#Old Palace of John Whitgift School

[insidecroydon]

Foundation sets £7m price tag on Old Palace's listed buildings

For sale: several not-so-careful owners, might suit a private school, good transport links to central London, handy for the trams and street market CROYDON IN CRISIS: The Whitgift Foundation, the borough’s biggest landowner, is now flogging off the Tudor palace home of the charity’s founder. It might not be an ‘easy’ sale. By STEVEN DOWNES “For sale with vacant possession”. The estate agent’s…

[marmorada]

By Ewan Somerville, Fiona Parker and Alex Barton

A private school pupil was stabbed to death by a teenage boy in south London after she rejected flowers from him, The Telegraph understands.

Witnesses said the 15-year-old girl, named locally as Eliyanna, was travelling to school in Croydon when a row broke out between herself and her friends and other pupils from a local school.

The argument is said to have spilled out of the number 60 bus and onto the pavement outside a shopping centre, where the schoolgirl was attacked by a young man “wielding a sword-like knife” and “wearing all black” at around 8.30am on Wednesday.

Paramedics rushed to the town centre to treat the teenager, who was described by locals as having “a fantastic future ahead of her”, but she died at the scene.

One girl was seen being held back, screaming: “That’s my best friend” as she tried to push past the crowds to reach the wounded teenager.

Police arrested a 17-year-old boy nearby around 75 minutes after the attack took place. The suspect and the victim are understood to have been known to each other.

Chevanice Thomas, from Croydon, told how her friend Apple witnessed the girl being attacked. Relaying her friend’s account, she said: “He gave her the flowers and she threw them away. Her friends all dispersed when she went down. After that the boy apparently stabbed her, blood gushing out and the police put pressure on it. She died on the spot.”

Staff at the Leonardo Hotel on Wellesley Road, where the incident took place, rushed to the scene. Beldine Kutima, who works there, said: “One of our duty managers went to get the bus, but she came back in screaming and grabbing towels from the back room. She ran out there with bin bags and towels. She was crying and in shock.”

Michael Fyffe, an estate agent who was on his way to work when he saw the aftermath of the attack, said: “Two of the girl’s friends were there. One of the girls wastrying to get past the crowds to the body. Everyone was trying to hold her back to let the ambulance crew do their jobs.”

James Watkins, a youth worker, said friends informed the teenager’s family, who were unable to get to their daughter before she died. “They were unable to say goodbye,” he told The Telegraph. “They were in shock and devastated. It doesn’t feel real to them.”

[....]

The teenager was a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift school, a 134-year-old girls’ school that charges fees of up to £19,350 a year.

Anthony King, from My Ends, an organization that aims to reduce violence, told The Telegraph he had spoken to her family in the aftermath of the attack.

He said: “The family and extended family are widely devastated, heartbroken. I cannot articulate the sound, the tears and the genuine heartbreak at what took place this morning.

“She had a bright future ahead of her, she was in GCSE year, Year 11, and she was an absolutely incredible young lady, very articulate, really had a fantastic future ahead of her.”

[coochiequeens]

A 15 year old girl is dead because a 17 year old boy couldn't accept that his relationship with another girl is over.

Hero schoolgirl, 15, was stabbed to death on Croydon bus in horrific rush-hour attack 'when she stepped in to protect her friend who got into row with her ex-boyfriend when he turned up with flowers and love note': Emotional tributes are paid at the scene

By JAMES FIELDING and RORY TINGLE, 

A 15-year-old schoolgirl who was stabbed to death this morning on her way to school was trying to stop a fight between her friend and her ex-boyfriend, witnesses have claimed.

Tonight the girl, who was a pupil at Old Palace of John Whitgift School in Croydon, has been named locally as Eliyanna. She was attacked at 8.30am - less than a mile away from the school gates. 

Locals say they saw a group of schoolchildren getting off the No 60 bus outside the Whitgift Centre, where a row between the girl, wearing a green school blazer, and the boy - in a black blazer - 'spilled out' on to a street busy with pedestrians. 

It was previously claimed that the girl had been attacked after she 'refused to go out' with the boy and 'rejected his offers of flowers', but it has now been claimed he was in fact trying to speak with her friend.

The friend had been trying to hand the boy back a bag of his belongings while he tried to give her flowers when the fight broke out, seeing the victim attempt to intervene, witnesses said.

