Tres Bon (2) - St Bon's illustrious alumni

This is the second of two posts, celebrating St Bonaventure's school 140th anniversary.  The first, here, looks at the first 75 years of the school's history.

This article features some of the school's prominent former pupils.  We are entirely dependent on the school's website for the list of names (see here), although have supplemented these by other details, and in a number of cases, photos from other sources.

The list is selective, but impressive - a testimony to the fine work done by the school.

Sport

Peter Bakare

B 1989. British Olympian. Represented Team GB in Men's Volleyball team in London 2012.

John Chiedozie

b 1960. Footballer. Born in Nigeria. Played for Leyton Orient and signed for a massive £600k for then English First Division team Notts County. Played 110 times and scored 15 goals. Moved to Spurs in 1984, where he spent 4 years, played 53 times and scored 12 goals. Replaced in the team by Chris Waddle.

Patrick Diai

B 1990. Twice university boxing champion - 2010 and 2012. Graduated in Electronic and Computing engineering from Brunel University.

Jermain Defoe

B 1982. Footballer. Started with Charlton; later played for West Ham, Spurs, Portsmouth, Toronto and Sunderland. Currently with Bournemouth. Played 57 times for England, for whom he has scored 20 goals. Currently well known for befriending terminally ill and recently deceased Sunderland fan Bradley Lowery.

Anthony Edgar

B 1990. Footballer. Cousin of Jermain Defoe. Spent youth at West Ham and has played for Dagenham and Redbridge, Yeovil, Bournemouth and Barnet.

Clayton Fortune

B 1982. Footballer. Played for Spurs, Bristol City, Port Vale and Leyton Orient.

Chris Hughton

B 1958. Footballer/Manager. Full back with Spurs, winning FA Cup twice and Uefa Cup once. International career with Irish Republic with 53 caps. Latterly manager, with spells with Newcastle, Birmingham, and Norwich.  Currently Manage of Brighton HA.

Terry Lawless

B 1933, d 2009. Boxing trainer and manager. Based at Royal Oak in Canning Town and responsible for careers of Frank Bruno, Charlie Magri, Jim Watt, Joe Clazaghe and Gary Mason.

Martin Ling

B 1966. Football player and manager. Played for, among others, Brighton and Leyton Orient. Has managed Leyton Orient, Torquay and Swindon Town.

Andre Thomas

B 1989. Until very recently, assistant manager at Clapton FC.

Entertainment

Lance Agyepong - 'Gracious K'

B 1988. Local Grime artist, best known for 'Migraine Skank'. Cousin of Dizzee Rascal.

Charles Babalola

B 1990. Actor. Graduated from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Best known for appearances in The Legend of Tarzan (2016), State Zero (2015), and Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation (2015).

Junior Busia

B 1993. Music producer. Known as Jay Vade.

Nana-Kofi Busia

B 1989. Music producer. Known as Dr Kane. With younger brother, junior (above) - they form the Dr Vades.

Ted Childs OBE

B 1934. TV and film producer. Between 1970's and 1990's responsible for a host of hit TV programmes, including: The Sweeny, Minder, Sharpe, Soldier, Soldier, Inspector Morse, Lewis and Kavanagh QC.

Kwasi Danquah

B 1986. Musician. Better known as Tinchy Stryder.

Darren Hart

Theatre, TV and film actor. A regular on CBeebies and at local theatres, Hackney Empire and Theatre Royal Stratford.

John Junkin

B 1930, d 2006. Actor, playwright, comedian. Started career with Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in Stratford. TV regular from 1960's - 1990's.

Denis King

B 1939. Musician and composer. Part of 50's favourites, The King Brothers. Latterly responsible for many iconic TV theme tunes. Double Ivor Novello winning composer, for themes for Black Beauty and Privates on Parade.

Gregor Mapfumo

B 1988. Songwriter/performer. Known as Terry Trill.

Stephen Mulhern

B 1977. Magician, performer, presenter. Youngest person to be admitted to Magic Circle. Now TV performer and presenter on shows such as Catchphrase and Britain's Got More Talent.

