Raine's Foundation School

Admissions

It is situated in the north of Bethnal Green, just to the east of Cambridge Heath Road (A107) and half a mile south of the Regent's Canal and not far from the Cambridge Heath railway station. It is opposite the London Chest Hospital, just off the Old Ford Road (B118) and in the parish of St James-the-Less, Bethnal Green. It is one of six schools in the borough that has a sixth form.

History

Henry Raine had made a good sum of money from selling alcohol. However he was a devout Christian, and he knew that he should use his wealth for good. He decided to found a school where poor children could get a free education. He built it in Wapping, where he lived and named it "the Lower School". It opened in 1719.

"The Lower School", was designed to provide an education for fifty boys and fifty girls between the ages of 8 and 18 years. They would learn "the three Rs", which were reading, writing and arithmetic. Girls however were also taught to sew and to cook, and boys were also made to shovel coal underground for the school's heating, and to scrub the floors. This was done in between periods.

Boarding school

In 1736 Henry built and set aside money for a boarding school which would take on forty girls from the Lower School. It was known as "Raine's Hospital" and later "Asylum"(this did not have the connotations it has today). It would have been quite pleasant, with clothes being provided along with frequent meals.

The boys and the girls were separated at first and the boys would be beaten if caught talking to a girl. Because of this a fence was put up between the boarding and lower school.

In 1820, a new boys' school was opened as there was a large increase in boys at the lower school which was only a boys' school, the girls had the boarding school but were soon to move to the Lower School. It was opened in Silver Street by the Duke of Clarence who was later King William IV.

In 1883, the boarding school closed and a new boys' and girls' school opened in Cannon Street Road. Not all places were free anymore, it was 3d a week for the preparatory school and 6d for the senior school.

Former site

In 1913, the school moved to Arbour Square in Stepney, the building still stands today and is part of Tower Hamlets College. It was state of the art with its gymnasium, science laboratories, a girls' cookery room and in World War I a rifle range was built on the open rooftop for boys who could prepare for the army which they would fight in against the Germans. The separation for boys and girls continued until 1964, even the hall was separated by a hinged folding wooden dividing wall.

Comprehensive

In 1977, Raine's merged with St Jude's Secondary School and became a comprehensive school.

In 1985, the school moved to Old Bethnal Green Road (the lower school for years 7 and 8), and the old Parmiter's building in Approach Road. Both are in Bethnal Green and remain there until today. The Upper School site is being redeveloped from Summer 2010 as part of the Building Schools for the Future project. This will result in Year 9 being based in the Lower School building.

Motto

The motto was devised when the school opened. It was:

"Come in and do your duty to God and man".

It has, however, been changed to:

"Come in and learn your duty to God and man".

Ethos and events

The general ethos of the school has a friendly feel to it. The social integration of the pupils is good, as is their relationship with the teachers. Events include talent shows held regularly in the school at the end of terms. These are occasions when the pupils can show off talents or skills to their fellow pupils. The most recent was at Summer 2009.

Uniform

When it first opened it had a boys' uniform: cap, long coat with buttons (the neck button always had to be done up), tights and high heel-like shoes. The girls had: a coat, skirt and a hat.

Current boys' uniform

Black blazer with school badge; white shirt; school tie;

plain V - necked black or navy pullover (cardigans and hooded tops are not permitted);

black trousers (not denim or corduroy); plain black leather shoes (boots are not permitted);

plain dark socks.

A plain navy or black coat or anorak. Plain blue or black scarf.

No hats or caps to be worn in school

Jewellery – small stud earrings; one in each ear lobe, a small cross and chain and a watch only

The girls' uniform

French blue skirt or French blue tailored trousers;

school blouse; plain V - necked navy or black pullover (cardigans and hooded tops are not permitted);

school blazer (optional); white or black socks;

plain black or neutral coloured tights;

plain black leather shoes with a low heel (boots are not permitted).

A plain navy or black coat or anorak. Plain blue or black scarf.

Jewellery – small stud earrings; one in each ear lobe, a small cross and chain and a watch only

Summer uniform

White Raine's polo shirt

Blue skirts (girls) and black trousers (boys)

Black shoes

Subjects

Unlike in the past, Raine's teaches a number of subjects stretched across a six period day. The list below gives times per week for Key Stage 3, not the number of times if taken for options.

The subjects taught now are:

English x7

Maths x7

Science x10 (Year 7), x7 (Year 10 onwards)

D.T. (Design and Technology) x1 (Year 7, Year 9), x2 (Year 8)

Textiles

Graphic Skills

Resistant Materials

Art (becomes weekly in Year 9)

Computer graphics (Year 9 only)

French/Spanish x2

Religious Studies x5

Physical Education x8

History x3

Geography x2

Information Technology x1

Business Studies (Only available as an option)

Skills x1 (Year 7, Year 8)

Citizenship x1 (Year 10 onwards)

Preparation for Adult Life x1 (until Year 9)

Music x1

Drama x1 (Year 7, Year 8, Year 9)

Compulsory subjects for GCSEs:

Maths

English

Science

Religious Studies

ICT

Physical Education

Citizenship

The subjects in italic do not have to be taken for GCSEs, but an allocated number of periods per week for these lessons must take place.

