Catalogue description ROAN SCHOOLS

This section contains administrative records, admission and discharge pupil records, various printed material, photographs and ephemera

The records are arranged in the following series:

Administration LMA/4442/03/01

Pupils LMA/4442/03/02

Printed material LMA/4442/03/03

Photographs, film, drawings and slides LMA/4442/03/04

Ephemera LMA/4442/03/05

THESE RECORDS ARE OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION, ALTHOUGH RECORDS CONTAINING PERSONAL INFORMATION MAY BE SUBJECT TO CLOSURE PERIODS

Duplicate copies were not considered worthy of long term preservation and have been returned to the depositor

All levels of data available on this system

1643: John Roan's Will left his property for 'poor town-bred children of Greenwich', 'up to the age of fifteen', wearing a school 'uniform and badge', and undertaking 'reading, writing and cyphering'.

1677: the Charities Commissioners agreed to the building of a school and that the Roan Estate would maintain it.

1678: the Grey Coat School had opened for the education of boys.

1877: the Roan Charity schools were reorganised into two schools. A Headmaster and Headmistress were appointed, and the name was changed to the Roan Schools. One school for 300 boys was built in East Street (later renamed Eastney Street) and another building for 300 girls was built in Devonshire Road (later renamed Devonshire Drive).

1877 - 1939: Roan School for Boys

1911 - 1916: the Old Roan Association was established (which grew to 1,000 members in 1956) which served to preserve schoolboy friendships and the 'Corporate Spirit' and aid the placement of school leavers in employment. A House system, the Roan Magazine and a Dramatic Society were also set up.

1916 - 1930: Arthur Herbert Hope, Headmaster, began the School Scout Troop, helped persuade the Governors to buy the Playing Fields at Kidbrooke Road, Lee and gave support to the War Memorial Fund set up after the end of the First World War. The Hope Memorial Camp, Braithwaite, Cumbria was established in his memory after his death in 1930. The Camp had been bought by Hope to enable Roan boys to experience mountains and lakes and camping life.

1928: the boys' school moved to Maze Hill, Greenwich.

1931 - 1938: Willian James Potter, Headmaster, put the school in the forefront of London's Grammar Schools making developments in science curriculum, games organisation and improvement of the school field.

1877 - 1939: Roan School for Girls

1895 - 1919: Miss Walker, Headmistress developed activities outside school including net ball, swimming and dancing and was one of the founders of the London Inter-Schools Net ball Association.

1904: Roan Gazette began.

1906: the first enlargements to the school buildings were made.

1919 - 1944: Sixth Form was created after 1919 through Advanced Courses and Higher School Certificate awards and more girls stayed to the age of 18. A Senior and Junior Social Club was set up and included theatre productions such as 'Iolanthe' organised by Miss Wenden and Miss Monk-Jones as part of 1928 school Jubilee Celebrations.

1937: an extension was built to add an Assembly Hall, new Library, Physics Lab, Domestic Science room and classrooms.

1939 - 1945: Evacuation of the Roan Schools during the Second World War

1939 - 1940: staff and pupils were moved first to Ticehurst, Flimwell and Stonegate, Kent, later to Rye and Bexhill. The South East London Emergency School was established by the London County Council in the Roan School for Girls building, presided by Miss Richardson, Emergency Head.

1940: the schools were moved (for three years) to Ammanford and Llandebie, South Wales in improvised accommodation which included vestries and a Village Hall.

1945: the schools were reunited.

Post 1945: pupils' fees were abolished under the Education Act 1944 and the junior school was closed. Funds continued to invested to commemorate outstanding figures in the life of the school through annual Prize Giving events and Founder's Day annual service continued to be held at Saint Alfege Church, Greenwich.

1977: an agreement was made between the Inner London Education Authority and the Governors of the Roan Schools Foundation for the amalgamation of the Roan School for Boys, the Roan School for Girls and Charlton Secondary School for Boys and establishment of a new mixed comprehensive school.

1980: John Roan School formed.

1981: new buildings were built at Westcombe Park Road, Greenwich.

1984: last pupils in the former Roan Grammar School buildings were transferred.

1990: the Inner London Education Authority was abolished and Greenwich Borough Council manages the school as a mixed comprehensive. Head Teachers:

Grey Coat School: Masters

1677 John Lodge (appointed as writing master)

1694 Joseph May

1695 Joseph Busfield

1702 William Herringham

1720 John Herringham

1749 Philip Herringham

1760 John Herringham

1785 Edward Smith

1797 Joseph Wright

1826 Thomas Dowsell

1835 Barnett Wright

1838 George Edward Pettett

1870 William Howarth

Roan School for Boys: Heads

1877 Charles Michael Ridger

1911 T R N Crofts

1916 Arthur Herbert Hope (died 1930)

1931 William James Potter (joined 1895)

1938 H W Gilbert

1959 H W Garstang

1974 D Billington (Acting Head)

1975 Mrs B A Scott

1979 D Billington (Acting Head)

Roan School for Girls: Heads

1877 Mary Martha Blackmore

1895 Mary Spalding Walker

1919 Mary Kingsland Higgs

1940 G M Richardson (Acting Head of South East London Emergency School at the Roan School for Girls building)

1944 Marguerite E Barnsdale

1962 M S Chamberlain

1968 Mrs M J Barber

John Roan School: Head Teachers

1980 Dr Alfred J Taylor

1985 Ann Tonkin

1991 Christopher Deane