Glen Murphy MBE

B 1957. Actor and charity worker. Throughout the 1980's and 1990's was a regular on many British TV shows and films, including - most famously - London's Burning. Awarded MBE in 2010 for charity work.

Steve-John Shepherd

B 1973. Actor. A wide range of TV and film roles. Best known for his part in East Enders.

Johnathan Woodhouse

B 1987. Actor, director, producer. Starred in The Lady, in which he played the son of Burmese freedom fighter and current First State Counsellor of the country, Aung Sun Suu Kyi.

Science and industry

Dr Steve Acquah

B 1980. Scientist. Established Geosat (Global Education Outreach for Science Engineering and Technology) with Nobel prize winner Sir Harry Kroto.

Tim Campbell MBE

B 1979. Businessman and entrepreneur. First winner of TV's The Apprentice. Chair of board of St Bon's governors.

Sir Edward Fennessy

B 1912, d 2009. Electronic innovator. Influential figure in development of RADAR, to detect WW2 German bombers. Post war became deputy chair of the GPO, with responsibility for encouraging the development of telephones in the home.

Dr Behrad Gholipour

B 1986. Nanotechnologist. Led a team that created new glass materials that have greatly increased the speed of computers.

Gordon Tucker

B 1968. Solicitor. Founder and managing director of GT Law.

Public service

Sir David Amess

B 1952. Conservative MP for Southend West. Knighted in 2015.

Gareth Bebb

B 1985. BBC news producer.

Voltaire Taiwo De Campos

B 1996. Peace campaigner. Presented Compassion Award by the Dalai Lama.

David Christie

B 1984. Labour councillor for Beckton, LBN.

Sit Peter Fahy

B 1959. Chief Constable Greater Manchester.

Desmond FitzGerald

B1888, d1947. Irish nationalist and father of former Irish PM, Garret FitzGerald. For more on his Forest Gate connection, see here.

Greg Kelly

B 1975. Sinn Fein councillor, Dublin city.

Terry Paul

Newham Councillor - Startford and Newtown.  Mayoral advisor on Housing.

Tres Bon (1) - the first 75 years of St Bonaventure's school

St Bonaventure's school celebrated its 140th anniversary on 27 August this year. In this, the first of two posts on the school, we take a brief look at its history,  We are grateful for Di Halliwell, the school's head of PR for the contents of this post - taken largely from the summer edition of the school's magazine, which featured the text here.

Origins

In the autumn of 1872 the Franciscan order opened a "middle class school for boys" beneath St Francis' church in Crescent Grove, Stratford, with 25 students. It was called St Francis' Day school, but closed a year later.

St Antony's church, next to the school,
and host to many St Bon's occasions

On 27 August 1877 St Bonaventure's school, Upton, was founded under the supervision of Father Germain Verleyen, and the numbers began to rise rapidly. Mr McVey was the first headteacher, under the direction of Franciscan monks and the active patronage of Cardinal Henry Manning.

Cardinal Manning, an early
and active patron of St Bon's

The school was a preparatory and junior school in its early days, which is why some of the pupils in the early photos look so young.

An early class photos, showing
 young - prep school - pupils

Early 20th century

Following the 1902 and 1904 Education Acts, St Bonaventure's became a secondary school, known as West Ham Grammar School (St Bonaventure's), and was fee paying. By 1910, the initial roll of 6 boys had risen to 100, with five masters.

A photo showing the first year football team in 1915.

The First World War was difficult for the school. Many of the boys were left fatherless, as surviving records show "killed in action" in the "father's name and occupation" sections of the registration forms.

A busy World War 2

The school had 150 boys on the roll during the 1920's and just over 200 at the outbreak of World War 2, in 1939. The school was initially evacuated to Felixstowe, in Suffolk, and was based at the county secondary school,  Felixstowe Grammar - which was co-educational - while retaining its own identity.