Headteachers and Heads of Years (2014)

Headteacher: MR.HULLET

Deputy (lower): Mr. Metcalfe

Deputy (upper): Mr. Hullett

Assistant headteacher: Mr. Childs

Head of Year 7: Mrs OMO-BARE

Head of Year 8: Mr Blenman

Head of Year 9: Mr. JENKINS

Head of Year 10: Mr. Leighton

Head of Year 11: Ms. Ayling

Heads of Sixth Form/Year 13: Mr Childs & Ms. Chandler

Bursar Jonathan Edwards

Partnership with China

The school has recently begun a relationship with a school in China. Chinese are currently visiting the school. Opportunities within the relationship will include foreign exchange trips from both England and China.

Chinese lessons currently take place after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A new teacher has taken over the lessons.

In 2007, some teachers and sixth form students went on a residential trip to China to visit its partner school, and it was an incredibly successful and enjoyable trip for all.

Success story

The school's athletic department is top in P.E. The football teams usually gets through to the borough finals along with the basketball and athletics teams. The Girl's Athletics team have won the borough athletics league for 7 years in a row.

Also the Math Challenge with EPGY is run every year with students who excel in Mathematics. It is an annual course in which pupils must sit an entrance exam.

The future

In 2006, the school received £17 million which will be spent on refurbishing both lower and upper schools which are aging rapidly. At some point in 2008 it is proposed that lower and upper schools will temporarily be merged in order to allow building work to take place at the lower school site with the current building being demolished. Due to its age, the upper school buildings shall remain but the interiors will receive refurbishment. The old Headteacher, Gordon Clubb, moved from temporary Head to a permanent position in 2007-2013.

Academic performance

It gets GCSE and A level results slightly under the England average. GCSE results are generally high in Tower Hamlets LEA. Raine's gets the second highest A level results in the borough.

Notable former pupils

Notable past pupils include:

Eddie Marsan (born 1968), actor

Simone Callender (born 1978), judoka

Franz Drameh, actor

Jocelyn Jee Esien, comedian

Keith Uddin (born 1979), record producer/songwriter

Phillips Idowu (born 1978), world champion triple jumper, 2006 Commonwealth Games gold and 2008 Olympics silver

Leon Knight (born 1982), professional footballer

Anwar Uddin, footballer

Terry Skiverton footballer

Raine's Foundation Grammar School

Georgia Brown, Actor, Singer

Steven Berkoff (born 1937), actor, writer and director

Prof Gerald Dworkin, Herbert Smith Professor of European Law from 1993-7 at King's College London

Sidney Bloom, restaurant proprietor, founder of Bloom's restaurant

Leonard Fenton, actor who played Dr Harold Legg

Norman Giller (born 1940), sports historian and television scriptwriter

Prof David Glass, Professor of Sociology at the LSE from 1948–78, and former President of the British Society for Population Studies

Sir Samuel Goldman CB

Mildred Gordon, Labour MP from 1987-97 for Bow and Poplar

Prof Cyril Hilsum CBE (born 1925), physicist and academic, President from 1988-90 of the Institute of Physics who developed the semiconductor laser

Rt Rev Alfred Charles Holland, Bishop of Newcastle, Australia from 1978–92

Prof David Keen, geologist and expert on the Quaternary era

Ralph Leigh, Rousseau scholar, Professor of French at the University of Cambridge from 1973–82

Prof Nathaniel Lichfield, town planner notably involved with Milton Keynes and Peterborough, and Professor of Environmental Planning from 1966-79 at UCL

Ivor Mairants (1908-1998), jazz and classical guitarist, teacher and composer

Alfred Maizels, economist

Ann Mitchell (born 1939), actress

Prof Walter Thomas James Morgan CBE (1900-2003), pioneer of immunochemistry, Professor of Biochemistry from 1951-69 at the University of London and Director from 1972-5 of The Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine

Denis Naylor (born 1940), renowned artist http://community.saa.co.uk/art/denis-john-naylor

Tony Rivers (born 1940), singer

Dr Arthur Seldon CBE, economist

Michael Varah (1944-2007), 800m runner, son of Chad Varah, who competed in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

John Coborn (born 1941), zoo director and author of many animal care books.

Peter Inns (born 1955), actor, most notable role is playing Kiosk Keith in the hit ITV TV series, 'I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here'.