State school success stories to inspire academically average DS and his friends

[Dulwichmamma]

State school success stories to inspire academically average DS and his friends

DS is in Y8 at a large London comp in Southwark/Dulwich area. The school does lots to raise aspiration and push the pupils to realise their full potential. I have no complaints. There are considerable numbers of pupils from broken homes, exposure to drugs, mental health issues etc but many middle of the road families too. Quite a few kids go on to uni at the end of their time at the school.

DS has been put me on the spot, though, by asking me if any successful people had been to his school. I went to the alumni list on Wikipedia and found zero (exempting professional footballers!)
I would like to compile a list of 20 or so celebrities/successful people who attended local comprehensive schools, if only to go back to DS and his friends to inspire them.

I’m also considering contacting the school to see if they couldn’t reach out to any successful ex-pupils to go back to the school to give a talk to the youngsters. Is this something any other schools do?

(Strictly no grammar school pupils)

Current list

Lord Sugar – Entrepreneur, Brooke House Comprehensive, London
Matthew Wright – Journalist, talkshow host, John Fisher School, Surrey
John and William Seaward – Actors/’The InBetweeners’, John Fisher School, Surrey
Jude Law – Actor, Kidbrooke Comp, London
Stella McCartney – Fashion designer, Bexhill Comp, Sussex
Robbie Williams – Popstar, St Margarets Catholic School, Stoke-on-Trent
Andy McNab – ex-SAS, author, Kingsdale Comp, Dulwich
Hayley Atwell – Actress, London Oratory School
Safety Fire – Rock band, London Oratory School
Ed Milliband – Former Leader of HM Opposition, Haverstock Comp, London
Oona King – Labour Politician, Haverstock Comp, London
Dominic Cooper – Thomas Tallis School, Kidbrooke
Kate Tempest – Thomas Tallis School, Kidbrooke

Great thread! I only really know about schools localish to me, but Camden School for Girls is heaving with famous ex-pupils, including Emma Thompson, Sarah Brown, Tamsin Greig. Zadie Smith went to Hampstead School, as did Sadie Frost. Dua Lipa left nearby Parliament Hill about 5 years ago.

FWIW I believe John Fisher used to be selective, so might have been so when Matthew Wright was there but probably not when the Inbetweeners were. Happy to stand corrected on that though!

Helen Sharman, first British Astronaut. Meadowhead Secondary (comp), Sheffield.

Tom Holland actor (spiderman) Wimbledon College
keira Knightley actor Teddington School and Waldegrave School

And almost all professional footballers went to state schools. Private schools do very well at niche sports but tend to get battered by the big local comps at football because everyone plays football.

Barclay Brothers property investors

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_and_Frederick_Barclay

I don't think it's fair to exclude grammar schools because things were different in the 1960,70s and grammar schools were everywhere which is when anyone really loaded now would have been educated. A grammar then was more like a nice comp now iyswim. If you include grammars you could have the richest man in the UK Jim Ratcliffe who I'd never heard of before he topped this list.

uk.businessinsider.com/sunday-times-rich-list-2018-richest-people-uk-britain-2018-5/#2-sri-and-gopi-hinduja-18

I think Pierce Brosnan went to ARK in Putney when it was Elliott School.

Not famous yet😁 but my d's went to a previously failing state school, and ended up with A s and A* s in his gcses, onto the best state 6th form in the country and is now at a top university reading a very difficult subject
I would never have predicted this - it can be done !!

Philip Hammond went to Shenfield High School (classmates with Richard Madeley)

Incidentally 51% of all MPs in the 2017 intake went to comprehensives

Marcus du Sautoy - Gillotts Comprehensive School, Henley
John Horton Conway - Holt High School, Liverpool
Carol Vorderman - Blessed Edward Jones High School, Rhyl

All mathematicians.

Interesting because my DC is at a very good comprehensive where many students have gone to top universities and been very successful in their fields.

