Kingsland Secondary School was a school located on Shacklewell Lane in the London Borough of Hackney

London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....

, England. It closed in August 2003.

The school, originally built as Dalston County School in ca. 1937, was closed in August 2003, demolished and rebuilt under the new name of the 'Petchey Academy

Petchey Academy

The Petchey Academy is an academy on the site of the former Kingsland School in Shacklewell Lane, Hackney, London. It is named after Jack Petchey and has been sponsored by the Jack Petchey Foundation. It is a comprehensive high school for boys and girls aged from 11 to 18. The specialism of Petchey...

', named after Jack Petchey

Jack Petchey

Jack Petchey CBE is a businessman, now involved in many charitable enterprises. He was born and brought up in the East End of London. During the second world war, he served in the Royal Navy, and used his Navy discharge pay to start a car hire and car sales business. This grew into a business...

.

Controversy

The decision to permanently close down Kingsland Secondary School was met with much opposition, as many faculty members and students felt that much progress was being made in improving the standards of teaching and academic levels, which ultimately meant that the school should not have been branded a 'Special Measures' institution. However, the Office of The Schools Adjudicator published its decision on March 14, 2003 that the school should be discontinued by August 31, 2004.

Building layout

Kingsland Secondary School consisted of four buildings, which were known as blocks A,B,C and D.

• A-block was the largest of the four blocks, it was the main building, where the majority of subjects were taught to students.
• B-block contained the canteen, design and technology department and the offices of the heads of years.
• C-block housed two gym halls, a drama studio and the music department
• D-block was also known as the "science block", although it was not exclusive to the science department. Also situated in this building was the special educational needs room, the French department and on the top floor, the home economics and art department.

Film location

The Granada Television

Granada Television

Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 series 'Murder City

Murder City (TV Series)

Murder City is a British police drama that centres on two mismatched detectives who scour London solving complex cases. Murder City premiered on 18 March 2004 on the ITV Network at 9pm. BBC America began airing the series on 17 August 2006.-Cast:...

' used the school as a location.

The 2005 TV movie 'Ahead of the Class' starring Julie Walters, used the school as a location. The film was based on a real-life, turn-around-the-school story where Marie Stubbs took the helm at St George's School in Maida Vale, London. Among the many shots of the school inside and out,
the main hall in A block featured in assembly scenes. See IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421570/