Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School
From Free net encyclopedia
The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School is a British independent school in Elstree, near Borehamwood, in Hertfordshire. It owes its name to its foundation by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers through the agency of Robert Aske.
The school was established in Hoxton, near the City of London. In the 19th century it was divided into two, one part moving to Hatcham in South London, where a boys' and a girls' school were set up. Usually referred to as Aske's, they were formally known as the Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Schools until 1991, when the two were combined as Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College.
The other part moved to a site in Hampstead, north London, becoming a direct grant school after the passing of the Education Act 1944. Its formal name was the Haberdashers' Aske's Hampstead School, generally known as Haberdashers'. In 1961 this school moved to its present site at Elstree, initially taking the name Haberdashers' Aske's School Elstree. When the Labour government of 1964-70 withdrew the direct grant arrangements, it became fully fee-paying.
Recently, a number of buildings on the Elstree campus have been opened, including the new Aske Building (2004), a multi-million pound science and geography complex, and the Bourne Building, a series of classics, information technology and history classrooms. The Bourne building also features at its focus a large assembly hall, inherited from the building that stood there previously. A full development scheme has been initiated and over a period of time, the school will be re-built in order to keep up with the changing world.
Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls was also established in Acton. The Acton school moved during the 1970s to its current location next to the Boys' School.
The school is nominally Church of England in orientation, but is notable for the high numbers of ethnic minority pupils. A non-white head boy was selected as early as 1962. Currently, approximately 60% of pupils are from Indian backgrounds and 20% from a Jewish background.
The Haberdashers' Company was also involved in the foundation of other schools, for example Monmouth School, but these were not associated with Robert Aske.
Every year, the school holds a "MENCAP Funday" which involves the school being transformed into a fun park for disabled children and their siblings. The students from Years 10+ pair up or form groups to take around visiting children to fantastic events set up by teachers/other students. Everyone - the students, the teachers and the visitors - enjoys the day thoroughly. Events include computer games, a candyfloss machine, bouncy castles, football, swimming, petting zoo, ice cream and much more.
Notable alumni
- Alan Whicker (born 1925), television presenter
- Lord Brittan (born 1939), politician
- Paul Darrow (born 1941), actor
- Sir Martin Sorrell (born 1945), Chief Executive, WPP plc (1986-)
- Simon Schama (born 1945), historian
- Sir Nicholas Serota (born 1946), Director of Tate Galleries (1988-)
- David Lidington (born 1956), politician
- Damon Hill (born 1960), motor racing champion
- Mark Kermode (born 1963), film critic
- Dr Raj Persaud (born 1963), consultant psychiatrist, author and television personality
- David Baddiel (born 1964), comedian
- Sacha Baron Cohen (born 1971), comedian (aka Ali G)
- William Sutcliffe (born 1971), author of New Boy, a fictional book inspired by his experiences at the school.
- Matt Lucas (born 1974), comedian
- Alexander S. Bermange (born 1976), composer, lyricist, and musical director [1][2]
- Adam Thirlwell (born 1978), author
- Toby Harris, politician
- Tim Huxley, Editor of the Adelphi Papers and author of Defending the Lion City