However, no one of any note on their alumni page. Maybe more comprehensive pupils leave school and just get in with it, whereas private school pupils/grammar are more likely to go into media/celebrity careers.

Would the kids be impressed to hear Ed Miliband went to a comp?

Stormzy went to the Harris Academy in South Norwood

Frank Skinner - Oldbury Technical School, West Bromwich

And you can tell him about my friend's husband, who isn't famous but went to a very ordinary comp and is now a company CFO earning upwards of £200k pa.

I should think most famous people, certainly most TV-style celebrities, went to state school since most people in this country did (barring the obvious Old Etonians in the cabinet and so on and Eddie Redmayne).

Just think of a a few famous people and Google them. Off the top of my head that's turned up Daniel Craig, Simon Le Bon, Victoria Beckham, Philip Glenister, Colin Firth, Helen Mirren...

How famous do you want them to be?

Ben Whishaw - Samuel Whitbread Community College

Zoah Hedges- Stocks (first Traveller to attend Cambridge Univ) Alde Valley High School

Rufus Norris (Director of the National Theatre) -North Bromsgrove High School.

Robert Peston - Highgate Wood Secondary School

Richard Osman - Warden Park School

44% of the current Cabinet went to comprehensive schools.

All three finalists in the 2016 Young Musician of the Year contest were from comprehensive schools.

Don't forget that, unlike for private and grammar schools, the media is much less likely to attribute people's success in life to their comprehensive school. So whilst any interview with Benedict Cumberbatch will talk about his school Ben Whishaw's will rarely be mentioned (although he did in fact start acting in his school's drama club and says he received a lot of encouragement there. So the success of comprehensive school pupils often gets hidden

www.tes.com/news/past-when-poor-kids-succeeded-people-thought-it-was-because-grammar-school-now-it-despite

The Queen didn’t even go to school, and look how well she’s done for herself

John Major went to Rutlish in South London. Prime Minister is pretty impressive.

My daughters' perfectly ordinary comp has an established alumni network and they get former students in to events aimed at GCSE and sixth form students. They talk about their careers and the school aims to match students with alumni that are in fields they are interested in.

I am puzzled why you have exclued rhe footballers who went to DS's school but are happy ro include actors and pop stars?

John Major went to a grammar school although his O level grades were pretty rubbish at the time.

Matthew Williamson went to Cyfarthfa comp in South Wales. It’s in one of the most deprived towns in the UK.

My school has an alumni programme where old students come back and give talks in assembly about life after school and what they wish they'd done- from all paths in the military, a writer, business owners, drs and nurses, an Mp, also a boxer went down really well once. The school might do something like this too or may appreciate the suggestion.

My old school put an appeal out for ex students to send what they were doing. Really interesting to learn one of my old classmates worked with David Attenborough in the Antarctic

Zinnia,

John Fisher stopped selecting at 10+ around 6/7 years ago. It’s a regular RC boys school now.

DH (a former pupil) had hoped to send DCs there but 1) distance is a factor now and 2) we are concerned the school has struggled since selection was made illegal.

Off topic but we are really struggling to locate a suitable inde. We were considering Whitgift but can’t workout what the bloody heck is going on there

Zinnia,

John Fisher stopped selecting at 10+ around 6/7 years ago. It’s a regular RC boys school now.

DH (a former pupil) had hoped to send DCs there but 1) distance is a factor now and 2) we are concerned the school has struggled since selection was made illegal.

Off topic but we are really struggling to locate a suitable inde. We were considering Whitgift but can’t workout what the bloody heck is going on there

Don't think Stella McCartney belongs on that list, OP!

Think she may have had a little bit of help in her career from places other than her school!

A lot of the comps on your list are hardly typical eg the London Oratory is where Tony Blair sent his kids.

But plenty of MPs went to comps. As did a wide range of celebs. eg David Bowie,

Agree with Ouda,

At least half the comprehensives listed are former highflying selective faith schools.

Haverstock and Highgate Wood are better examples and have been popular with the left wing North London intelligentsia historically.