College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London
The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London has now been rebranded to Capital City College Group and provides further, adult and higher education full-time and part-time courses, including vocational technical courses, T Levels and professional and academic courses at different levels.
History
Tottenham
Grove House School (1828–1878)
The history of the Tottenham Centre starts with the 18th century Grove House. Built in 1716 in 13 acres of wooded grounds it was the most southerly of a number of substantial country houses along Tottenham Green. In 1818 it was bought by the Society of Friends and opened in 1829 as a Quaker boarding school. Grove House School had a nationwide reputation and was noted for its advanced curriculum and absence of corporal punishment. It produced a number of distinguished alumni, including eleven future members of Parliament. One of these was WE Forster, a member of a local Tottenham Quaker family. He took the Elementary Education Act 1870 through Parliament, ensuring every child was entitled to at least an elementary education. Other well-known alumni included Dr Daniel Tuke, an early mental health physician and Joseph Lister, a pioneer of antiseptic surgery. Grove House School was one of several boarding schools in Tottenham with a nationwide reputation that were established from the late 17th century to the end of the 18th century. These included Bathsua Makin's ‘school for gentlewomen’ at Tottenham High Cross, and Bruce Castle School in Lordship Lane, established by the Hill family. One member of the Hill family was Sir Rowland Hill, who established the postal system by the introduction of the penny post.Tottenham Polytechnic (1897–1936)
Grove House School closed in 1878 and from 1892 the building was used for classes in art, science and technical subjects. In 1897 it was purchased by Middlesex County Council, becoming Tottenham Polytechnic. In 1901 the Polytechnic shared accommodation with the newly opened Tottenham County School, which used the Grove House premises during the day time. Polytechnic day classes were confined to the school of art, with science, technical and commercial studies largely taking place in the evening.In 1909 the Polytechnic offered courses in art, physiology and hygiene, science, technology, building construction, plumbing and carpentry, as well as land surveying, bus routine and gas manufacture. The commercial department included the theory and practice of commerce, shorthand and typing, commercial geography and history.
In 1910 additional buildings were constructed at the rear and the premises then comprised an assembly hall for up to 500 people, 11 classrooms, laboratories, dark room, art rooms and cookery rooms. The trade and industry courses had now expanded to include quantity surveying and mechanical engineering. There were also specialist classes in telegraphy and telephony taught by a GPO engineer, and gas supply, taught on the Gas Company premises by a gas works engineer. Particularly diverse were the commercial courses, which included commercial and industrial law, modern foreign languages, shorthand and typing, banking, book keeping and accountancy. In addition to the Trade and Commercial courses, there were domestic classes in cookery, dressmaking and millinery.
This range of courses reflected the nature of Tottenham's population and industry at the time. Industry consisted mainly of many small engineering and manufacturing firms, together with the nascent gas and telephone companies. There was also a considerable amount of building work with a rapid development of houses, shops, commercial and civic buildings taking place in the district at this time. Tottenham's population was mainly residential, with clerks and professional workers commuting to the City and other nearby areas. The 1911 Report noted the difficulties faced by evening-class students who often did not arrive home from work until 7.30 or 8.00 pm. Nevertheless, by 1911 there were 1,191 evening students.
In 1913 the County School moved to its new building on Tottenham Green and the Polytechnic was able to expand by extending daytime courses. A day Junior Technical School offering a two-year course for students age 13 to 16 was opened. The junior day schools were enlarged again between the wars with a Junior Technical School for boys age 13–16 in building and allied trades and a Junior Commercial School for girls and boys age 13–16 offering a general education, together with office and clerical skills. These schools provided a secondary education that could lead to apprenticeships in industry or careers in business and the professions.
There was also expansion in the third department of the Polytechnic, the Evening Institute, with four other centres across Tottenham being used. Classes were offered in art, science, matriculation, secretarial, accountancy and languages. There were courses in banking and the civil service, as well as technical and building work. The pioneering Blanche Nevile School for the Deaf, run by Tottenham Borough Council, was in nearby Philip Lane and the Polytechnic responded with classes in lip reading for teachers and parents, and language skills classes for deaf adults.
Tottenham Technical College
Student numbers rose from 857 in 1908–9 to 102,827 in 1938–39 and rebuilding became a necessity. Grove House was demolished in 1936 and the new building was opened in 1939. The Polytechnic was renamed Tottenham Technical College. The War disrupted work of the College, although courses continued to run, particularly as there was an urgent need for skilled labour in building and engineering. Part of the College was taken over by the Civil Defence, the control room for the Tottenham ARP and the Auxiliary Fire Service, and normal work was frequently disrupted by air raids. In December 1940 a bomb damaged part of the recently built rear wing.After the war, College work began to get back on course. The two junior departments now came under the Education Act 1944 which established secondary education for all through a selective system. Pupils sat the 11 plus examination in the last year of primary education to decide whether they went to a grammar school, secondary modern, or one of the many varied intermediate schools, such as technical schools, introduced by different local education authorities. Tottenham's two junior colleges, more vocationally oriented than other schools, started at age 13, and access to their courses was through competitive examination. During the course of the 1960s, however, these two departments were gradually phased out with changes in secondary education.
By 1950, numbers had increased to 420,139 and in 1955 a large extension was opened behind the main building to house the junior departments and technology department. In 1950, the College ran two main senior departments covering day and evening classes. The Department of Technology taught all aspects of building work and gas engineering and fitting. There were also classes in cabinet making, with the large furniture company Harris Lebus in Tottenham Hale being the biggest employer in the district. The Department of Commerce, established in 1945, ran degree courses in the evening for BA, BSc and BSc degrees. There were courses for Bankers, Auctioneers, Estate Agents, Local Government workers and Sales Managers, reflecting the high numbers of professional and middle-class workers in the locality. There were altogether 1,200 evening students in this department, with three main courses – professional, secretarial and general education. Day and evening classes were run offering secretarial, shorthand and typing courses, as well as general education. Apprentices from local industries attended general education classes as part of their day-release training.
Additional to the two main Departments, there were courses such as catering, cookery, dressmaking and Nursery Nurse training. The HMI report suggested these should be included in a Women's Department, especially as nearly half the students in the College, day and evening, were women. By 1955 a short-lived Department of Women's Studies had been established. By 1964, the College Departments had expanded to five; Science, Health, Hairdressing, Social Studies, Business Studies and Technology. Additional classes and workshops were run in Edmonton, in the Montagu Road Centre and Wilbury Way.