Raine's Foundation School

Infobox Secondary school
name = Raine's Foundation School
principal =Mr. Gordon Clubb

type = Voluntary Aided
affiliations = Christianity
grades = 7-11 plus Sixth Form(12-13)
city = Greater London
country = United Kingdom
motto = "Come in and learn your duty to God and man."
enrollment = 900
established = 1719
website = [http://www.rainesfoundation.org.uk/raines/]
colors = Black, blue
trustee =

Raine's Foundation School is a Church of England Voluntary Aided school in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Henry Raine, a rich man who lived in Wapping, decided to create a school where poor children could get an education for free, so that they could go into skilled labour when they left. In 1719, the Lower School opened. It has moved many times and the school now has two separate buildings, one for Years 7 and 8, and one for Year 9 and above.

History

Henry Raine had made a good sum of money from selling alcohol. However he was a devout Christian, and he knew that he should use his wealth for good. He decided to found a school where poor children who could get an education for free. He built it in Wapping, where he lived and named it "the Lower School".It opened in 1719.

"The Lower School", was designed to provide an education for fifty boys and fifty girls between the ages of 8 and 18 years. They would learn "the three Rs", which were reading, writing and arithmetic. Girls however were also taught to sew and to cook, and Boys were also made to shovel coal underground for the school's heating, and to scrub the floors.This was done in between periods.

In 1736 Henry built and set aside money for a boarding school which would take on forty girls from the Lower School. It was known as "Raine's Hospital" and later "Asylum"(this did not have the connotations it has today). It would have been quite pleasant, with clothes being provided along with frequent meals.

The boys and the girls were separated at first and the boys would be beaten if caught talking to a girl. Because of this a fence was put up between the boarding and lower school.

In 1820 a new boys school was opened as there was a large increase in boys at the lower school which was only a boys' school, the girls had the boarding school but were soon to move to the Lower School. It opened in Silver Street by the Duke of Clarence who was later King William IV.

In 1883 the boarding school closed and a new boys' and girls' school opened in Cannon Street Road. Not all places were free anymore, it was 3d a week for the preparatory school and 6d for the senior school.

In 1913 the school moved to Arbour Square in Stepney, the building still stands today and is part of Tower Hamlets college. It was state of the art with its gymnasium, science laboratories, a girls' cookery room and in World War I a rifle range was built on the open rooftop for boys who could prepare for the army which they would fight in against the Germans. The separation for boys and girls continued until 1964, even the hall was separated with a huge sheet.

In 1977, Raine's merged with St Jude's Secondary School and became a comprehensive.

In 1985, the school moved to Old Bethnal Green Road (the lower school for years 7 and 8), and the old Parmiter's building in Approach Road. Both are in Bethnal Green and remain there until today.

Motto

The motto was devised when the school opened. The original is::"Come in and do your duty to God and man"."

It has however changed to::"Come in and learn your duty to God and man"."

Uniform

Uniform has always been an important part of the school. When it first opened it had a boys' uniform: cap, long coat with buttons (the neck button always had to be done up), tights and high heel-like shoes. The girls had: a coat, skirt and a hat.

Current boy's uniform

*Black shoes (no buckles)
*White shirt
*School tie
*Blazer with Raine's logo
*Black trousers
*Jumper (at certain times of year)

The girl's uniform

*Navy jumpers (or black) (same as boys' time of year)
*Blue striped shirt + *Blue striped shirt
*Black shoes (same rules as boys).

ummer uniform

*White Raine's polo shirt
*Blue skirts (girls) and black trousers (boys)
*Black shoes

tudents

There are many current clicks in the school and most predominant of the 2008 Yr 9-11 classes are the SKET FM crew they have wide popularity between them and share many a laugh in the play ground it is said that if you are contemplating suicide then talk to them as they will either make you happy or make you die laughing the current qoutes from this click is "finger my bush" reffering to the bunch on the back of one of the members hair also another widley used phrase is "well...." and theese cathc phrases are reknowned among yr 7 and yr 11 alike many people would call them the founders of the " real raines" and the embodyment of what it truley means to be a raineian as they mix highly evolved minds with fun adn laughter three of its members are some of the brightest minds in raines.

Subjects

Unlike in the past, Raine's teaches a number of subjects stretched across a six period day. The list below gives times per week for Key Stage 3, not the amount of times if taken for options.

The subjects taught now are:
*English x7
*Maths x7
*Science x10 (Year 7), x7 (Year 10 onwards)
*D.T. (Design and Technology) x1 (Year 7, Year 9), x2 (Year 8)
**Textiles
**Graphic Skills
**Resistant Materials
**Art (becomes weekly in Year 9)
**Computer graphics (Year 9 only)
*French/Spanish x2
*Religious Studies x5
*Physical Education x8
*History x3
*Geography x22
*Information Technology x1
*Business Studies (Only available as an option)
*Skills x1 (Year 7, Year 8)
*Citizenship x1 (Year 10 onwards)
*Preparation for Adult Life x1 (until Year 9)
*Music x1
*Expressive Arts x1 (Year 7, Year 8)

Compulsory subjects for GCSEs:
*Maths
*English
*Science
*Religious Studies
*"Physical Education"
*"Citizenship"

The subjects in italic do not have to be taken for GCSEs, but an allocated number of periods per week for these lessons must take place.

Headteachers and Heads of Years (2007/08)

*Headteacher: Mr.Gordon Clubb
*Deputy (lower): Mr. Hullet
*Deputy (upper): Ms. Swarbrick
*Head of Year 7: Mrs. Bell
*Head of Year 8: Mr. Bradburn
*Head of Year 9: Mr. Inubassi
*Head of Year 10: Ms. Smith
*Head of Year 11: Mr. Scantlebury
*Heads of Sixth Form/Year 13: Ms. Julian & Ms. Owen
*Head Boy: David Gordon
*Head Girl: Chelcie Whitmore

Partnership with China

The school has recently begun a relationship with a school in China. Chinese are currently visiting the school. Opportunities within the relationship will include foreign exchange trips from both England and China.

Chinese lessons currently take place after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. A new teacher has taken over the lessons.

In 2007, some teachers and sixth form students went on a residential trip to China to visit it's partner school.

Success story

The school's athletic department is top in P.E. The football teams usually gets through to the borough finals along with the basketball and athletics teams. The Girl's Athletics team have won the borough athletics league for 7 Years in a row.

Also the Math Challenge with EPGY is run every year with students who excel in Maths. It is an annual course where pupils must sit an entrance exam.

The future

In 2006, the school received £17 million which will be spent on refurbishing both lower and upper schools which are aging rapidly. At some point in 2008 it is proposed that lower and upper schools will temporarily be merged in order to allow building work to take place at the lower school site with the current building being demolished. Due to its age, the upper school buildings shall remain but the interiors will receive refurbishment. The current Head Teacher, Gordon Clubb, moved from temporary Head to a permanent position in 2007.

External links

* [http://www.rainesfoundation.org.uk/raines/index.html Raine's Foundation School online, the official site.]
* [http://epgy.stanford.edu/ The Maths Challenge (EPGY) with Stanford University]
* [http://www.rainesoc.moonfruit.com/ Website of the Old Raineians' Association]