Haverstock alumni in the spotlight!
Former pupil announces plan to run for Mayor as latest success story at Chalk Farm school
Published: 27 May 2010
by DAN CARRIER
THE Eton set in David Cameron’s Cabinet could soon find themselves under pressure from another old school crew.
But rather than a school where places for pupils cost more than £30,000 a year, the movers and shakers aiming to get their hands on the reins of power come from a place much closer to home: Chalk Farm’s Haverstock School.
The two leading contenders for the job of Labour Party leader – as the New Journal reported last week – are former students David and Ed Miliband.
And yesterday (Wednesday), Ed’s former classmate Oona King used a school assembly at the Haverstock Hill comprehensive to launch her campaign to become Labour’s candidate for the London mayoral elections in 2012.
While other secondaries in Camden such as Camden School for Girls and William Ellis often grab the limelight, former students from Haverstock are now dominating all walks of life.
England footballer Joe Cole, who looks set to appear at the World Cup this summer, is an old boy, as is the best-selling novelist Zoe Heller. More recently, pop stars Fazer and Dappy from N-Dubz left the school’s classrooms for global fame.
They recently announced that they had signed a mega-bucks five album deal with legendary American hip-hop label Def Jam.
Headteacher John Dowd said yesterday: “We could have the Mayor of London and the Leader of the Opposition, all educated at Haverstock. Now all we need is Joe Cole to score the winning goal in the World Cup final.”
Ms King spoke to pupils from Years 10 and 11, and answered their questions afterwards.
In her speech she outlined her background, explaining her father was an African-American with Native American family, while her mother was a white Jewish Geordie with family from Ireland, Scotland and Hungary. But she said it was Haverstock’s magic that made herself and her contemporaries successful.
“There was a real mix, not so much in terms of ethnicity – there were five or six black people in our year – but in terms of the social classes,” she said.
“That is what comprehensive education is all about – it is about people from different backgrounds working together.”
Her own school days were happy, she recalled, although some lessons went more smoothly than others. She said: “I was very bad at French and got kicked out of my French class. However, I loved humanities.”
Ms King met her former English teacher Nicky Haydon in the playground who taught her three decades ago – the pair embraced.
Haverstock was famed for its drama, music, English and art in the 1980s. Ms King appeared in an end-of-year show called The Dracula Spectacular.
“We didn’t just do school plays,” she remembers.
“We took our productions down to the Shaw Theatre in Euston Road and sold tickets to the public for it – it was very professional and great experience.”
Ms King admitted she did not know if she had the backing of the Miliband brothers.
“David put a tweet out saying he was pleased to see I’d thrown my hat into the ring, but I don’t want to presume he endorses me,” she said.
Her contemporary Ms Heller, who was in David Miliband’s class, has also been full of praise for Haverstock.
The author, whose book Notes On A Scandal was turned into an Oscar-nominated hit film starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench, told the New Journal: “It was tremendously important to have attended a comprehensive school. People who have been through the system know a bit more about the society they live in than those who have not. I benefited from the incredible teachers. English teacher Julian Birkett was an inspiration.”