Education in London

This guide provides an introduction to the IOE's archive collections relating to the history of education in London.

Introduction

This guide provides an introduction to the IOE's archive collections relating to the history of education in London. They include personal papers of those working in education, organisational papers (including schools, universities, campaign groups, colleges and local authorities) and photographs.

History of Education in London (1870-1990)

School Board for London (1870-1903)

The School Board for London (SLB or LSB) was the only school board created by the 1870 Elementary Education Act and it covered the area of jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works, now known as inner London. The Board's main aim was to provide enough elementary school places for all poor children in London and became the largest provider of education in London. The Board built new schools and renovated others it had inherited. In 1871 a bye-law was passed which made school attendance mandatory for children aged 5-13, though it was largely unenforceable until attendance was made compulsory in 1880 and was not free until 1891. The SLB dictated the administrative structure of its schools and their basic curriculum. It also developed higher grade schools for its oldest and ablest elementary pupils offering a vocational element to the curriculum and were funded by the Science and Art Department as schools of science.

In 1889 the London County Council (LCC) replaced the Metropolitan Board of Works as the principal local government body in inner London. In 1893 the LCC established the Technical Education Board (TEB) to aid the provision of technical and secondary education in the city. The TEB introduced the junior county scholarships to make it possible for pupils from elementary schools to go to secondary schools and technical institutes and set up new technical institutions such as the London Day Training College (later the IOE). In 1897 the TEB became responsible for the allocation of Science and Art Department grants and clashed with the SLB over their higher grade schools.

In 1901 it was ruled that it was illegal for the Board to fund the schools as they were outside their elementary remit which partially led to the abolition of the SLB.  

London County Council 1904-1965

In 1904 the LCC took over responsibility for the provision of education from the SLB and TEB under the Education (London) Act 1903. The LCC brought all the elementary schools they were responsible for under one administrative structure and carried out a large renovation and building programme to improve the educational and social conditions of the schools. The LCC also introduced welfare reforms to improve the health of their pupils, including school medical treatment centres, free school meals for delicate children and open air schools. To combat the lack of secondary school places available they opened their own County Secondary Schools and retained the higher grade schools (now central schools) and other technical schools as an alternative form of post-elementary education. They also began to improve teaching standards by investing in new teacher training colleges, creating in-service training courses, developing an education library and eliminating the need for uncertified teachers.

Due to World War I and economical restrictions of the inter-war period, the LCC limited developments during this period and saved cost by limiting scholarships, cutting school hours and postponing school improvements. Despite this the LCC opened additional central schools and new day continuation schools for employed young people in reaction to the raising of the school leaving age to 14 by the 1918 Education Act. They also organised instructional and recreational centres for unemployed youths aged 16-18 as unemployment rates rose in the 1920s. In 1934 a by-law was passed to raise the school leaving age to 15, which was to be enforced nationally by the 1936 Education Act (which was never enacted due to World War II).

In the first months of World War II around 49% of London’s school population was evacuated. Although evacuated secondary schools were often attached to other schools, there was no such links for elementary pupils and many younger children returned to London and were taught in emergency elementary schools. At the end of the War, of London’s 1200 schools only 50 schools had received no damage and 290 were destroyed or severely damaged.

The 1944 Education Act changed the system of secondary education in England and Wales by bringing compulsory education for all up to the age of 14 (raising to 15 in 1947) and officially enforcing a division between elementary (now primary) and secondary education. The LCC drew up a plan on how they would implement the Act to again take up all the powers they had been given and began to experiment with comprehensive schools. The LCC also tried to continue to improve the educational and social welfare of their pupils by investing in school libraries, clubs and societies; providing financial aid and premises for youth organisations; providing musical instruments in schools; developing sport centres; and introducing the school meals service for all children.

In 1960 the Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London (also known as the Herbert Commission), which reviewed the administration of the city and the surrounding area, called for the closure of the LCC and the creation of a new body, the Greater London Council (GLC), to be responsible for the administration of the whole of what is now Greater London. The London Government Act of 1963 replaced the LCC with the GLC in 1965 and the outer boroughs were given local education authority status. Education in the former LCC area was to be the responsibility of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA).

Inner London Education Authority 1965-1990

The ILEA was a ‘special committee’ of the GLC and consisted of members of the GLC from the inner London area and members delegated from the inner London borough councils. Following the work of the LCC, ILEA introduced some experimental approaches to education including the development of its own educational television network. Teachers’ Centres were established which provided education for ILEA teachers and had teams responsible for different subjects. Advisory teachers were appointed to work with each subject inspector to help develop the different subject areas. The ILEA also adopted a culturally pluralist approach towards ethnic minorities in London schools, continued to promote comprehensive education and abolished corporal punishment in its schools.

The ILEA’s work was restricted by the political problems it faced due to its status. It was possible for the ILEA to have a majority of Labour members when the GLC had a conservative majority which caused conflicts between the two bodies. Conservative politicians often claimed the organisation was over-spending and over bureaucratic. After it was announced in 1983 that the GLC would be abolished, the ILEA’s future was uncertain but it was decided that the inner London boroughs could not manage their own education provision at that time and the ILEA would continue as a directly elected body. The Authority still faced opposition and during discussions about the Education Reform Act 1988 it was proposed to allow the London boroughs to opt out of the ILEA and form their own local education authorities which later was amended to abolish the ILEA altogether. The ILEA was abolished in 1990 and provision for education was given to the local boroughs.

