Motto | "Learning together, enjoying success" |
---|---|
Established | 1954 |
Type | Academy |
Principal | Zara Tippey |
Location |
Corelli Road Shooters Hill Road London SE3 8EP England 51°28′10″N 0°02′37″E / 51.46947°N 0.04353°ECoordinates: 51°28′10″N 0°02′37″E / 51.46947°N 0.04353°E |
Local authority | Greenwich |
DfE URN | 100185 |
Ofsted | Reports |
Gender | Coeducational |
Ages | 11–19 |
Houses | Democracy, Equality, Independence, Solidarity, Trust and Sixth Form |
Colours | Purple and Black |
Website | www |
Corelli College is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located on Corelli Road and near the Kidbrooke area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in southeast London. The school has a specialism in the arts. The school has recently opened a new sports facility consisting of a sports hall, changing rooms, toliets, a Dance studio, IT room, gym and a lift for wheelchair and buggy users.
The buildings were planned in 1949 and subsequently redesigned (by architect Charles Pike) in 1951 to meet spending cuts. It first opened as Kidbrooke School in 1954 (and was officially opened on 15 June 1955 by Countess Mountbatten of Burma) as one of the first purpose-built comprehensive schools in Britain.
Originally a girls school, the school was built on the site of a former aerodrome by London County Council for "the children of the heroes of the second world war", with the school colours based on the blue and grey uniform of the Royal Air Force. The founding Headteacher for 19 years, Dame Mary Green "was so proud of the fact that the local people called her pupils 'Smarties', thinking it was a reflection on their intelligence. In fact, the youngsters knew the nickname came from the different-coloured berets they had to wear outside school - a different colour for each of the eight houses. She was determined to ensure that all the pupils in her charge fulfilled their potential."
Kidbrooke started admitting boys after 1982 as the school began competing with other comprehensives in the area.
On 24 January 1997 students from nearby Thomas Tallis School attacked and murdered one of the school's pupils, CJ Rickard, 14, with a 17-inch machete.
Kidbrooke School was the focus of TV chef Jamie Oliver's campaign to improve school dinners in Britain as part of his TV series Jamie's School Dinners. Jamie Oliver's campaign was particularly important at a school like Kidbrooke, where the majority of students receive free school dinners and thus rely on it as their main source of nutrition. Nora, the head cook, had success with her book "Nora's Dinners" and left the school on the 24 May 2007.