Holland Park School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Holland Park School

motto =
established = 1958
address = Airlie Gardens
city = High Street Kensington
state = London
country = United Kingdom
type = Comprehensive Secondary
founder =
head_label = Headmaster
head = Colin Hall| students = c. 1500
grades = Y7 - Y13
free_label_1 = LEA
free_1 = High Street Kensington/Notting Hill Gate
free_label_2 = Reference
free_2 =
free_label_3 = Age Range
free_3 = 11 - 18
colours = Black and Blue
website = [http://www.hollandparkschool.co.uk Holland Park School Homepage]

Holland Park School was opened in London, UK, in 1958. It became the flagship for comprehensive education, and in its heyday had over 2000 in the student body. It became known as the "socialist Eton" [http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/views/obituaries/2007/07/19/allen-clarke-64375-19476711/ The Liverpool Daily Post (July 2007)] ] , and a number of high-profile socialists sent their children to Holland Park School, adding to its reputation as a left wing institution. Tony and Caroline Benn notably sent all 4 of their children to Holland Park School. [http://news.independent.co.uk/education/education_news/article2614545.ece The Independent (Jan 2008)] ]

Education at Holland Park

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Holland Park School philosophy was to ensure large student numbers (over 2000) with the idea that the resulting size would enable more subject choices for the students. Indeed, amongst the more typical foreign languages, both Russian and Spanish were taught.

In the early 1960s, each school year was divided into A,B,C,D, and E streams up until the 3rd year. As the groups were so large, they were again divided, typically into 3. Later the "A" "B" etc grading was considered to be bad for children's self-esteem, so "A" "B" and "C" were replaced by "H" "P" and "S" (Holland Park School).

In the 1970s, under the inspirational idealist Derek Rushworth, streaming was totally scrapped in favour of total egalitarianism. Another aspect of egalitarian thought was that many school traditions were scrapped and in the 1970s there were no awards for academic achievement, in order not to demoralise low achievers. Dr Rushworth nevertheless favoured high achievement in niche areas, and himself continued to teach Latin to children who requested lessons.

The theory was that poorly achieving students would perform better if not segregated, but rather immersed in an equal learning environment. Some argue that such and educational philosophy causes teaching to drop to the lowest common denominator, and in the 1990s the school began to revert to more traditional teaching practices.

Loyalists of the egalitarian approach argue that the experiment was never given a proper chance: Holland Park was the only fully comprehensive school in a borough where middle class parents tended to favour private schools. Therefore, by definition, it was a sink school and thus some argue that the comprehensive experiment was never fully realised. Critics counter that the school was on a downward spiral and "more of the same" would only have worsened the situation. They hold that the school's improved performance when it returned to more traditional values is evidence the comprehensive experiment was doomed from the outset.

Traditionally, relatively few lower school pupils progressed to the sixth form; rather, it was established practice for pupils to join the Holland Park sixth form from other London schools.

chool organisation

The school was divided into houses. The houses were named after famous social reformers and abolitionists: William Wilberforce (1759-1833), Charles James Fox (1749-1806), Zachary Macaulay (1768–1838), John Newton (1725-1807). Joseph Addison (1672-1719) wrote the famous play Cato about freedom and liberty.

Some houses had special additional badges for optional private purchase. Maine had a large circular badge with a background of the house colour and the scales of justice. Each house was also subdivided into tutor tets.

Only two days a week did the entire school assemble. Wednesday was house assembly, whilst the other two days were for tutor groups within the house setting.

chool publication

In the 1976-7 the school magazine was called "Andarkol", formed from Holland Park School and was the name of the cartoon dog which appeared throughout. ["Andarkol", issue 1, p1.] The magazine contained poetry, music reviews, cartoons, as well as articles about school plays, sports and student-contributed essays on comprehensive education and the representation of the school in the press. Before "Andarkol" the school had a magazine called "Feedback", which ended in 1974. ["Andarkol", issue 1, p1.]

Students now receive a booklet about upcoming events around the school every half-term.

*"Alpha" (1958-?) [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/18/db1801.xml The Telegraph (July 2007)] ]
*"Feedback" (?-1974)
*"Andarkol" (1976-1979)

chool crest and colours

The school's crest is a fox holding a dahlia in its teeth. The crest was emblazoned on the breast pocket of the navy jacket, worn as part of the school uniform. The choice of a dahlia as the flower was chosen in homage to Lady Holland, the principal landowning family in the area, who had introduced the flower to England in the early 19th century. [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2155975,00.html Guardian (August 2007)] ]

The school's crest is no longer on the uniform, which instead has an "@" symbol on the breast pocket. The school colours used to consist of a white shirt with a navy jacket. Now it is a black jacket with a light blue shirt.

chool building and land history

In 1808 William Phillimore (1748-1814), signed an agreement for the development of over 19 acres of land, which now is roughly occupied by Holland Park School and Queen Elizabeth College, north of Duchess of Bedford Walk. This contained seven particularly grand houses with large gardens. They were completed in 1817 after Phillimore died. Throughout the nineteenth century, and until the Second World War, they had a series of notable occupants. At one time in the nineteenth century the approach road was thought to be known as Dukes' Row, because two of the houses were occupied by Dukes: Argyll and Bedford and another, by the Earl of Airlie. The original intention was to create high-rise public housing, but subsequently after much local opposition, plans were advanced for what became Holland Park School which opened in 1958. Of the seven great houses on this part of the Estate only Thorpe Lodge (the home from 1904 until his death in 1950 of Montagu Norman, for many years Governor of the Bank of England) survives as and administrative building of Holland Park School and Kensington and Chelsea College. KCC and a local Greek school are just some of the organisations that use the school after hours.

