School, founded in 1900. In the 1940s, the

Kray twins Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arres ...

attended Daniel Street. In 1959, the two schools merged to create Daneford School (a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of Daniel and Mansford), 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 ...

on Gosset Street. In 1965, Daneford acquired new buildings designed by

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, and became a single-sex school for boys. It acquired comprehensive status in 1973. From the late 1970s, the area of East London around Daneford started experiencing increasing racial tensions, and

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

students at Daneford experienced racist attacks. The Campaign Against Racism in Schools (CARS) was set up at Daneford, and teachers took part in demonstrations campaigning for the

Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was the local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. From 1965 to 1986 it was an ad hoc committee of the Greater London Co ...

(ILEA) to adopt an anti-racist policy. In 1982, The Daneford Trust was founded at the school, a charity that facilitates youth overseas exchanges. In 1997, Daneford School became Bethnal Green High School when it became

and started accepting female students. Shortly after, its name changed again to Bethnal Green Technology College. In 2005, the school went into

special measures Special measures is a status applied by regulators of public services in Britain to providers who fall short of acceptable standards. In education (England and Wales) Ofsted, the schools inspection agency for England and some British Overseas Ter ...

as a result of an

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...

inspection. The headteacher resigned and was replaced by an interim headteacher, Keith Holt. Mark Keary was appointed headteacher in June 2006 and in 2007 the school came out of special measures. Keary was praised by

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

in a 2008 visit for the use of teachers from the Teach First scheme in the school.

Adoption of academy status

In 2010, the school benefitted from a £17 million refurbishment with money from the Building Schools for the Future scheme. Controversially, in July 2011 the governors of the school voted to adopt

status. The decision was said to split the local Labour Party group on

Tower Hamlets London Borough Council Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, also known as Tower Hamlets Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under ...

. The school became Bethnal Green Academy in January 2012 and a

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 ...

was opened in September that year. Bethnal Green Academy was rated 'Outstanding' in an Ofsted inspection in December 2012. In December 2014, a female pupil at the school, Sharmeena Begum, left the UK to join the

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

(ISIL). In February 2015, three more female pupils known as the Bethnal Green trio - Shamima Begum, Amira Abase, and Kadiza Sultana - left via Turkey to join ISIL. Five further female pupils at the school were subject to a travel ban and were made wards of court to prevent them leaving the country. Counter-extremism officers from the

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

investigated the school. In order to shake off the negative associations, the school was renamed Green Spring Academy Shoreditch in 2015. At the request of the

AQA AQA Education, trading as AQA (formerly the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance), is an awarding body in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It compiles specifications and holds Test (assessment), examinations in various subjects at Genera ...

and Pearson exam boards, an independent investigation was launched into allegations of exam-fixing at the school. Its conclusion led to several staff, including the headteacher Mark Keary, being suspended in February 2017. Several teachers left following the disciplinary process. Keary launched an Employment Tribunal claim in response, arguing wrongful dismissal and disability discrimination. In 2019, he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Teaching Regulation Agency. In September 2018, the school was transferred to the control of the Mulberry Schools Trust and renamed Mulberry Academy Shoreditch.

Notable alumni

* Shamima Begum – British teenager who went to ISIL controlled lands to be a bride of ISIL member * Sharmeena Begum – former bride of ISIL member (unrelated to above) * Anwar Choudhury – diplomat * Micky Flanagan – comedian * Andrew Johnson – actor and original castmember on ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' * Isaac Julien – artist and filmmaker *

– gangsters * Michael McMillan – writer and curator * John H. Stracey – former professional boxer * Shafique Uddin – artist *

Michael Watson Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth Boxing Council, Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world titl ...

– former professional boxer

References

External links

* * Daneford Trust - Tony Stevens {{authority control Academies in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Secondary schools in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Bethnal Green