# Bancroft's School

Bancroft's School is a co-educational private day school in Woodford Green, London. The school has around 1,100 pupils aged between 7 and 18, around 250 of whom are pupils of the Preparatory School and 850 of whom are pupils of the Senior School.
The school's alumni, called "Old Bancroftians", include naturalists, poets, academics, politicians, authors, sportsmen, actors, and military figures. These include two recipients of the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military award for gallantry, Robert Edward Cruickshank and Augustus Charles Newman. More recently, alumni have included Lord Pannick KC, Mike Lynch, Alan Davies, Hari Kunzru, Anita Anand and Andy Saull.

## History

The school was founded in 1737, following the death in 1728 of Francis Bancroft, who bequeathed a sizeable sum of money to the Drapers' Company, which continues to act as trustee for the school and as its governors. Bancroft's began in the Mile End Road in London's East End as a small charitable day school for boys, with an attached almshouse.
The foundation was originally known as Bancroft's Hospital and until the late 19th century also acted as home for almsmen who had been freemen of the Company of Drapers. In 1884 the almshouse was abolished and the school moved to a new site at Woodford Green and the original buildings were demolished; the site is now occupied by Queen Mary, University of London.
The current school location in Woodford Green occupies four and a half acres, and the main buildings were designed by Arthur Blomfield, who was also responsible for Selwyn College in Cambridge. Originally there were just a hundred pupils, including sixty boarders. The numbers grew steadily during the twentieth century until there were nearly one thousand on the roll. The buildings were also extended, with the original Science Block (1910) then further extended (1969/70 and officially opened by Solly Zuckerman, Baron Zuckerman), the Great Hall (1937), the Adams Building (Music Block) (1964), a new Gymnasium Block (1975), the Preparatory School (1990), the Courtyard Building (2006), new Sports Block (2007), and Preparatory School Extension (2009).
Following the Education Act 1944, Bancroft's became a direct grant grammar school. However, the removal of this status in the 1970s prompted the governors to decide on three courses of action: to discontinue boarding, to admit girls for the first time and become fully independent. Some years later the decision was also taken to build a new preparatory school. These were all completed by 1990; the school now takes half its pupils from age 7, and half the pupils are now girls. In 1997, the government abolished the Assisted Places Scheme, which had helped children from poor families to attend the school; the governors replaced these by Francis Bancroft Scholarships, which were supported by the Drapers' Company and by the residue of Francis Bancroft's original will. These awards are means-tested, and can be worth the entire school fee.
Mary Ireland became Head in January 2008, succeeding Peter Scott. She last worked at Christ's Hospital, where she was deputy head to Peter Southern, himself a previous headmaster at Bancroft's. It was announced in October 2015 that Mary Ireland would be succeeded by Simon Marshall as Head following the 2015–2016 academic year.
The school team, led by English teacher Kevin Gallagher, won the Kids' Lit Quiz in 2009 at the world final in South Africa.
In September 2023, Head Simon Marshall announced to the school that he would be retiring at the end of the 2023-2024 academic year. In September 2024 Alex Frazer, previously of North London Collegiate School became Head of Bancroft's.

## Preparatory School

The Preparatory School was founded in 1990 after the senior school had converted from a direct grant grammar to an independent school. Unlike most traditional preparatory schools, the final year is Year 6 (age 11) and not Year 8 (age 13).

## Curriculum

For the first two years, students study the following subjects: English, Maths, Spanish, German, Combined Science, Drama, Religious Studies, Geography, Learning for Life, History, PE, Games, Music, Design & Technology and Art.
In the Removes year (Year 8), students choose two languages to study out of French, German, Spanish, and Russian, and also study Latin.
In the Lower Fourth year (Year 9) students choose three subjects from Latin, Classics, Ancient Greek, Russian, French, Spanish and German and two subjects from Art, Music, Design & Technology, Drama and Computer Science.
At GCSE level, all pupils take the following core subjects: English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Four additional subjects are chosen from the following, one of which must be a language: Art, Design & Technology, Music, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Latin, Classical Civilisation, Classical Greek, Religious Studies, Physical Education, Drama, Computer Science, Geography, and History.
The school follows the IGCSE syllabi in Mathematics and English. Around a third of pupils take Mathematics a year early, going on to do an FSMQ in Additional Mathematics in the Fifth Form.
A-Level students choose three, or sometimes four of the subjects offered by the school: Art, Biology, Business Studies, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Classical Greek, Computer Science, Design Technology, Drama, Economics, Electronics, English Literature, French, Geography, German, History, Latin, Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Music, Politics, Physics, Religious Studies, Russian and Spanish.
Some students taken an Extended Project Qualification in the Lower Sixth (Year 12) along with three A-levels. This EPQ is completed at the end of the Lower Sixth.

