{"id":9484,"date":"2026-09-01T08:37:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T08:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bealhighschool.co.uk\/?page_id=9484"},"modified":"2026-09-07T12:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T12:42:59","slug":"history-of-beal-high-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bealhighschool.co.uk\/fr\/history-of-beal-high-school\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Beal High School"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Brief History of Beal High School<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today, Beal High School is one of the largest mixed comprehensive school for students aged\n11\u201318 in England.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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South Park Central School (1908)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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South Park School<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Beal\u2019s roots go back to the foundation of a senior department to South Park Central School in\nWater Lane, Seven Kings which was opened in 1907. In 1908 a Senior Mixed Department\nopened with 59 boys and 100 girls. Between 1927 and 1930 the building was used for a\ntemporary selective central school. The clamour for better and more education grew and it\nwas agreed to open a new school. South Park school still exists as a primary school on the\nsame site.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Beal Modern School (1931)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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EPW037536 ENGLAND (1932). Beal Modern School (Seven Kings High School), Ilford, 1932<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In 1931 secondary students were transferred to a brand-new building in Ley Street (the\npresent Seven Kings High School site) as Beal Modern School. The Boys\u2019 and Girls\u2019 selective\nschools functioned as separate units, although on the same site. <\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Beal Modern School was named after Alderman Edmund John Beal (1843 \u2013 1928). He was the\nowner of a chemist\u2019s shop in the High Road and was destined to play a major role in the civic\ndevelopment of Ilford. He was Chairman of the Ilford School Board from 1890 to 1894, and\nthe first Chairman of the Ilford Urban District Council.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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24th August 1931: Opening of the Beal Modern School (in Ley Street, Ilford). (By the Mayor, Alderman H J Odell.) <\/em><\/p>

The Beal Modern School was opened this morning, the pupils, staff and materials having been transferred from South Park Central School prior to the holiday<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Beal Modern School on Ley Street (current site of Seven Kings High\nSchool)<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Picture taken from The Beal School Magazine 1932<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The girls were allocated the ground floor and the headmistress was Miss J B Atkinson.<\/p>

The boys were placed on the upper floor and the headmaster was Mr Herbert Goodacre.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Miss J B Atkinson\nHeadmistress of Beal Modern\nSchool <\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Mr H H Goodacre\nHeadmaster of Beal Modern\nSchool (1931 \u2013 1938)<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Picture taken from The Beal\nSchool Magazine 1932<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Uniform<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The original Beal uniform of brown and gold also holds a badge on the blazer. This is taken\nfrom the coat of arms of Ilford. It contains an image of the Fairlop Oak, a huge ancient tree,\nsaid to have stood for over a thousand years. The tree stood on Fairlop plain and every year\nfrom 1725 onwards the Fairlop Fair was held around it until it was destroyed in a\nthunderstorm and blown down in 1820. In 1951, to commemorate the Festival of Britain,\nthe Mayor of Ilford planted a new oak at Fairlop, on the roundabout. If you look again at the\nbadge, you will see seven crowns. These represent the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of\nEngland whose kings were said to have held a conference on the spot where Seven Kings\u2019\nStation stands. The water at the base refers to the town's name Ilford. This means ford\nacross the Hyle, the local name for the river Roding.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Back to 1932<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In general, the girls and boys were educated separately and were only allowed to mix on\nspecial social occasions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The foreword to the first issue of the \u2018Beal High School Magazine\u2019 (1932), written by Mr H.\nH. Goodacre, F.R.G.S ends:<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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You have entered into a wonderful heritage. Your privileges are great. See\nthat you use them to the full and not only use them, but by your conduct,\nyour speech, your bearing and by your devotion to duty, demonstrate to\nthe world that you intend to prove worthy of the golden opportunities so\ngenerously placed within your grasp.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In 1936 the school was inspected by an HMI, Mr J C Bishop. At this time there were 308\npupils on roll in 9 classes with 2 forms in each of 3 years and three forms in the 4th year. Mr\nBishop pointed out the inadequacies of provision for both the boys and the parallel girls\u2019\nschool, all housed in one building, with playing fields of just 6 acres.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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At this time a library did not exist, the medical room being used for this purpose. There was\nno dining room, nor a gymnasium, and the boys\u2019 and girls\u2019 school shared one laboratory and\na hall.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The curriculum included English, History, Geography, French, Mathematics, Science, Art,\nHandicraft, Music, Commercial Subjects and Physical Training. HMI pointed out the\nlimitations of the school facilities but reported that \u2018the spirit of the school is excellent\u2019 and\nthat there were many activities that played a valuable part in the education of the pupils. He\nwas particularly pleased to note that there was a school branch of the League of Nations,\nwhich held debates and had lantern lectures. Some of the members of the society had pen\nfriends in foreign countries. He noted, with particular pleasure, that the boys\u2019 school was\ninvolved in visits to factories, works and museums on an annual basis and that the stage had\nrecently been equipped for operatic and dramatic productions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Amongst the visits made by pupils and staff in the 1930s were the following:<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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