The History of St John Evangelist Catholic School
In 1837 two priests from St Mary Moorfields, names unknown, moved to the parish of St John the Evangelist and built the school in Duncan Street. The school was used not only for education but also worship until the church of St. John the Evangelist was built. By 1841 the Roman Catholic congregation was growing rapidly and was becoming one of the most important in the suburbs. It seems that the ground floor of the school was used as a chapel. The early history of the school is very ‘sketchy’ and there a few written accounts.
By 1898 it is known that the Sisters of the Cross and Passion had taken over the running of the school. The school provided infant education for boys and girls and senior education for girls only. Sr. Camillus CP was the first Head teacher of the senior school and Sr. Assisi CP, Head teacher of the infant’s.
It is recorded that a prize day was celebrated in 1899 with ‘splendid entertainment for the parents’. This led to an increase in children who were sent to the school. In June and July 1900 the Government Inspectors also expressed their satisfaction with the work done in the schools.
Ex-pupils who have visited the current school remember the entrance to the school as being a narrow passageway, with a factory on one side and an empty Victorian church on the other. As mentioned earlier the population was growing. The growth, as evidenced by the number of children attending the school, were in the families of poorer immigrants particularly from Ireland and Italy. There are still children attending our school today whose grandparents and great grandparents attended the school.
The premises on the Duncan Street site are some of the oldest school buildings in the Borough of Islington and date back to 1841. They were enlarged in 1872, again in 1908 and again in 2022. In 1952 there were two departments occupying the premises. A five class secondary mixed school on the top floor of the main building and a ten class mixed junior and infants’ school on the ground floor of the main building and an annexe across the playground, backing on to Camden Passage.
(A photograph of the old school building taken by Fr George Haines)
(Work being undertaken on the ‘new’ school building which extended the school into the junior playground – photograph taken by Fr George Haines)
At the beginning of the 2nd World War, the British Government circulated its scheme for the evacuation of school children. We know that some of the children from St John’s were evacuated to Tamworth near Coventry and Sheringham in Norfolk. These are verified by newspaper reports and firsthand account of past pupils.
In June 1940, 300 children were placed in Wilnecote in Tamworth. The people who lived there were praised for being ‘warm hearted foster parents who have cared for our children from Islington as if they were their own flesh and blood’.
In the 1950’s, space was very limited and assemblies were conducted in the classrooms and the children went for their lunch to Charles Lamb School, by bus.
In September 1956, the main building had to be vacated because of dry rot; the senior and juniors were given temporary accommodation by the Authority in a nearby primary school. The seniors and juniors returned to their own premises in February 1957, but in the September of that year the seniors joined with another small Roman Catholic secondary school in Islington to become the St William of York Secondary School which was accommodated on two floors in Robert Blair Junior, Middle and Infant School, in Brewery Road. A washing up scullery was added to the Duncan Street site in September 1956.
In 1960 after the senior school was moved, there remained 466 children (23 under-fives, 161 infants and 282 juniors) in 13 classes on the Duncan Street premises. The classes did not exceed 40 but a report form this year states, ‘there are too many children on this site for the amount of space available’. At that time the meals at lunchtime were transported in from Hugh Myddelton School kitchen and 300 children were fed at two sittings. It sounds like the children were very definitely “packed in”.
In 2023, the school had an extension built at the front of the school to give adequate space for meetings and to improve school security. This piece of work is not yet complete as the front of school landscaping needs to be finished.
Over the years St John Evangelist School on the Duncan Street site has been served by a number of Head teachers. The following are those we have found so far:
1827 – Two priests from St Mary Moorfields
1889 – Sr. Camillus CP first Head teacher of the senior school
Sr. Assisi CP Head teacher of the infant’s.
1900 to 1940’s Head teachers unknown
1950’s and 1960’s – Sr. Giovanna CP and Sr. Joan CP
1974 – Ms Joan Whelan
1986 – Mrs Irene Rowland
1990 – Mrs Eileen Heffernan
1997 – Mrs Tina Oliva
2018 – Mrs Stephanie Maker
St John Evangelist School continues to serve the community of St John the Evangelist parish. It has a vibrant and eclectic intake as it did when the school was first established. The Catholic community of Islington includes immigrants, both new and their descendants, from across Europe, Africa, South America, Asia and the Caribbean and they continue to send their children to the school. In essence we have served and educated a very similar community through the decades and hopefully will continue to do so for many decades to come.
If you can help us with information or photographs please email the school on office@stjohnevangelist.islington.sch.uk