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Islington green school trashed by ofsted itn london news report 04 02 2005
Islington Green School was a comprehensive mixed secondary school from 1966 to 2008. The school was situated in North London and had an age range of 11 to 16. The City of London Academy, Islington replaced Islington Green School in September 2008.
Contents
- Islington green school trashed by ofsted itn london news report 04 02 2005
- Islington green schools
- Notable alumni
- Head Teachers
- References
The school controversially failed its Ofsted inspection in 1997. The school had received a respectable 38 per cent pass rate the previous year and despite shortcomings the staff were convinced that the school was not failing. The decision caused the school to "implode". The headteacher under enormous pressure to make visible changes discarded mixed-ability teaching, many teachers decided to leave and the pass rate dropped below 25 per cent. The school went through nine inspections before it finally came out of special measures in 2000 and serious weaknesses in 2003.
Ken Muller, a teacher at the school and SWP activist, made a request to Ofsted under the new Freedom of Information Act to see the documents relating to the judgment. Twenty working days later, he got a reply. Most of the documents had been destroyed, said the email, but there was one that might be of interest. Attached was a memo dated November 1997, from HMI Barry Jones to the then chief inspector Chris Woodhead, making clear that the HMI team, of which Jones was a member, had disagreed with Ofsted's judgment, and noting that they were "of the unanimous view that the school was not failing".
Peter Hyman, former speech writer for Tony Blair, decided to leave politics and teach at Islington Green School. He wrote a book of his experiences, '1 Out Of 10: From Downing Street Vision To Classroom Reality'.
Students from the school were featured in Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall in the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)".
The school was used as a location to film the BBC drama That Summer Day, a fictional account of the effect the bombings of the London public transport system on 7 July 2005 had on six children. Some of the school's younger students were allowed to be extras in the film.