City of London Academy Highbury Grove (formerly Highbury Grove School) is an 11–18 mixed

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

with academy status, located in the

London Borough of Islington The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough, borough in North London, England. Forming part of Inner London, Islington has an estimated population of 215,667. It was formed in 1965, under the London Government Act 1963, by the amalg ...

, England. It is part of the City of London Academies Trust.

History

Highbury Grove School began life as an all-boys comprehensive in 1967. The founding headmaster was Dr

Rhodes Boyson Sir Rhodes Boyson (11 May 192528 August 2012) was an English educator, author and Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament for Brent North. He was knighted and made a member of the Privy Council in 1987. Early life ...

. It was created out of three former boys' schools in the area, Highbury Grammar School, Barnsbury Boys' School, and Laycock School, as part of a comprehensivisation scheme by the then

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 ...

. Boyson introduced a regime of strict discipline, including

caning Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or han ...

for misbehaviour. Excellent academic results were achieved, and the school was soon heavily oversubscribed. Boyson left in 1974, after being elected a Conservative MP; in the 1980s he was to become an education minister under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The school moved into a new building on the same site in December 2009. In its December 2016 report,

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 ...

described the school as "inadequate", with particular concerns about discipline, pupil progress, and finances. In January 2017, the head teacher Tom Sherrington abruptly left the school, which was put into special measures. This led to the school being taken over in September by the City of London Academy Trust. In September, Ofsted inspectors revisited the school and found a "well-ordered environment in which pupils behave well".

Students

The school has approximately 1,600 pupils. A sizeable proportion of pupils have English as their second language. More than half the pupils are from Black Caribbean, Black African and Bangladeshi groups and about one third of pupils are from Turkish and other minority ethnic groups. Well over half of the pupils have been assessed with learning difficulties, disabilities, or literacy, dyslexia or language needs. There is also an adjoining school called "Samuel Rhodes" that helps people who have special needs and disabilities)

Notable alumni

Adebayo Akinfenwa Saheed Adebayo Akinfenwa (born 10 May 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Nicknamed " the Beast", he was renowned for his physical prowess and goalscoring ability, in a career where he amassed more than 2 ...

– professional footballer for

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

Peter Ebdon Peter David Ebdon (born 27 August 1970) is an English retired professional snooker player who is a former world champion and current coach. Ebdon won nine ranking titles during his career, placing him in joint 14th position (with John Parrott ...

– professional snooker player and former world champion *

Hogan Ephraim Hogan Phillip Ephraim (born 31 March 1988) is an English former footballer. He is a graduate of the West Ham United academy, a former England Under-19 international, and made over 100 appearances for Queen's Park Rangers. His primary position i ...

– professional footballer for

Queens Park Rangers F.C. Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English fo ...

currently on loan at

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

. * Leroy Logan – British author known for contributions to policing in the United Kingdom. Founding member and later chair for 30 years of the National Black Police Association *

Sid Owen Sid Owen (born David John Sutton; 12 January 1972) is a British actor, television presenter and former singer from London, who played Ricky Butcher in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (1988–2000, 2002–2004, 2008–2012, 2022–2023). He a ...

(Ricky Butcher, ''

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 ...

'') – actor *

Joe Swash Joseph Adam Swash (born ) is a British actor and television presenter from London, best known for his role of Mickey Miller in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' and various presenting roles with ITV2. He won the eighth series of '' I'm ...

– actor and television presenter * Frank Warren – boxing promoter *

Jake Wood Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972) is a British actor and podcaster from Westminster, known for his role as Max Branning in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He has also made guest appearances in series including ''Only Fools and Horses'' a ...

(Max Branning, ''

'') – actor * Chris Whyte – footballer

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1967 establishments in England Academies in the London Borough of Islington Educational institutions established in 1967 Secondary schools in the London Borough of Islington