Ernest Bevin College

History

The school was named after Ernest Bevin (1881–1951), a British labour leader and politician. It was formed through merging the two adjacent schools of Bec Grammar and Hillcroft Secondary Modern in 1971. The school was briefly named Bec-Hillcroft until 1971, at which point it became Ernest Bevin School and eventually in 1996 Ernest Bevin College.

Hillcroft Secondary School, Bec-Hillcroft and Ernest Bevin School ran under the aegis of the Inner London Education Authority until it was abolished by the Education Reform Act 1988. Since then the school has been run by the London Borough of Wandsworth.

Ernest Bevin College has been a specialist college for Sport since 2000. Because of improvement in academic achievement, the college was offered a second specialism in Mathematics and Computing in 2004.

Dress code

Ernest Bevin College, like most secondary schools, has a strict dress code. The school uniform for key stages 3 and 4 (years 7–11) is a white shirt, optional black V-neck jumper, black trousers, black shoes, black blazer with Ernest Bevin phoenix and flames logo on the left pocket, and a colour-striped tie representing the student's year group.

School tie colour

Red, green, purple, yellow and blue are the tie colours representing each year group. When a student joins in year 7, he is given the colour which was the colour to the year 11 the previous academic year. This tie colour remains the same for the remainder of the student's time in school until reaching sixth form.

Prior to 1980, the school was divided into four houses each with a different tie and badge colours: Faraday (green), Shaftsbury (red), Wellington (yellow) and Churchill (blue). Each pupil would remain in their respective house until they left school. In or around 1968, a special sixth form badge was created and, in addition, School Prefects would be entitled to wear a special tie with the standard school motif of a Viking ship upon it. All of this was created to show that the individual had grown to senior status within the school system and was highly thought of as an individual. The house names and colours are in alphabetical order - Churchill, blue - Faraday, Green - Shaftesbury, red - Wellington, yellow. All are named after historical characters, though none with a connection to the school.

Healthy Schools

Ernest Bevin College was one of the first schools to receive Healthy Schools status. The school demonstrates that it gives high importance to healthy eating and sustains that importance in the schools canteen.

Gifted and Talented

The Gifted and Talented programme at the college caters for the top 5-10% of the pupils in each year who are identified as having either all round academic ability or specific talents in areas such as sport, music, art and technology.

The provision for Gifted & Talented pupils at the college is within an inclusive framework, which aims to meet the needs of this range of learners. It acts as s a vehicle for raising expectations and develops exciting, innovative approaches by allowing all pupils to discover, as well as to develop, their gifts and talents.

These pupils are encouraged to achieve their potential through a programme of activities both inside and outside the college. Gifted and Talented pupils have been involved in a range of activities including summer schools, workshops, national competitions and visits to universities.

Year 7 -- Thinking skills including learning styles, creativity and responsibility, puzzle days, Maths Challenge, science classes with Burntwood School on Saturday mornings, ICT SAM Learning and University of Manchester Animation Challenge, Gifted and Talented Sports Day shared with EBC and a primary school.

Year 8 -- ICT Gifted and Talented classes, science classes with Burntwood School on Saturdays, Poetry Slam competition; Latin classes; music trip to Royal Festival Hall

Year 9 -- participation in the Urban Scholars scheme at Brunel University; a science competition challenge day, Aim Higher Road Show, early entry GCSE Geography lessons, joint trip to Belgium with Battersea Park School

Year 10 -- University visit to Cambridge, Science and Geography tasters sessions at Goldsmiths College, summer schools in London, Urban Scholars Scheme with Brunel University, Physical Education 'Goal setting workshop'

Year 11 -- University visit to Cambridge, Urban Scholars scheme at St. Mary's University, summers schools across the UK; Religious Education 'Debating Society'

All pupils who are eligible for the National Academy of Gifted and Talented Youth are enrolled. This gives them access to a national scheme of events run by the Government and enables the pupils to access their comprehensive web pages and study aids.

Individual departments will run separate trip and extra-curricular sessions with pupils they have identified.

