Coopers School Explained

Coopers School
Motto:Trust, Respect and Resilience
Type:Academy, all ability
Head Label:Head Of School
Head:Claire Bessa
Chair Label:Chair
Chair:Andrew Downes
Address:Hawkwood Lane
Country:England
Postcode:BR7 5PS
Dfeno:305/5401
Urn:136464
Ofsted:yes
Staff:96 qualified teachers in 2010[1]
Capacity:1,629[2]
Enrolment:1,357
Free Label 3:Ages
Lower Age:11
Upper Age:18
Gender:Mixed
Website:coopersschool.com

Coopers School is a mixed secondary school with academy status in Chislehurst in the London Borough of Bromley, England.[3] The current Head of School is Claire Bessa.[4]

The site is on land between Chislehurst Common and the National Trust's Hawkwood Estate, an area of working farmland and woodland,[5] and is above the Chislehurst Caves.

As of 2013 the school had some 1,357 students,[2] of whom approximately 200 were in the sixth form.[6]

The school was inspected by Ofsted in 2023 and rated good.

History

The school was first established in 1939 as the Sidcup Day Commercial School, with headmistress Miss Scorrer.[7] After World War II, in 1946, a second site linked to the Sidcup school was established at Hawkwood Lane, Chislehurst. The new school eventually became known as the Chislehurst and Sidcup Technical High School for Girls and in 1949 Mary Anderson was appointed head teacher.[8]

By 1969 the Chislehurst site had been further developed, with several new buildings, and the two schools split. The Chislehurst school became Coopers School, named after the Coopers Mansion House which stood on the site.[9] [10] The house is still standing, and has recently been refurbished to become the school's sixth form centre. Later, in 1969 later school accepted its first intake of 37 boys.[8]

In 1981 the school became an all-ability comprehensive school. The school became a specialist Technology College in 2002, and was renamed Coopers Technology College.[11] [12] In February 2012 the school converted to an academy.[2] It subsequently renamed itself Coopers School. In late 2018, the school joined the E21C academy trust.[13]

The house system was removed in 2021. The system previously divided students into the houses Pankhurst, Wilberforce, Newton and Franklin.

Achievements

The school won a national award for ICT in 2006, for using computers to improve the way in which it is run.[14] The school's website allows extensive interactive access to school information by staff, students, parents and governors through its learning gateway.[3]

Notable alumni

External links

51.4078°N 0.0733°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Coopers Technology College on education.gov.uk . . UK Government . 14 April 2013.
  2. Web site: Ofsted destails. . Ofsted . 14 April 2013.
  3. Web site: Coopers Technology College . . Coopers School . 13 April 2013.
  4. Web site: Interim Representative Body . Coopers School . 10 May 2019 .
  5. Web site: National Trust Petts Wood and Hawkwood. . National Trust. 14 April 2013.
  6. Web site: Coopers Sixth Form . . Coopers School . 13 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140609051941/http://www.coopersschool.com/post16/ . 9 June 2014 . dead.
  7. Web site: Reunion to celebrate 70th school anniversary. Bexley Times. 3 June 2020.
  8. News: Coopers Technology College in Hawkwood Lane celebrates 70th birthday . Scott Mullins . News Shopper . 31 March 2009 . 13 April 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140224192058/http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/education/ednews/4247655.CHISLEHURST__Technology_college_goes_platinum/ . 24 February 2014 . dead.
  9. Web site: Coopers House . . Chislehurst Society . 14 April 2013.
  10. Book: Webb . E.A. . Miller . G.W. . Beckwith, J. . The History of Chislehurst: Its Church, Manors, and Parish . 1899 . G. Allen .
  11. News: Better science at tech college . . News Shopper . 12 July 2002 . 14 April 2013.
  12. Web site: Coopers Technology College on educationbase.co.uk . . educationbase.co.uk . 14 April 2013.
  13. Web site: website . E21C Education for the 21st Century Trust . Home . 2023-08-31 . E21C Education for the 21st Century Trust . en.
  14. News: School joins IT crowd with prize win. . News Shopper. 15 March 2006. 14 April 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20140224192534/http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/education/ednews/706617.School_joins_IT_crowd_with_prize_win/. 24 February 2014. dead.