## Heads

| Name | Joined | Left |
| Herbert Clement Playne | 1906 | 1931 |
| Thomas Grantham Wells | 1931 | 1943 |
| Sydney Adams | 1944 | 1965 |
| Ian MacDonald Richardson | 1965 | 1985 |
| Peter Campbell David Southern | 1985 | 1996 |
| Peter Scott | 1996 | 2008 |
| Mary Ireland | 2008 | 2016 |
| Simon Marshall | 2016 | 2024 |
| Alex Frazer | 2024 | - |

## Notable alumni

| Name | Born | Died | Known For |
| Frederic Newton Williams | 1862 | 1923 | Physician and botanist |
| Sir Allan Powell | 1876 | 1948 | Chairman of Governors of the BBC, 1939–1946 |
| Gilbert Waterhouse | 1883 | 1916 | Trench poet |
| Sir Reader Bullard | 1885 | 1976 | Ambassador to Iran, 1943–1945 |
| Robert "Eddie" Cruickshank | 1888 | 1961 | World War I Victoria Cross |
| Henry Self | 1890 | 1975 | Civil Servant |
| Sir Kenneth Peppiatt | 1893 | 1983 | 20th Chief Cashier, Bank of England, 1934–1949 |
| Joseph Harold Sheldon | 1893 | 1972 | Physician, surgeon, and gerontologist |
| Edgar Middleton | 1894 | 1939 | Playwright and Author |
| Victor Purcell | 1896 | 1965 | Civil servant |
| Sir Wilfrid Percy Henry Sheldon, KCVO | 1901 | 1983 | Consulting physician; physician-paediatrician to Queen Elizabeth II |
| Lieutenant-Colonel Augustus Charles Newman | 1904 | 1972 | World War II Victoria Cross |
| Norman Suckling | 1904 | 1994 | Biographer, composer, pianist, writer on music, and educator |
| Sir Frederick Warner | 1910 | 2010 | Chemical engineer |
| Leslie Broderick | 1921 | 2013 | "Great Escape" survivor |
| Alan Palmer | 1926 | 2022 | Historian and teacher at Highgate School |
| Richard Pankhurst | 1927 | 2017 | Historian, grandson of Emmeline Pankhurst |
| Denis Quilley | 1927 | 2003 | Actor |
| Sir Keith Williamson | 1928 | 2018 | Marshal of the Royal Air Force |
| Fred Emery | 1933 | | TV presenter and investigative journalist for the BBC |
| Sir Neil Macfarlane | 1936 | | Member of Parliament for Sutton and Cheam 1974–1992 |
| John F. Dewey | 1937 | | Structural geologist, authority on the development and evolution of mountain ranges |
| Colin Barker | 1939 | 2019 | Marxist sociologist |
| Mike Leander | 1941 | 1996 | Singer, songwriter, and music producer |
| Alan Thurlow | 1947 | | Organist and former director of music at Chichester Cathedral |
| Martyn Turner | 1948 | | Political cartoonist |
| Peter Salsbury | 1949 | | Former Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer |
| Peter Erskine | 1951 | | Former Chief Executive of O2 (UK) |
| Peter Perrett | 1952 | | Lead singer of The Only Ones |
| Lord Pannick KC | 1956 | | Barrister and cross-bench member of the House of Lords |
| His Honour Judge Pelling KC | 1956 | | Judge in Charge of the London Circuit Commercial Court |
| Mike Lynch | 1965 | 2024 | The first British-based internet billionaire entrepreneur |
| Stuart D. Lee | 1966 | | J. R. R. Tolkien scholar and professor of E-learning at Oxford University |
| Alan Davies | 1966 | | Comedian, writer and actor |
| David Prever | 1967 | | Radio presenter; 4x winner of the Radio Academy Awards |
| Samantha Spiro | 1968 | | Olivier Award-winning actress (Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick) |
| Hari Kunzru | 1969 | | British Indian novelist (The Impressionist) |
| Patrick Leman | 1970 | | Psychologist and professor at University of London, University of Cambridge, and University of Waikato |
| Samantha Smith | 1971 | | Former British No. 1 ladies tennis player |
| Anita Anand | 1972 | | Radio and television presenter and journalist |
| Sara Campbell | 1972 | | Freediver and former world record holder in multiple disciplines |
| Adam Foulds | 1974 | | Novelist and poet |
| Louisa Leaman | 1976 | | Author |
| Neg Dupree | 1979 | | Comedian, writer, and actor |
| Russell Lissack | 1981 | | Lead Guitarist, Bloc Party |
| YolanDa Brown | 1982 | | Musician, Double MOBO winning saxophonist |
| Bobby Friedman | 1985 | | Barrister, writer (biographer of John Bercow) and former Cambridge Union President |
| Andy Saull | 1988 | | Rugby Player, best known for playing for Saracens F.C. and Oxford University |

## The Old Bancroftians Association

The Old Bancroftians Association (OBA) was founded in 1892 when the Old Bancroftians' Football Club was formed, although there were already a few unofficial groups which had been around since the 1860s. The first meeting was held in 1896 at the Haunch of Venison in Fleet Street. However, a constitution was not agreed until 1909, when the first President, H.C Playne (who was also the school's Head Master), was appointed. The idea of the association was to keep young and old members together.
The association grew rapidly over the years, to a size of 3175 members in 2005, when membership for life was introduced for all Bancroftians.
The association provides a range of services for former members of the school, including the organisation of reunions and sports activities, including cricket, rugby golf, and football.