Sports at Ernest Bevin College

Ernest Bevin College has a strong sporting tradition running back many years. Since the school's inception, it has managed to produce many professional athletes and sportsmen.

One driving influence was Joe Wilson (1920–2011) who became head of Physical Education at Hillcroft School when it opened in 1960 and remained in this role for 20 years. Unusually Joe's vision was to promote as many competitive sports as possible and he was instrumental in introducing lacrosse to the school in 1964.

Today, this sporting mentality is still a strong presence at the school – the opening of the new sports facilities in 2007 only served to strengthen this.

Sports the school currently participates in, or facilitates students’ participation in, include:

Table tennis at Ernest Bevin College

The current table tennis coach at Ernest Bevin is Mark Smith, (former professional table tennis player). Mark has been a full-time coach at Ernest Bevin College since late 2005. During that time, Mark has created a strong, well-known team – three of his players have been or currently are ranked among the top 50 in the country (Cadet age).

Table tennis is now an integral part of the sporting culture at Ernest Bevin, and most students are aware of the players' activities. In recent months, the club has been expanded to include players from several local primary schools, opening up an entirely new stream of young players and clearing the path for Bevin to tap into local potential – many of these younger students will go on to attend Ernest Bevin, thus furthering their table tennis career.

It is a well-known fact that the current table tennis England Senior Men No. 2 ranked player, Darius Knight, grew up and learned his table tennis in Wandsworth.

Volleyball at Ernest Bevin College

The current long-serving volleyball coach at Ernest Bevin College is John "Lankman" Lowney – a well-recognised and respected name in the world of English volleyball; he is an ex-international, now coach of the junior London Squads, as well as coach amongst many other things at the newly formed Malory Eagles Volleyball Club (formerly White Eagles Volleyball Club and London Malory).

Over the years, Ernest Bevin has won many tournaments in volleyball – most notably so in recent years, the U16 Boys Nationals Title (2008). They were succeeded by Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club in 2009. Today, the college is something of a volleyball 'hub' with London teams such as the former London Malory and White Eagles Volleyball Club and the Dulwich Tuskers using it as their home training venue. For a period of time in late 2008, Putney Volleyball Club also used Ernest Bevin as a training venue.

Many of Ernest Bevin's players have gone on to have involvement with the national squads. In recent years, nine Ernest Bevin players have been invited to attend England trials at various age groups. The Ernest Bevin volleyball set-up had strong links with both the former White Eagles Volleyball Club (now Malory Eagles Volleyball Club) and with the Wandsworth Borough Volleyball Squads who compete both at the London Youth Games and at various age-groups in the junior Nationals tournament each year/season.

Judo at Ernest Bevin College

Judo is one of the four focus sports at Ernest Bevin College and students are offered many opportunities to participate in the sport. The school takes full advantage of its two Olympic mat sized dojo and coaches including ex-student and British Olympian, Winston Gordon, Balmore Ellis, Darren Hawney and Eric Bonti.

Many students take Judo, as it is an after-school club and Daily at lunch time, students wishing to take part in the sport are allowed to. The Judo team is licensed by British Judo Association and is called Ernest Bevin Phoenix Judo Club.

Notable former pupils

Ernest Bevin College has had a number of notable alumni. Some examples include:

Achievements

Ernest Bevin College and Sixth Form Centre has received a number of awards. These include recognition of its specialist schools status and Leading Edge status in recognition of our work as a consultant school.

Healthy Schools Award

Ernest Bevin College was the first secondary school in Wandsworth to be awarded the nationally recognised ‘Healthy Schools Status’ in recognition of its whole school/whole child approach to health.

Education Business Partnership

Ernest Bevin College has been awarded the London Excellence Work Experience Award. The award recognises its long standing commitment to the provision of high quality work experience and its importance in the curriculum.

The FA Charter Standard Award

EBC was awarded the Football Association’s Charter Standard School’s award which is a core component of the FA’s Football Development programme which means the school meet the FA’s standards.

Sport England Sportsmark Gold

EBC was awarded Sportsmark Gold in recognition of its "outstanding physical education and sports provision" by Sport England.