Guidance

For guidance on how to use our dedicated online catalogue to browse and search archives, manuscripts and records see the archives home page.

Archive collections

Papers of Gene Adams

Gene Adams was the ILEA Museums Education Advisor from 1975-1990. Her papers include publications she produced whilst in the role; papers regarding educational activities she developed in London museums and surveys of museums in London (RefNo: GA).

Records of All Parents Action Group (ALPAG) and Parents Initiative

Parents Initiative was a forum for national parent, teacher and governor organisations. It was created in 1986 to establish working relationships between groups interested in promoting a well-resourced, publicly-funded and accountable education system for all children. PI was run on a voluntary basis by members of various parent groups. ALPAG was also founded in 1986 to campaign for better resources in schools. Its publication 'Schoolwatch' , for London parents, was issued twice a term. It reported on developments in schools in the capital. (RefNo: ALP)

Photographic archive of the Architects and Building Branch

The Architects and Building Branch, formed in 1949 by the then Ministry of Education, oversaw the central government policy relating to school architecture and specific building programmes. The collection contains photographs, 1940s-1980s, including images of schools in London. (RefNo: ABB)

Papers of Bernard Barker

Barker has been credited with being the first comprehensive student (1957-1964) to become a Headteacher of a comprehensive school (1980-1997). He worked as a headteacher, including in London, before joining Leicester University. The collection comprises biographical materials and teaching resources developed by Barker. This collection is not online yet. Contact us for more information. (RefNo: BAR)

Records of the ILEA Bridging Course

Records of the Inner London Education Authority Bridging Course (officially known as the ILEA/EEC Transition from School to Work Project), 1978-1982, which was designed to help to bridge the transition from school to working life. (RefNo: BR)

Papers of Ebenezer Cooke

Cooke was drawing master interested in the theory and practice of art education, and the collection, (1860-1912), includes papers relating to the London County Council Report of the Conference on the Teaching of Drawing in Elementary and Secondary Schools and Training Colleges, 1907-1909. (RefNo: CO)

Papers of Michael Duane

Michael Duane was a head teacher who was best known for his 'progressive' educational views. His collection, (1946-1992), include papers regarding his work at Risinghill School in Islington, 1960-1965. (RefNo: MD)

Papers of Brenda Francis

Brenda Francis (fl. 1930s-1980s) was a London County Council (LCC)/Inner Education Authority (ILEA) Advisory Teacher in the field of domestic science. Her collection mostly comprises photographs of domestic science lessons in London, [1930s-1990s] collected during her work in ILEA. (RefNo: BF)

Papers of Marina Foster

Marina Foster was born and educated in South Africa and came to the UK as a refugee in the 1960's. She worked as a teacher and advisory teacher for ILEA and played an important role in the development of ILEA's policy on multiethnic education. She was also an activist and campaigner for children's rights and against racial discrimination. (RefNo: MF)

Records of the Girls' Day School Trust (GDST)

The GDST is an independently run but centrally supported group of girls' schools initially created in 1872 to advance the education of women. Their schools are mostly based in London and their records, (1843-2009), comprise the central administrative records of the Trust. The collection also contains records of the Trust's closed schools in Kensington, Clapham, Maida Vale, Islington and Dulwich. 

Papers of Ethel Martha Hatchard née Smith

Collection of papers reflecting the career of a female teacher who combined teaching with family commitments in the first half of the twentieth-century. Her papers, 1899-1983, including personal material relating to her own education at the North London Collegiate School and her training as a teacher at the Hackney Pupil Teachers' Centre. (RefNo: EH)

Papers of Trevor Jagger

Jagger was a teacher and lecturer in Education before becoming an Inspector of Schools with the Inner London Education Authority during the 1970s. Between 1979 and 1985 he was Chief Inspector of Schools for the ILEA. His collection includes articles, reports and speeches relating to his work. (RefNo: JAG)

Papers of Hilde Jarecki

Hilde Jarecki spent around 20 years working as the Senior Professional Advisor for the London Playgroup Association and her collection, (1945-1997), includes papers regarding playgroups in London. (RefNo: HJ)

Papers of Rose Kosky

Rose Kosky was a former teacher who worked for Barking and Dagenham Schools' Psychological Service, [1975]-1987. Her collection includes papers on the Barking Reading Project, [1975-1979], which aimed to help teachers to teach children with reading difficulties in the classroom rather than referring them external experts. (RefNo: KOS)

Papers of Elsie Victoria Lane

Elsie Lane was a hairdresser and teacher of wig-making, who ran her own school in Mile End Road, London. Her papers, (1881-1973), include personalia, autobiographical notes and correspondence about her life, training, career and views on education and training. (RefNo: EL)

