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| The Haberdashers' Aske's School | |
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| Mottoes | Serve and Obey
(Original, inherited from The Haberdashers' Livery Company) |
| Established | 1690 |
| Type | Independent, Day school |
| Religion | Christian |
| Headmaster | Mr Peter B Hamilton |
| Chairman | Mr M D G Wheldon (Retired 2009) |
| Founder | Robert Aske |
| Location | Butterfly Lane Borehamwood Hertfordshire WD6 3AF England  |
| LEA | Hertfordshire |
| Students | 1095[1] |
| Gender | Boys |
| Ages | 4 to 19 |
| Houses | Calverts, Hendersons, Joblings, Meadows, Russells, Strouts |
| Colours | Navy and Sky Blue (Formerly Navy and Magenta) |
| Former pupils | Old Haberdashers (www.oldhabs.com) |
| Website | www.habsboys.org.uk |
| Coordinates: 51°39′23″N 0°18′45″W / 51.6564°N 0.3124°W | |
The Haberdashers' Aske's School or HABS, as it is commonly known by the public, is a British independent school in Elstree, near Borehamwood, in Hertfordshire.
It owes its name to its foundation by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers (one of the livery companies) through the agency of Robert Aske.[2] The school adopted the motto of the company, "Serve and Obey".
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History
The school was established in 1690 at Hoxton, near the City of London. In the 19th century it was divided into two; one part moved to Hatcham in South London, where boys' and girls' schools were set up. Usually referred to as Aske's, they were formerly known as the Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Schools until 1991, when the two were combined as Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College.[3]
The other part moved to a site in Hampstead, in 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.[4]
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.This hall is home to a fine pipe organ, built in 1897 by the famous London firm of Henry Willis & Sons for Hove Town Hall and brought to Elstree in 1962. The instrument retains its original specification of thirty-six stops on four manuals and pedals and is currently maintained by the Willis firm.[5] Another major building in Haberdashers' is the Seldon Hall, where boys may learn to play a musical instrument. 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. As part of this, the school will be based around two main quadrangles.
Perhaps because of the association of haberdashery and the Jewish community (as well as its location in North-West London), the school is popular with Jewish parents, as the list of old boys shows. The school also has a high proportion of Asian pupils.
For a more detailed account of the school's history, see the relevant section in Cockburn et al. (1969), referred to below; or in John Wigley's official history of the school, 'Serve and Obey'.
Present day
Entry to the school is via a competitive examination set by the school (not the Common Entrance Paper) at either 11+ or 13+ (with entry into the Preparatory school at 4+, 5+, or 7+). Oxbridge entrance was 26 offers for the current year (2009 entry), although it is generally around 38. Older (2001-2006) statistics placed the schools at nineteenth in the country.[6] The school has been, to some extent, under-represented in national League Tables however, because students take IGCSE papers which are uncounted in Government League Tables, and because the school usually limits pupils to taking only three A-Level subjects.Haberdashers' Aske's received a glowing Inspection report in the autumn of 2005, praised for its extra-curricular opportunities and Pastoral Care.
The school retains strong links with the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers', members of which sit on the School's governing body. Every year a deputation from this ancient Livery company inspects the school and hands out St. John's bibles to every boy in the first year of the Main School (Year 7). There are also visits from members of the School community to the new Haberdashers' Hall in the City of London.
The school itself contains a vibrant and involved community. Many societies are run within the school by pupils with the support of the teachers. These include school magazines ("Skylark", "Scribe", "Scope", "Timeline" and "The Key") and religious groups ("J-soc" (Jewish Society), "Islamic Society" and "Christian Union") but other non-literary societies also flourish within the school such as an Amnesty International, the Politics, Science and Economics Societies which invite outside speakers, Film Society, Debating Society, Young Entrepreneurs' Society, Model United Nations Society, Chess Club, Classics Society, Bridge Club, Russian Club, Philosophy Club and Radical Society (A society that invites and debates with speakers with a background in the far-left of politics), a Ukulele Orchestra and many others, although the societies list changes from term to term as boys create new clubs. The school holds an annual MENCAP Funday and an annual Senior Citizens' Tea Party.
The School also nominates a School Charity annually (and multiple House Charities) to which money raised is to be sent.
Music is also a very popular activity within the school (over half of Boys play at least one instrument), with three orchestras, numerous bands and many more smaller groups. Sport is also a major activity at the school, with a plethora of different teams and a wide array of sports, ranging from Cricket to Rugby, Fencing to Squash.