The boys were billeted at the nearby villages of Trimley St Mary and Trimley St Martin. They were not there long, however, as the German occupation of Norway and Denmark in the spring of 1940 meant that Felixstowe was no longer considered a safe town.

The school returned briefly to Forest Gate, before re-locating to the Rhondda Valley in South Wales, at the Pentre Secondary school. The students lived in a village - Treherbert - but arrangements were not satisfactory, as there was no nearby Catholic church. Plans were set in motion to return to Forest Gate, but the Blitz of 1940 put an end to them.

A temporary home was found in Raunds, a small market town in Northamptonshire, but there was no accommodation available, and the students had to settle in Wellingborough - a few miles away. Here, the students alternated between public and grammar schools.  This arrangements lasted until January 1943.

Evacuation was voluntary for the boys, and as numbers on the roll declined rapidly.  So, the longer term future of the school was in some doubt. But, the school bounced back.

.. and after

In response to the Education Act 1944, St Bonaventure's became a voluntary aided, multi-lateral school - the first and one of the most successful in the country. The school no longer existed to serve a small body of highly selective boys. It now became open to all boys aged 11 to 14 from East London, and embraced the whole range of abilities.

The school - in its guise as West Ham
 Grammar school, before reverting
 to the St Bonaventure's name in 1949

The school roll soon tripled in number. The school reverted to the name St Bonaventure's in 1949.  Its frontage and address was Khedive Road, which was later changed to St Antony's Road.

A plaque to "The glory of God and the memory of old Bonaventurains who gave their lives in 1914 - 1918 and 1939 - 1945" was erected in St Antony's church, next door to the school, to remember those who were killed during the World Wars.

The school and accompanying friary, from the air

In the years since, the school has advanced by leaps and bounds and is currently an "outstanding school", as designated by Ofsted. 

Just what an impact the school has had on so many of its past and current pupils can be ascertained by a glance at its impressive list of alumni. A selection of some of the high achievers in the fields of industry, public service, entertainment and sport will feature in a future post on this website.

St Bon's - today

Happy Birthday, St Bons!

Secondary schools report

Last month we looked at the seven  local authority maintained schools and three independent schools  aimed at primary aged children (here).  We now turn to the local secondary sector.

What follows is a brief guide, based on a scroll through the schools' own websites and their Ofsted reports. This is not meant to be definitive, merely illustrative, and aimed at a general reader. Those seeking more comprehensive details about the schools are advised to visit theirs and the Ofsted websites.
As we said in the first part of our schools report, we invite comments on the content of this feature, on the box below, and will publish all relevant, and not defamatory, ones.

 Local authority community secondary school

Forest Gate Community School, Forest Lane

There were 1,020 pupils aged 11 - 16 here at the time of the last full Ofsted inspection in 2009, when the school was judged to be "Good".  An interim report earlier this year confirmed that judgement.

Forest Gate Community School

The school is an average sized comprehensive, with considerably more boys than girls on the roll.  A quarter are from the Bangladeshi community and a third are of Indian or Pakistani origin. A high percentage of the pupils are entitled to free school meals and the school has "a very high proportion identified as having special needs an/or disabilities".  The school has specialised in business and enterprise since 2004.

Although the inspectors' overall judgement of the school was "Good", it was found to be "Outstanding" in two respects, those of the management of teaching and learning and in the moral, spiritual and cultural development of its pupils.
The percentage of children achieving A-C grades in English and Mathematics was above the national average. The recent major rebuild/refurbishment looks very good.

Overall inspection judgment: Good Website:

Locally-controlled academy secondary school

Stratford School, Upton Lane
There are 900 pupils at the comprehensive academy school - 70% boys, 30% girls. For 90% of the pupils English is not the first language and 30% pupils are entitled to free school meals. 

Stratford School Academy, Upton Lane

 

The school was assesses as "Good" by Ofsted during its last inspection, in 2011.  62% of its pupils achieved 5 A-C's at GCSE (including English and Maths) in 2012, which was exactly the Newham-wide average - both exceeding the national average level of attainment for the first time.

