| Description | The records relate to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School, Wapping.
Although the records date from 1872-2002 with one letter 2010, the majority of the records are from 1990s - 2000s. These later records consist largely of Governors' minutes and reports. The collection includes log books, correspondence and reports, as well as architectural plans of proposed school sites and alteration works.
The collection has been arranged into three series of records, which reflect the main activities of the school and the way in which it operated from 1872-2002:
I/STP/1: Administrative
I/STP/2: Papers of the Governing Body and committees
I/STP/3: Papers relating to the local area
Within these series, the records are arranged into the following subseries:
I/STP/1: Administrative
I/STP/1/1: Log Books
I/STP/1/2: School Building and Site
I/STP/1/2/1: Development of School
I/STP/1/2/2: Maintenance and Building
I/STP/1/3: Newsletters and Circulars
I/STP/1/4: Finance and Legal
I/STP/1/5: Inspections, reports and policies
I/STP/1/5/1: St Patrick's policies and reports
I/STP/1/5/2: OFSTED Inspections
I/STP/1/6: Staffing and Students
I/STP/1/7: Correspondence
I/STP/1/7/1: Diocese of Westminster correspondence
I/STP/1/7/2: Correspondence re the planned closure of St Patrick's RC School
I/STP/2: Papers of the Governing Body and committees
I/STP/2/1: Governing Body papers
I/STP/2/1/1: Agenda, minutes and reports of the Governing Body
I/STP/2/1/2: Governing Body correspondence
I/STP/2/1/3: Chairs of Governors correspondence, newsletters and reports
I/STP/2/2: Other committee papers Extent: 11 boxes; 21 architectural plans; 1 map
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| AdminHistory | St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School (1872-2002) was a voluntary aided primary school supported by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The school opened as St Patrick's in the East in 1872 as a Boys' Catholic School, under the charge of Patrick O'Sullivan. A separate Girls school was established in 1905. In 1958, the Boys and Girls departments merged to form St Patrick's RC Junior Mixed School.
The school was split between two sites on Dundee Street and Reardon Street. The Reardon Street site (known as Red Lion St until 1936) was built in 1935 for nursery and reception classes (Infants), and opened by Cardinal Hinsley. The Dundee Street Site was located next to St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church (f.1877), and was the School's main site, housing Junior students as well as a building for lunch facilities. In 1975, due to a fall in the school population, the school chose to combine Junior and Infant schools under one head, Sister Mary O'Riordan, although the schools remained split across two sites.
In 1999, formal notice of the school's closure was received, following a continuing falling roll of students. In 1999, 119 pupils were on roll; the school's capacity was 210. In response, the school proposed merging the Infants and Juniors school on to one site on Dundee Street. The Governing body proposed that this reorganisation would allow the school to remain open, by increasing the school's efficiency through reduced running costs.
Despite proposals to merge the sites, and amid protests from the local community, on 15th August 2000, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, David Blunkett, confirmed the school's closure. He stated that the school would continue to experience problems with under-recruitment, and that the closure of the school would allow resources to be used more effectively elsewhere in the borough. Local press reported the school's closure as a result of poor Ofsted performance, however, this was denied by the school, who stated that closure was solely due to the falling roll.
The Governing body voted in favour of phased closure with the school remaining open until July 2004 to allow Key Stage 2 pupils to complete their studies. However, as the forecast of pupils on the school roll for September 2001 was less than 50, the authority did not extend the closure period until 2004. The school officially closed on 12 July 2002, with remaining students transferred to neighbouring schools.
Abbreviations used:
ILEA: Inner London Education Authority
LCC: London County Council
OFSTED: Office for Standards in Education
PANDA: Performance AND Assessment report (issued by OFSTED, 1999)
EAL: English Additional Language
LBTH: London Borough of Tower Hamlets
SEN: Special Educational Needs
DfEE: Department for Education and Employment |
| CustodialHistory | Following the closure of the school in 2002, the records were held by Fr William Nicol, of St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Wapping. The records were deposited on indefinite loan on 21/11/2012 and listed on 22/11/2012. |