- Fortismere School
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Fortismere School 
Established 1983 (William Grimshaw in 1902) Type Foundation school Headteacher Ms Helen Anthony Specialisms Maths and Computing, Music and Modern Languages Location Tetherdown (South Wing), Creighton Avenue (North Wing)
Muswell Hill
London
N10 1NS (South Wing)
N10 1NE (North Wing)
England
Local authority London Borough of Haringey DfE number ???/4032 DfE URN 102156 Ofsted Reports Students 1614 Gender Co-educational Ages 11–18 Colours blue, black Website Fortismere on the Hill Coordinates: 51°35′34″N 0°09′03″W / 51.59285°N 0.15095°W
Fortismere School is a mixed, community foundation secondary school in Muswell Hill, London, United Kingdom.
Contents
Admissions
It falls under the London Borough of Haringey Local Education Authority. The school is situated on an extensive site a little west of the town centre, with main entrances in Twyford Avenue and Tetherdown (South Wing), and Creighton Avenue (North Wing).
To gain entrance to the sixth form, high performance at GCSE is needed.
It is situated just off the A504.
History
The first school on the site was Tollington School, a private boys' school.
Grammar schools
After World War II, this became a state grammar school and the attached preparatory school became Tetherdown Primary School (this moved from the site in 1958 when it exchanged premises with the girls' grammar school). In 1958 the current building was erected and Tollington High School for Girls and Tollington Grammar School for Boys merged to become Tollington Grammar School (co-ed). In the 1950s William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School opened on an adjoining site in Creighton Avenue.
Creighton Comprehensive school
With the introduction of comprehensive education in Haringey in 1967, Tollington Grammar School and William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School were merged to form Creighton School on Creighton Avenue. Sir William Grimshaw was a local councillor. Charles Loades, head of William Grimshaw since 1958, became head, and remained until his retirement in 1974.[1]
In the early 1970s, Creighton School became the centrepiece of a Labour Party education experiment. Situated in the middle class largely white suburb of Muswell Hill it was decided to integrate a large number of Afro-Caribbean and other ethnic minority children into the school from distant parts of the borough in an attempt to maximise education choice and social interaction - a policy based heavily on the then United States system of desegregation busing. In 1975, before this new intake had worked through the school, around one third of the Sixth Form was either a first-generation immigrant, or had a surname of Cypriot or Asian origin.[1] The head who was charged with overseeing this experiment was Molly Hattersley, the wife of Labour Party minister Roy Hattersley.[1]
As a part of the continuing debate about comprehensive schools, Creighton school became the subject of a series of articles in the Sunday Times and a subsequent book by Hunter Davies, "The Creighton Report",[1] illustrated by an A Level Photography student at the school.
Fortismere School
Entrance to the North wing
After further reorganisation, Creighton School and another comprehensive, Alexandra Park School, were combined under the new name of Fortismere School. It opened in September 1983 and gained Technology College status in 1997; this status has been extended to 2007. The school is now one of the most successful comprehensive schools in North London.
In the summer of 2006, the school's governors made a proposal to change the school's status to that of a foundation school. The governors argue that the increased autonomy from the LEA that foundation status provides would be beneficial to the school,[2] which critics argue that the proposal is an attack on the school's comprehensive nature and would lead to a reduction in provision for pupils with special educational needs.[3]
Foundation status
On September 1, 2007, Fortismere became a Foundation school, as well as taking on a new joint specialist status in Maths/Computing with Music and a secondary specialism in Modern Languages. In December 2009, it was announced that the Head, Aydin Önaç, would be leaving in July 2010, at the end of the current academic year, after 5 years at the school. He will be joining St Olave's and St Saviour's Grammar School in Orpington, Greater London as their new Head. Mr Önaç is a prize-winning pianist.