The school does not have a very informative website, a matter which it could address as it seeks a new intake for the next academic year.

Overall inspection judgment: Good Website:

Voluntary aided (Catholic) secondary schools

St Angela's Ursuline Convent, St George's Road
This popular Catholic girls' school had 1394 students at the time of its last Ofsted inspection (2009), when the school was assessed as being "Outstanding". It has had Technology College status since 1995. It is a larger than average secondary school and has a large sixth form - 436 pupils then - which it shares with nearby St Bonaventure's boys catholic school.

 

St Angela's Ursuline Convent, St George's Road

 

The majority of the pupils are Catholic and 90% of students are from ethnic minority groups, about a third from black African backgrounds. About a fifth of students are eligible for free school meals and the number of pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is broadly average.

Ofsted have been very complimentary about St Angela's, describing both the school and its sixth form as being "Outstanding". The "Outstanding" judgement was applied to almost all the criteria examined, including: personal development and well-being, teaching and learning, curriculum and other activities, care guidance and support and leadership and management.

"When students join the school, they start with standards that are average. They make excellent progress, so by the time they leave Year 11, the standards they reach are exceptionally high."

Overall inspection judgement: Outstanding Website

St Bonaventure's RC school, Boleyn Road
This popular Catholic boys' school had 1303 students at the time of its last Ofsted inspection (2009), when the school was assessed as being "Outstanding". The school has held specialist status for technology since 1994, in 2006 it gained a second specialism, for languages and in 2008 for applied learning.  It is a larger than average secondary school and has a large sixth form - 361 pupils then - which it shares with nearby St Angela's girls' school.

St Bonaventure's RC school, Boleyn Road

The school has a higher than average number of pupils entitled to free school meals and just over a a quarter of its students have some form of learning difficulty and or disability, predominantly moderate learning difficulties, or behavioural emotional and social difficulties.

Ofsted said: "St Bonaventure's continues to be an outstanding school ... students enter the school in Year 7 with broadly average levels of attainment. During their time at school, they make outstanding progress, particularly in mathematics.".

Ofsted has applied the description of "Outstanding" to the school's: curriculum, leadership and management and approach to community cohesion. It is judged to have a good sixth form. The vast majority of students progress to higher education
.
Overall inspection judgement: Outstanding Website

Independent Islamic primary and secondary school

Quwwatul Islam Girls School, Chaucer Road
This is a primary and secondary Muslim day school for girls (aged 4 - 16), which opened in 2003.  There were 282 girls on the roll at the time of its last Ofsted Inspection, in 2010. The school's mission is to:"empower the children with the highest academic standards environment to enable them to make a positive difference to society", to this end it teaches an Islamic as well as National Curriculum subjects.

 

Quwwatul Islam Girls school, Chaucer Road

 Ofsted inspectors assessed the school as being "Good", having made progress from its previous judgement of being "Satisfactory" in 2007.

The fees are £2,150 p.a. for secondary school students and £1,900 for primary school pupils.

Overall inspection judgment: Good Website

 Independent Islamic secondary school

Azhar Academy, 235a Romford Road
The school was established in 1996, under the management of qualified Islamic scholars, as a secondary girls school aged 11 to 19, at a cost of £2.4 million. The school started its first academic year in September 2003, and at the time of its last Ofsted inspection (February 2012)it had 285 pupils.


Azhar Academy, Romford Road

Admission is by examination and the annual fees are £2,400.

The school received a "Satisfactory" judgement from its 2010 Ofsted inspection.  There were a number of shortcomings recorded, particularly around health and safety issues, which the school has subsequently addressed.  The latest Ofsted assessment (February 2012) is that "the school has made good progress and now meets all regulatory requirements".


Azhar Academy Sixth
 form annexe, Romford Road

It started a Sixth Form college for girls at the Academy from September 2007. It is also in preliminary discussion with the University of East London to start undergraduate courses for Muslim girls at its premises.

Overall inspection judgement: Satisfactory Website