Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School

The Haberdashers' Aske's School is a British Independent School in Elstree, near Borehamwood, in the county of Hertfordshire. It owes its name to its foundation by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers through the agency of Robert Aske.

The school was originally established in Hoxton, near the City of London. In the nineteenth century it was divided into two, one part moving to Hatcham in South London, where it was formally known as the Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham School, but usually referred to as "Aske's". This school is now a maintained, co-educational comprehensive school though it retains links with the Haberdashers Company. The other part moved to a site in Hampstead, North London, near Kilburn, becoming a direct grant school after the 1944 Education Act. Its formal name was the Haberdashers' Aske's Hampstead School, but it was generally known as "Haberdashers". In 1961 this school moved to its present site at Elstree, initially taking the name "Haberdashers' Aske's School Elstree". When the Labour government of 1964-70 withdrew the direct grant arrangements, it became fully fee-paying.

Recently, a number of buildings on the Elstree campus have been opened, including the new Aske Building (2004), a multi-million pound science and geography complex, and the Bourne Building, a series of classics, information technology and history classrooms. The Bourne building also features at its focus a large assembly hall, inherited from the building that stood there previously. A full development scheme has been initiated and over a period of time, the school will be re-built in order to keep up with the changing world.

Two girls' schools were also established, one in Hatcham and the other in Acton; the Hatcham school merged with the corresponding boys's school, and the Acton school moved during the 1970s to its current location next to the Boys' School.

The school is nominally Church of England in orientation, but is notable for the high numbers of ethnic minority pupils. A non-white head boy was selected as early as 1962. Currently, approximately 40% of pupils are from South Asian backgrounds and a similar number from a Jewish background.

The Haberdashers' Company was also involved in the foundation of other schools, for example Monmouth School, but these were not associated with Robert Aske.

Every year, the school holds a "MENCAP Funday" which involves the school being transformed into a fun park for disabled children and their siblings. The students from Years 10+ pair up or form groups to take around visiting children to fantastic events set up by teachers/other students. Everyone; the students, the teachers and the visitors enjoy the day thoroughly. Events include: Computer games, a candyfloss machine, bouncy castles, football, swimming, petting zoo, ice cream, and much more.

Notable alumni

• Alan Whicker (born 1925), television presenter
• Leon Brittan (born 1939), politician
• Sir Martin Sorrell (born 1943), Chief Executive, WPP plc (1986-)
• Michael Grade (born 1945), Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC (2004-)
• Simon Schama (born 1945), historian
• Nicholas Serota (born 1946), Director of Tate Galleries (1988-)
• Damon Hill (born 1960), motor racing champion
• David Baddiel (born 1964), comedian
• Sacha Baron Cohen (born 1971), comedian (aka Ali G)
• William Sutcliffe (born 1971), author
• Matt Lucas (born 1974), comedian
• Alexander S. Bermange (born 1976), composer, lyricist, and musical director [1] (http://www.bermange.co.uk)[2] (http://www.mercurymusicals.com/associates/bermange.html)
• Dr Raj Persaud, consultant psychiatrist, author and television personality
• Toby Harris, politician
• David Lidington, politician

External links

• The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School website (http://www.habsboys.org.uk/)
• The Haberdashers' Aske's Girls School website (http://www.habsgirls.org.uk/)