Langley Park School for Boys


Langley Park School for Boys is a boys secondary academy school in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, with a co-ed sixth form. On 31 March 2011, the school converted from a Foundation School to an academy and its current status is that of an "Academy Converter".

Location

It is situated near Eden Park and the Bethlem Royal Hospital on Hawksbrook Lane close to the boundary of the London Borough of Bromley with the London Borough of Croydon. Construction for the new school building was completed in December 2011, and the staff and pupils moved into the building in January 2012, following which the old buildings were demolished.

Admissions

Langley Park School for Boys is one of the few state schools that play rugby and hockey, and is one of the top three hockey schools in the country, having competed in the last four national finals.
In 2004, under the leadership of Jack Sampson, the under-16 team were crowned national champions, the first comprehensive school to achieve this. In 2013 the under-18 team was nearly crowned national champions with an unbeaten record in the tournament; however, they narrowly missed out to the eventual winners Whitgift School on goal difference.
LPSB offers a wide range of sports, including rugby and hockey, from year 7. The new buildings for the school provide private hockey facilities for the school, which are currently being shared with Langley Park School for Girls. Other sports include cricket, tennis and basketball.

Music

Langley Park School for Boys' music department offers groups from the traditional concert band, chamber orchestra, brass band and choir, to world music styles, including a Cuban band and an African drumming group.
In 2013, the brass band was one of the finalists of the national Music for Youth competition who were selected to perform at Royal Albert Hall. The band played in the Primary Proms show, and performed Take That's "Shine", the theme from The Magnificent Seven and Concierto de Aranjuez.

History

The school was originally the Beckenham Technical Institute, opening in 1901 and situated in what is now the Studio, Beckenham. The school went through a variety of name changes in its early days: the Technical Day School, Beckenham; Beckenham Secondary School; Beckenham County School for Boys; Beckenham and Penge County School for Boys; in 1944 it was the Beckenham and Penge County Grammar School under headmaster L.W. White, MA. In 1950 the school was mentioned in Nature the scientific journal. The article in Nature explained that a periodical named "Beckenham and Penge Grammar School : Scientific Society Proceedings" existed in which scientific work done by the boys was reported. By 1954 it was called Beckenham and Penge Grammar School for Boys.
An increase in size meant the school moved to new buildings in High St, Penge, in 1931. It moved from Penge to its present location in Eden Park, Beckenham, in January 1969, at which point it adopted its current name. In the late 1980s, schools could opt out of local government control by becoming a Grant-maintained school which were funded by a direct grant of money from the central government. This new arrangement enabled schools to have greater control of their finances than they would have had under local government control. Hansard indicates that a ballot of parents occurred on 8 March 1991 regarding the question of the school becoming a "grant maintained school". The school was given a grant of £60,000 as a transitional grant.
The school outgrew its present accommodation and a completely new building was constructed adjacent to the location of the former school, which was occupied from January 2012.
The school motto, Mores et Studia, means "good character and learning".

Headteachers

The school started in 1901, as the Beckenham Technical Institute at a site close to Beckenham's public baths the headmaster was Mr C.T.F. Watts, in 1931 he was replaced by Mr S. Gammon who had been at the Windsor County School. In October 1940 Mr Gammon was killed by a bomb dropped during the war. He was replaced by Mr L.W. White who was appointed in September 1941. In December 1962, Mr white retired and was replaced with Mr D.A. Raeburn.
Five terms after the school relocated to its current site, off South Eden Park Road, headmaster David A. Raeburn retired, and was replaced by B.A. Phythian, who led the school as it converted to comprehensive status. Brian Phythian had written and edited some books on the subject of the English language which include and the Manchester Grammar School.
In December 1989, Brian Phythian was succeeded by R.V.P. Sheffield, who was in the post until 1999, leaving the school under allegations of financial irregularities. The deputy headteacher, K McGregor, took over as acting headteacher until the appointment of R Northcott in 2001, who retired in July 2013. It is stated in the 1990 year book that Mr Sheffield had a degree in Psychology from the University of Nottingham and a MEd from Birmingham University. The yearbook also states that Mr Sheffield was working in a school in Waddington before being senior master at a school in Worcester in 1978, in 1984 he became deputy head at Newent School. Mr Sheffield was mentioned in a news paper article about a £50,000 out of court settlement relating to the occupational asthma suffered by David Parker a former Craft Design and Technology teacher at the school.
The current headteacher is Steve Parsons, who started in September 2013.

Notable former pupils