This afternoon, a love note with the words 'special girl' and 'princess' written on it, along with blood stained red roses, were being examined by forensic officers. The note was then removed from the scene.

Chevanice Thomas, whose friend claims to have witnessed the stabbing, said the girl had rejected flowers from the boy moments before he attacked her with a knife that resembled 'a sword'. Another witness claimed she heard a girl saying she 'didn't want to go out with him any more'. 

The bus driver and a passenger tried desperately to save the girl's life but she died at the scene at 9.21am. Community worker James Watkins said the girl's 'devastated' family were summoned to the scene this morning but were 'unable to make it' in time to say goodbye to their daughter.

Officers arrested a 17-year-old boy in nearby New Addington at 9.45am. Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain said police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. 

Old Palace of John Whitgift School is a selective independent day school for girls aged three to 18. It is consistently ranked as one the best in London and is a sister school to Whitgift School for Boys. It is not yet clear which school the boy attended.

One witness to the attack claimed she saw a boy and a girl arguing, with a girl saying she 'didn't want to go out with him any more'.

The woman, who asked not to be identified, continued: 'There were about seven or eight children who got off a bus which stopped outside the Whitgift Centre.

'There was a young girl and young boy arguing. He had flowers with him and they were arguing about the girl breaking up with him yesterday.'

Those who knew Eliyanna said she had a bright future ahead of her, on track to pass all of her GCSES later in the school year.

Anthony King, chair of the My Ends organisation which works with the Met Police in Croydon said: 'The victim was absolutely incredible with a very bright future. A very comedic young lady. 

'The word I think that was used was jovial. She was on track to pass all of her GCSEs. She was very articulate.'

The girl's family had tried to rush to her side upon hearing that she had been hurt, but tragically arrived to late.

Mr Watkins, who works at the youth prevention and intervention programmes at Mainz World, added: 'It's disgusting, when we look at these children being killed that are from the borough it hurts you in the heart. These could be our kids, it's devastating.'

Amongst those who witnessed the stabbing were two girls, said to be the victims best friends.

Mr King added: 'Two 15 year old girls were absolutely devastated by witnessing their very close friend being stabbed. They're still being interviewed by police.'

Michael Fyffe, who witnessed the attack, told Sky News: 'I turned around and could see that someone was trying to resuscitate her.

'There were loads of people who had just come off the bus and then I think two of the girl's friends came out and they were trying to rush over towards the body.

'So myself and a few of the other people tried to hold her back and just say, ''Look let them try and help your friends" and she was just screaming, "Is my friend dead? She's my best friend".'

Speaking to journalists at the scene, Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain said officers were not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. 

'This is every parent's worst nightmare, and I know the officers who responded this morning, along with our emergency service colleagues, are devastated at the victim's death,' he said. 

'This is an emotion I share and I know people across Croydon will be feeling the same.

'The victim's family has been informed and our thoughts are with them at what must be an incredibly difficult time.

'We carried out urgent inquiries to find the suspect and within 75 minutes of the incident happening a 17-year-old boy was arrested in New Addington. He remains in custody and will be questioned by detectives.

'We remain in the early stages of our investigation, however based on what we know so far we believe that we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this offence.

'From our initial inquiries, we believe the suspect may have known the victim. However, we're not in a position to release the victim's identity at this time.'

A mother-of-two, who asked to be named only as Bridget, said: 'I was on the bus before and came off and walked back down, I saw them resuscitating her.

'The driver was holding her, and a lady. The emergency services were already here when I walked back.'

She said two other schoolgirls, believed to be the victim's friends, were trying to get back through the police cordon but were held back.

Victor Asare was on a bus on the way home from a night shift as a security worker when he said he saw a boy in a black blazer stab a girl in the neck with a knife which was 'black, thin and about a foot long'.

The 50-year-old said: 'The boy wore a black blazer, the girl wore green. It looked like the girl didn't want the boy to come closer.'

He then described the boy stabbing the girl in the neck with a black knife.

'A lot of people came, everyone came off the bus,' he said. '[The boy] ran away. Everybody was crying and screaming. The girl was on the floor.

'We tried to catch him and a lot of people tried to save the girl. I was so shocked, I was shaken. It's somebody's daughter.