Papers of Martin Lightfoot

Martin Lightfoot was a Deputy Education Officer (Services) at the ILEA and later the Director of the Centre for the Study of Community and Race Relations at Brunel University and also worked to help the development of educational programmes in Southwark after the abolition of ILEA. His collection includes papers regarding his work, including material relating to the research projects 'Recreating Education: London and Education Reform', 1989-1992. (RefNo: LI)

Records of the London Association for the Teaching of English

LATE was formed in 1947 and its main objective was to provide a live forum for the exchange of ideas, for the practical study of problems connected with English teaching and for the dissemination of the results of group and individual work. (RefNo: LAE)

Records of the London History Teachers Association

This collection contains the minutes and memoranda, 1953-1975, of an association for history teachers working in secondary schools in London. (RefNo: LHT)

London Parents Ballot Campaign

This collection comprising the scrapbooks covering the work of London Parents Ballot Campaign (LPBC) which was set up as a sub-committee of the Parents Central Consultative Committee of the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA). The Campaign asked the opinion of parents about the transfer of responsibility for education services from the ILEA to local authorities. (RefNo: LPB)

Papers of Michael Marland

Marland held a number of senior posts in London state schools, most notably as Headteacher at Woodberry Down School (1971-1979) and North Westminster Community School (1980-1999). He was a passionate proponent of the comprehensive ideal, inclusivity and good educational practice. He wrote and spoke on a variety of topics including inner-city and inter-cultural education, school management, curriculum planning, pastoral care and the role of the arts in education. (RefNo: MM)

Papers of David and Mary Medd

The Medds were architects who worked for the Architects and Building Branch at the Ministry of Education and the collection, (1870s-2009), include various papers regarding the schools they worked on in London including Eveline Lowe Primary School. (RefNo: ME)

Papers of Kate Myers

Kate Myers was ILEA co-ordinator of the Schools' Council's Sex Differentiation Project, an advisory teacher, director of the SCDC/EOC Equal Opportunities Project, and a senior inspector in the London Borough of Ealing. Her collection, (1974-1995), include her research during her work in equal opportunities and gender equality mostly dating from the 1980s. (RefNo: MYE)

Papers of Horace Panting

Horace Panting was a science teacher in east London from 1932-1977. His collection, (1912-1980s), includes papers regarding his time as a student at the IOE; papers associated with school sport in London; and a handwritten diary regarding the evacuation of Holborn Boy's School to Crudwell, Wiltshire, during the Second World War. (RefNo: HP)

Lady Plowden archive: mainly relating to the work of the Plowden Committee

This collection contains evidence and information from a range of individuals and organisations working in London during the 1960s. It can be used to gain an understanding of education provision (particularly in primary schools) during this period. 

Pre-School Learning Alliance (PLA) / Pre-School Playgroups Association (PPA)

The Pre-School Playgroups Association was established in 1961 to provide nursery education. It was a centrally run body that created guidance and training that enabled local parents to organise their own nursery groups. In 1995, after organisational changes, the Pre-School Learning Alliance was established and continues to provide pre-school childcare. Although national in scope, the archive contains papers regarding nursery provision in the capital. This collection is partially catalogued. Please contact the archives for further information.

Papers of Bernarr Rainbow

Bernarr Rainbow was a historian of music education, organist, and choir master. His collection (1940s-1990s) include papers relating to his work as Director of music at the teacher training college of St Mark and St John in Chelsea and Gipsy Hill College of Education. (RefNo: RW)

Papers of Cynthia Reynolds

Cynthia Reynolds was an Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) advisory teacher on home economics, who was involved in the development of ‘preparation for parenthood’ courses in ILEA secondary schools. Her papers, 1945-1985, include papers regarding the development of the courses and other home economics projects she was involved in at ILEA. (RefNo: CR)

Records of the Schools Council for Curriculum and Examinations

The SCC was a non-directive body intended to provide leadership in curriculum, examination and assessment development, 1964-1980. The collection includes some files relating to ILEA projects. (RefNo: SCC)

Papers of Brian Simon

Brian Simon was the professor of education at the University of Leicester. His collection, (1908-2003), includes papers on the reorganisation of ILEA in 1987 in relation to his book. (RefNo: SIM)

Papers of Nigel Spearing

Nigel Spearing was a teacher who became involved in politics and was MP for Acton, 1970-1974 and Newham South, 1974-1997. His collection, (1962-2002), includes papers regarding education and local government including educational reconstruction, 1979-1980, and ILEA reorganisation, 1980-1981. (RefNo: NS)

Records of the Institute of Education

The IOE's own archive can be used to research all aspects of education and teacher training, including in the capital. The records of the Student Union and Associations, as well as photographs and student magazines, can be used to find out about student lift from 1900 to the present day. This collection is only partially catalogued. (RefNo: IE)

Relevant library collections

Official Publications Collection

This is an almost comprehensive collection of official reports, legislation and other publications on education and related subjects for all parts of the United Kingdom, including publications by the SBL, LCC and ILEA.

Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) Publications

A collection of books and audiovisual materials published by the ILEA Learning Resources Branch was transferred to the Institute when the ILEA was abolished in 1990.