Notable alumni
Joel Defries, current co-presenter of BBC's Blue Peter children's TV programme
Tollington School
- Kenneth Alfred Biggs GC
- Felix Aprahamian, classical music concert organiser
- Michael Casson OBE, potter
- Air Vice-Marshal Grahame Dawson CBE CB, Chief Engineering Officer from 1938-40 of RAF Fighter Command, and in charge of engine repairs during the Battle of Britain
- Sir Hugh Ellis-Rees CB, UK Permanent Representative to the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC - became the OECD in 1961)
- Tom Lyon CBE, became Chairman of the Clam Brummer Group adhesives company, and formed the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in 1965 from the Federation of British Industries, the National Association of British Manufacturers, and the British Employers Confederation
- W. J. MacQueen-Pope, theatre historian
- Guy Marrian CBE, Professor of Chemistry in Relation to Medicine from 1939-59 at the University of Edinburgh and endocrinological biochemist who identified the steroids pregnanediol and oestriol
Tollington Grammar School
- Chris Gilbey, music industry executive and composer
- Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi, husband of Josephine Hart
- Captain Ian Shoobridge, helicopter pilot
- Prof David Skilton, Professor of English since 1988 at Cardiff University
- Sir John Sorrell CBE, designer, owner of Newell and Sorrell, and Chairman from 1994-2000 of the Design Council
- Anne Weyman OBE, Chief Executive from 1996-2008 of the Family Planning Association
William Grimshaw Secondary Modern School
- Dave Davies (rock singer) [4]
- Ray Davies (rock singer) [4]
- Rod Stewart (rock singer) [4]
Creighton Comprehensive School
- Toby Young, author and journalist
- Dexter Fletcher, actor/TV personality
See also
- former Tollington Park Secondary School in Morden
References
- ^ a b c d Hunter Davies The Creighton Report: A Year in the Life of a Comprehensive School, (1976), Hamish Hamilton. ISBN 0-241-89412-3.
- ^ Fortismere School Governing Body (PDF). Fortismere School – Foundation Status Informal Consultation. http://www.fortismere.haringey.sch.uk/docs/Gov%20Docs/FSC.pdf.
- ^ Keep Fortismere Comprehensive campaign. "Keep Fortismere Comprehensive". http://www.keepfortismerecomprehensive.co.uk/. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ a b c Dafydd Rees & Luke Crampton,Q Encyclopedia of Rock Stars, (1996), Dorling Kindersley, ISBN 0-7513-0393-3
External links
- Fortismere School website
- Fortismere School Sixth Form
- The Old Tollingtonians Society
- Fortismere School Association
- Fortismere Alumni website
- Fortismere Art & Photography Department Flickr Website
- Fortismere Art Department Blip.tv Channel
- Fortismere UKIERI London-Delhi International Linking Project
- EduBase
Schools in Haringey Primary Schools Campsbourne School • Coldfall Primary School • Crowland Primary School • St Mary's Priory RC Infant School • St Francis de Sales RC Infant School • St Aidan's Voluntary Controlled Primary School • St James Church of England Primary School • St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School • Rhodes Avenue Primary School • St Mary's Priory RC Junior School • St John Vianney RC Primary School • Rokesly Infant School • Rokesly Junior School • Muswell Hill Primary SchoolIndependent and Public Schools Public Schools: Highgate School.
Other Independent Schools: Assunnah Primary School • Avenue Pre-Preparatory School • Channing School For Girls • Excelsior College • Greek Secondary School of London • Islamic Shakhsiyah Foundation • North London Rudolf Steiner SchoolMaintained Schools, (Secondary) Alexandra Park School • Fortismere School • Gladesmore Community School • Greig City Academy • Heartlands High School • Highgate Wood Secondary School • Hornsey Secondary School for Girls • The John Loughborough School • Northumberland Park Community School • Park View Academy • St Thomas More RC School • Woodside High SchoolSpecial Schools Independent special schools: Kestrel House School • The London School for Children with Cerebral Palsy • TreeHouse School
State: Blanche Nevile School • Moselle School • The Vale School • William C. Harvey SchoolFormer Schools Bruce Castle SchoolCategories:- Education in Haringey
- Educational institutions established in 1983
- Mathematics and Computing Colleges in England
- Music Colleges in England
- Language Colleges in England
- Foundation schools
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