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The Coopers’ Company School |
| In 1905, the Governors of The
Coopers’ Company School decided to rebuild the Grammar School at
Tredegar Square, Bow. Work commenced in 1908 and was finished by 1910. The
new larger School, built around the old School, was formed by three sides
of a square. While the building work was being carried out, the boys
continued their lessons in the old School. When they moved into the new
building the old School was pulled down.
The 1902 Education Act had bought the middle classes into the state education system. The Coopers’ Company School became an aided school within the London County Council. However to receive Government Educational Grants the School needed to expand its curriculum that required extra classroom space, hence the need for a bigger School. The origin of the School was in Schoolhouse Lane, Ratcliffe. Where Nicholas Gibson, born in Stepney, a successful grocer and a member of Worshipful Company of Grocers, had endowed a School for sixty poor boys in 1536. On his death his wife, Avice, continued to maintain the Ratcliffe School. However, the future of the School was uncertain and Avice decided to leave all her property in Ratcliffe to a Charity for the benefit of the School. The Charity and the Ratcliffe School were to be administered by the Worshipful Company of Coopers. After her death the name of the School was changed to the The Coopers’ Company School. For the next 356 years the School continued in Ratcliffe. However all this was about to change. The 1870 Education Act made basic education compulsory and free for those unable to pay. The School lost pupils to the new state schools. For the next seventy five years there was always a problem with pupil numbers. In 1890, the Governors of the School decided to open a girls’ school in the Mile End Road. It was later decided to amalgamate the Schools with the Coborn’s boys and girls schools in Bow. This meant moving the boys from Ratcliffe to Bow. In 1892, a touching ceremony took place when it was decided to hold a procession. The boys, carrying their books, would walk with the staff from the old School in Schoolhouse Lane to their new one in Tredegar Square. During the interwar years the School still had a problem of attracting pupils. The population in the East End was falling and competition from other East End Grammar Schools intense. A move to Essex was seen as an answer to this problem and was being considered. However this came to an end when War was declared in 1939. Like every other school in London, the pupils were evacuated and the School closed. The boys went to Frome and the girls to Taunton, both in Somerset. When the pupils returned after the War, the 1944 Education Act meant that the problem of pupil numbers was solved: the state would provide the pupils under the new tertiary system of Secondary Modern, Technical and Grammar Schools. Pupils for "Coopers" would be selected from the results of the "11+" examination. In 1958, the Government decide to bring in a one tier education system called "Comprehensive Education". The Governors of The Coopers’ Company School wished to maintain its Grammar School status. In 1959 the Governors started to negotiate a move to Upminster, Essex, to set up a Co-Educational School. In 1972 the School left Bow. So ended the 463 years' link between the East End and The Coopers’ Company School. |
