City of London Academy Islington

Academy in Islington, Greater London, England

City of London Academy Islington

Address

Prebend Street

Islington

Greater London

N1 8PQ

England

Coordinates| 51°32′10″N 0°05′52″W﻿ / ﻿51.5362°N 0.0979°W﻿ / 51.5362; -0.0979
Information
Other name| COLAI
Former name| Islington Green School
Type| Academy
Motto| Where students succeed
Established| 1966 (1966)
Local authority| Islington London Borough Council
Trust| City of London Academies Trust
Department for Education URN| 135587 Tables
Ofsted| Reports
Principal| Laurie Glees
Gender| Mixed
Age range| 11–18
Enrolment| 750 (2018)[1]
Capacity| 805[1]
Website| www.colai.org.uk

City of London Academy Islington (COLAI, formerly Islington Green School) is an 11–18 mixed, secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Islington, Greater London, England. It was established in 1966 and adopted its present name after becoming an academy in September 2008.[2]

Its sixth form opened in September 2010 and is jointly sponsored by the City of London Corporation and City, University of London.

## History

[edit]

### Islington Green School

[edit]

Logo of Islington Green School

Islington Green School (IGS) was established in 1966 and was an 11–16 mixed community secondary school.

The school failed its Ofsted inspection in 1997. The school had received a 38 per cent pass rate the previous year and despite shortcomings, the staff were convinced that the school was not failing. The decision caused the school to "implode". The headteacher, under enormous pressure to make visible changes discarded mixed-ability teaching, many teachers decided to leave, and the pass rate dropped below 25 per cent. The school went through nine inspections before it finally came out of special measures in 2000 and serious weaknesses in 2003.[3]

Ken Muller, a teacher at the school and SWP activist, made a request to Ofsted under the new Freedom of Information Act to see the documents relating to the judgment. Twenty working days later, he got a reply. Most of the documents had been destroyed, said the email, but there was one that might be of interest. Attached was a memo dated November 1997, from HMI Barry Jones to the then chief inspector Chris Woodhead, making clear that the HMI team, of which Jones was a member, had disagreed with Ofsted's judgment, and noting that they were "of the unanimous view that the school was not failing".[4]

Peter Hyman, former speech writer for Tony Blair, decided to leave politics and teach at Islington Green School. He wrote a book of his experiences, 1 Out Of 10: From Downing Street Vision To Classroom Reality.

## Cultural references

[edit]

Students from the school were featured on Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall in the song "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)".[5]

The school was used as a location to film the BBC drama That Summer Day, a fictional account of the effect the bombings of the London public transport system on 7 July 2005 had on six children.[6] Some of the school's younger students were used as extras in the film.

## Notable alumni

[edit]

City of London Academy Islington

Islington Green School

* Thomas Cruise,[7] professional footballer
* Esther Farinde, singer and songwriter
* Paloma Faith,[8][9] singer, songwriter and actress
* Billy Godleman,[10][11] cricketer
* Joe Wright,[12] film director

## Notable staff

[edit]

Islington Green School

* Margaret Maden, headteacher from 1975 to 1983

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "City of London Academy Islington". Get information about schools. GOV.UK. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
2. ^ "Islington council announcement". Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
3. ^ Rebecca Smithers (4 February 2005). "Woodhead overrode inspectors to fail improving school". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
4. ^ Barry Jones (27 November 1997). "Islington Green High School" (PDF). Her Majesty's Inspector. The Guardian. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
5. ^ "Pink Floyd pupils claim royalties", BBC News Story (accessed 12 October 2006)
6. ^ "How 7/7 impacted on the nation's children"[permanent dead link], BBC press release. (accessed 6 July 2006)
7. ^ "Arsenal Young Gun wants loan deal after Spurs clash". Islington Gazette. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
8. ^ Eyre, Hermione (22 October 2009). "The lives and loves of Paloma Faith". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
9. ^ Marshall, Tom (19 October 2010). "My Islington school made me a star, says Paloma Faith". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
10. ^ Davies, Gareth A. (3 August 2004). "Bunbury Festival: Marsh's wise words for stars of future". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
11. ^ Dean, Jon (1 March 2011). "England international joins fight to save cricket in Islington". Islington Gazette. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
12. ^ "Joe Wright: I asked Keira Knightley to rein in her pout for Anna Karenina". 6 September 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Schools and colleges in Islington

Primary schools|

* St Mary Magdalene Academy

Secondary schools|

* Arts and Media School, Islington
* Beacon High
* Central Foundation Boys' School
* City of London Academy Islington
* City of London Academy Highbury Grove
* City of London Academy Highgate Hill
* Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School
* Highbury Fields School
* St Aloysius' College
* St Mary Magdalene Academy

Independent schools|

* North Bridge House School

Further education colleges|

* City and Islington College
* Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
* Malvern House London
* Musical Theatre Academy
* Tech City College

Former schools|

* Highbury College
* Risinghill School
* St David's School

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