The school adjoins the famous Holland Park gardens in London. Prior to the building of the school a beautiful old mansion stood on the site complete with gate house, and apple orchard. The gate house, Thorpe Lodge, remains standing at the entrance from Campden Hill Rd and, in the 1970s, became an exclusive area for sixth form students. Local residents formed an action group to stop the building of the school, and its members included the futurepoet laureate John Betjeman. These lobbyists were unsuccessful—the demolition began around 1957 and the first comprehensive school opened in 1958.

A 2008 proposal to redevelop the site has drawn widespread criticism from local residents including Tony Benn who denounced the scheme as "absolutely wrong, they're putting market forces above the children." [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23498586-details/Tony+Benn+joins+fight+to+stop+Holland+Park+fields+being+sold+off/article.do]

Headmasters

* Allen Clarke (1958-1971)
* Derek Rushworth (1971-?)
* Margaret Pringle (1980s - 1990s)
*Mary Marsh (?-2001
* Colin Hall (2001-Present)

Notable alumni

* Derek Abbott, scientist [ [http://www.eleceng.adelaide.edu.au/people/profiles/academic.html#abbott Abbott biography] ]
* Jenny Abramsky, director of BBC radio, [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/executives/jennyabramsky.shtml Abramsky biography] ]
* Joshua Arnold-Forster, United Nations researcher, son of writer Mark Arnold-Forster
* Stephen Benn, politician, Son of Tony Benn and Caroline Benn
* Joshua Benn, Son of Tony Benn and Caroline Benn
* Hilary Benn, politician [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article724810.ece The Sunday Times (May 2006)] ] , son of Tony and Caroline Benn
* Melissa Benn, journalist, daughter of Tony and Caroline Benn
* Oliver Bradbury, starred in "Nobody's Hero" [ [http://freespace.virgin.net/greg.taylor1/watched_it/nhero.htm Information on "Nobody's Hero"] ]
* Guy Burnet, actor
* Lady Emma Douglas [http://www.geocities.com/posh-boy/chap_6.htm Memoirs of Robbie Fields] ]
* Omid Djalili stand-up comedian and actor
* Yazz (Yasmin Evans), singer
* Robbie Fields, owner of Posh Boy Records label
* Florat Fraiser, daughter of lady Antonia Fraser, writer
* Prince Kadir Devlet Sultan Guirey, Prince of Crimea, descendant of Genghis Khan
* Princess Selima Sultane Guirey, Princess of Crimea, descendant of Genghis Khan
* Helen Handbury, philanthropist [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article394997.ece The Times (Nov 2004)] ]
* Anjelica Huston, the Oscar-winning actress [ [http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/article728716.ece The Sunday Times (Feb 2006)] ]
* Katerina Koneva, murdered by Andrezej Kunowski [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3586357.stm BBC Report on Koneva murder] ]
* Alan Parker, PR magnate [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/men/article1496875.ece Sunday Times profile on Alan Parker] ]
* Polly Toynbee, writer
* Emily Young, sculptor, daughter of author/politician Lord Kennet
* Drummie Zeb aka Angus Gaye of Aswad
* Alex Russell, Molly Russell, Rupert Russell, Toby Russell, and Victoria Russell—the children of director Ken Russell
* The children of blues musician John Mayall
* The children of blues musician Alexis Korner

Notable teachers

* Terry Furlong, English teacher [ [http://knittingcircle.org.uk/terryfurlong.html Obituary of Terry Furlong (Head of English)] ]
* Dr Derek Rushworth, Headmaster, former Major in The Rajputana Rifles Indian Army, obtained his doctorate at the Sorbonne.
* Andy MacKay, Music Teacher [ [http://www.vivaroxymusic.com/andy.shtml Andy McKay biography] ] , went on to become the saxophonist for the group Roxy Music.
*Mary Marsh, former head teacher now chief executive of the NSPCC.
* Bertram Pockney, Russian scholar [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article474262.ece The Times (Aug 2004)] ]
* Lord Scantlebury, geography teacher
* Mike Walling, English teacher, was a winner on the TV show New Faces in the late 1970s. He starred in the British television sitcoms "Brush Strokes" and "The Smoking Room".

Holland Park timeline of events

* In 1970, journalist George Gale, then editor of "The Spectator", claimed that Holland Park girls were running a vice ring at the school.
* In 1973, the school snubbed the wedding of Princess Anne by working through the national holiday granted to schools and giving children another holiday in lieu.
* In 1978, the Slits, an all-female punk rock group, performed at the school featuring on-stage masturbation as part of their act.
* In 1980, the Skids Art-punk band performed a surprise concert in the playground outside the library.
*In 2007, the school was featured in a news bulletin on ITV1's "London Tonight" commenting on the controversial plans to build a new school, set to cost £60 million.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.hollandparkschool.co.uk/the-school/history Holland Park School website]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/education/03/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/207_4320.stm BBC League Table for Holland Park School]
* [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/15654 TV Documentary]
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article620770.ece Sunday Times article (Aug 2006)]