Haberdashers' has been successful in the past few years in both National and International competitions. Sports teams have triumphed in football competitions and proceeded very far into the Daily Mail Rugby Cup.The Cricket 1st XI were one of only four school teams to be undefeated in the 2006 season. HABS teams have won many bridge competitions. HABS is regarded as one of, if not the top Model United Nations school in the UK, with delegations winning top prizes at every conference attended. Debating is a tour de force at HABS with the school having won the School's Mace competition, having coached the England Captain and Worlds Best Debater (Jamie Susskind) and with the school completed the debating quadruple (Durham,Oxford,Cambridge and Bristol) for the first time in schools history. Habs also came runners up in the Bank of England Base Rate Competition, Target 2.0, both in 2006 and again in 2007. A Habs team has reached the final of the Ogden business competition 2007, and is down to the last eight teams in the country this year.
The school offers for students in year 10 and above a choice of either the 'School Community Service' (SCS) or the 'Combined Cadet Force'(CCF). The SCS allows students to take an active role in helping out at the school or indeed external locations, where students volunteer on a weekly basis. The CCF comprises of the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force sections, all of which teach leadership skills, as well as an extensive variety of other skills and qualifications, such as a BTEC diploma in Public Services. The corps takes cadets on a field day each term to take part in activities that are specific to their section (e.g. the RAF section typically go flying). The current contingent commander is Major N P Saddington.
HABS were the Hertfordshire K.Emsall shooting winners for 2007/8 and are currently ranked 4th in the BSSRA 0.22 league.
Media references
- The recent hit Alan Bennett stage-play and film The History Boys mentions Haberdashers' in its script as a school of academic excellence. The production notes were supplied by acclaimed historian Simon Schama, an Old Boy of the School who had a major influence over the play and film.
- Old Boy novelist William Sutcliffe set his largely autobiographical début novel New Boy (1996) at an unnamed school that is easily identifiable as Haberdashers', for instance by references to the school's location, layout and, most tellingly, motto. The book has since been adapted for the theatre (2009).
Other Haberdashers' Schools
- 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 in Elstree.
- Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College formerly Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham Boys & Girls schools.
- The Haberdashers' Company was also involved in the foundation of other schools, for example Monmouth School, but these were not associated with Robert Aske.
Pastoral
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The school is divided by Year group with the Prep school consisting of years 1-6, the Lower school 7-8, the Middle school 9-11, and the Sixth Form for years 12-13.
The school is based around a House structure; several shields are awarded by the Headmaster at the end of the academic year for competition between the Houses (Junior Work and Conduct, Senior Work and Conduct, The Crossman Shield, awarded for success in inter-house sporting competitions, and the Dunton Shield, awarded to the house with the highest number of points in all three categories combined). The six houses are named after the original housemasters: Calverts, Hendersons, Joblings, Meadows, Russells and Strouts. In the first two years of schooling, boys are placed in tutor groups according to their House and all lessons are with members of the tutor group; later in the school, the Houses are mixed as classes follow ability streams. The tutor groups, however, are dependent upon House throughout the school.
Throughout the Year there are numerous Inter-House events including both sporting and non-sporting competitions (Such as Inter-House Debating, Chess or Inter-House Bridge). It is hoped that every boy will be able to represent their house in at least one activity.
Recent report
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A recent ISI report of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School praised the school for its teaching, facilities and extra curricular activities. The inspection lasted one school week (five days) and viewed all aspects of school life. The report can be found at ISI Online Report.
League tables
The school was ranked at 24 by The Sunday Times in their 2006 Parent Power feature[4] on the best independent schools, down from 18 in the previous year. According to the Times rankings, Habs came 20th (out of 1150 schools) in GCSE rankings[5] and 72nd (out of 939) at A-level,[6] though this is largely because most boys at Habs only took three A-levels, and so received a lower total score than other comparable schools. In the same year The Telegraph placed Habs in 44th place based on A- and AS-level results,[7] and 24th (out of 2703) in their full list ranked by average score per A-level entry.[8]
Notable Old Haberdashers
Old boys of the school, called Old Haberdashers, include:
- Darien Angadi (1949–1984), actor and boy soprano
- David Baddiel (born 1964), comedian
- Sacha Baron Cohen (born 1971), comedian (aka Ali G, Borat, or Bruno)
- Alexander S. Bermange (born 1976), composer and lyricist
- Simon Boswell (born 1952), film score composer
- Lord Brittan (born 1939), politician
- Roy W Brown human rights activist
- Michael Bukht OBE (born 1941), the "Crafty Cook", Michael Barry, from the BBC2 television show Food and Drink
- Alan J. Charig (1927–1997), paleontologist
- Dean Craig (born 1974), film writer Death at a Funeral
- Paul Darrow (born 1941), actor
- Jonathan FeBland (born 1960), composer
- Lord Foulkes (born 1942), politician
- Sir Ralph Freeman (1880–1950), engineer and architect of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
- Adam Gee BAFTA-winning interactive media producer
- Julian Goater (born 1953), long distance runner
- Isidore Godfrey (1900–1977), conductor of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company
- Laurence Godfrey (born 1952), physicist, lecturer and technical consultant/expert witness in internet-related litigation
- Nick Goldsmith (born 1971), film and TV producer
- Michael Green (born 1943), founder of Carlton Television
- Toby Harris (born 1953), Labour Politician and former president of the Cambridge Union
- Damon Hill (born 1960), racing driver
- Jason Isaacs (born 1963), actor
- Peter Kellner (born 1946), formerly the political analyst of the BBC Newsnight current affairs programme and now president of polling firm YouGov
- Mark Kermode (born 1963), film critic (real name Mark Fairey)
- Lionel Kochan (1922–2005), historian
- Peter Kosminsky (born 1956), documentary film maker
- Jack Lang (born c 1950), Professor at Cambridge, writer, entrepreneur
- Daniel Levy (born 1968) Lobbyist and one of the architects of the Geneva Accord
- Zac Lichman (born 1980), Big Brother (UK) Contestant ('Ziggy') 2007 and member of boyband Northern Line
- David Lidington (born 1956), Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary
- Matt Lucas (born 1974), comedian
- Ian Luder (born 1951), Lord Mayor, The City of London
- Dan Mazer (born 1971), TV producer
- Adam Parsons (born 1970), BBC TV sports correspondent
- Dr Raj Persaud (born 1963), consultant psychiatrist and television personality
- Clive Rees (born 1951), former teacher, captain of London Welsh rugby team and was in the Lions and Barbarians teams as winger
- Jonny Persey (born 1968), film producer
- Sir Henry Phillips, (1914–2004), colonial administrator
- Robert Popper (born 1968), producer of the BAFTA award winning Peep Show and author of The Timewaster Letters, The Return of The Timewaster Letters and The Timewaster Diaries under the pseudonym of Robin Cooper
- Jay Rayner (born 1966), food critic, author
- John Rutherford (born 1941) fellow in Spanish and director of the Centre for Galician Studies at The Queen's College, Oxford, translator of Don Quixote
- Simon Schama (born 1945), historian
- Sir Nicholas Serota (born 1946), Director of Tate Galleries (1988–present)
- Brian Sewell (born 1936), art critic, journalist, and television personality
- Sir Martin Sorrell (born 1945), Chief Executive of WPP plc (1986–present)
- Chris Squire, musician in progressive rock band Yes
- William Sutcliffe (born 1971), author of New Boy, a fictional book inspired by his experiences at the school.
- Paul Terry (born 1987), actor
- Adam Thirlwell (born 1978), author, Fellow - All Souls' College, Oxford
- Professor John Urry (born c 1946), sociologist
- Frederick Augustus Voigt (1892–1957), journalist, anti-fascist campaigner
- Alan Whicker (born 1925), television presenter
- Michael Wills (born 1952), Labour junior minister
- Richard Wright (1943–2008), organist/keyboard player and founder member of Pink Floyd
- Jonathan "JB" Gill, singer and founding member of English boy-band JLS
Trivia
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- The school grounds and buildings were used as settings for scenes in a number of early 1960s TV series including The Avengers as well as The Saint, starring Roger Moore.
- Scenes from Michelle Fowler's graduation were filmed for an episode of EastEnders in the school's Bourne Hall.
- Matt Lucas, in promoting his new show parodying his childhood described Haberdashers' as "the type of school where your best was never quite good enough".
References
- ^ "The Haberdashers' Aske's School". Independent Schools Council. http://www.isc.co.uk/viewPage.aspx?templateID=6&schoolId=84109&max=2. Retrieved 2007-08-28.
- ^ History of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree [1]
- ^ History of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree [2]
- ^ History of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, Elstree [3]
- ^ "The National Pipe Organ Register - Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School". http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=C00921.
- ^ Top 100 schools by Oxford admissions hit rate, The Guardian
J S Cockburn, H P F King, K G T McDonnell (1969) A History of the County of Middlesex. Volume 1: Physique, Archaeology, Domesday, Ecclesiastical Organization, The Jews, Religious Houses, Education of Working Classes to 1870, Private Education from Sixteenth Century. Boydell & Brewer (ISBN 9780197227138)
J W Wigley - 'Serve and Obey, a History of the School'
External links
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