'I finished work but couldn't sleep, so came back, I wanted to see if the girl was OK.'

Croydon MP Sarah Jones attended the police press conference alongside Croydon mayor Jason Perry.

See complete article

[cdnzine]

#oldpalace #school #architecture #London #ldn #Londonlive #londonlife #aauk #maybeLDNer #cronx #Croydon #htconeM9 #oldtowncroydon #oldtown (at Old Palace of John Whitgift Senior School)

[insidecroydon]

Ghostly convocation that is hardly a good omen for the Palace

SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: As we head into the season of ghostly stories and things that go ‘bump’ in the night, DAVID MORGAN has a tale for troubled times in Croydon… The tram rattled along Church Street and came to a halt at the stop. One of the handful of people who got off was an elderly man. The collar of his black overcoat was turned up against the cold. He seemed unremarkable, although if you…

[insidecroydon]

Foundation now looking for buyer for Whitgift's old palace

For sale: one former archbishop’s palace, several not-so-careful owners. A few historical snagging issues may require attention CROYDON IN CRISIS: Little more than a year since the shock announcement that it would be closing its girls’ fee-paying school, and still mired in a financial hole caused by delays over the redevelopment of the town centre, the borough’s biggest landowners are now…

[insidecroydon]

Three large private schools will cut fees to reduce sting of VAT

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE on how one of Croydon’s biggest eceonomic sectors is adjusting to the horrors of having to charge tax At least three of Croydon’s largest private schools plan to reduce their fees from next January, to take some of the sting out of the Labour Government’s plan to introduce 20% VAT on independent school fees from 2025. Doing their sums: Croydon’s large private…

[insidecroydon]

New company to rise from ashes of Whitgift Sports Club failure

It’s ‘business as usual’ at Croham Manor Road, where four old boys’ clubs are set to take over following the collapse of their sports ground’s management company. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Like it never closed: people behind the new company to run the Old Whits sports ground say they had been organising the move for some time A new lease for the Old Whitgiftians’ sports ground and clubhouse on…

[insidecroydon]

Whitgift Sports Club goes into liquidation owing £300,000

Fields of dreams: the Whitgift Sports Club grounds and clubhouse. The company that manages it has gone bust CROYDON IN CRISIS: Another small business in the hospitality sector appears to have gone under – with a large charity, private school and old boys’ association carefully distancing themselves from the debt-ridden company. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Out of pocket: the Whitgift Sports Club,…

[insidecroydon]

Boris Johnson's former aide given Whitgift Foundation top job

It was an intervention 12 years ago by the then Mayor of London that got Croydon’s biggest landowners into a disastrous £1.4bn gamble with Westfield. Now they are turning to BoJo’s ‘revered’ aide to get them out of the mess. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Full in-tray: Roisha Hughes, announced as the Whitgift Foundation’s new chief exec Roisha Hughes, a career-long civil servant who worked closely…

[insidecroydon]

Crumbling finances see troubled Foundation lose millions more

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Official figures show the borough’s biggest landowners saw their funds fall by 5.5% in the latest trading year – and that was before incurring any costs from closing Old Palace girls’ school. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Shaky foundations: Archbishop Whitgift, the charity’s founder. How might he have seen the loss of £11.4m in just one year? The Whitgift Foundation’s annual…

[insidecroydon]

Houlding's decided not to hang on at the failing Foundation

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The man behind the closure of one of the Whitgift Foundation’s three large schools will be standing down from the troubled  property developers’ governors. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES On his way out: Christopher Houlding has presided over rapid decline in Whitgift Foundation finances Christopher Houlding is to step down as the chair of the “Court of Governors” at the troubled…

[insidecroydon]

Girls and teachers in tears as school prepares for closure

At Old Palace of John Whitgift, the fee-paying girls’ school, there’s an ‘end-of-term’ feeling the like of which has never been experienced, by pupils or staff, in its 135-year history. By CAITLIN CLIFFORD Having been at Old Palace since Year 7, I was shocked when I was told last September that the school would be closing in 2025. We were horrified that the Whitgift Foundation, the registered…

[insidecroydon]

School site to be sold off as pupils finish their final term

Education correspondent GENE BRODIE on the latest move by the borough’s biggest landowners in the slow, death throes of one of Croydon’s best-known schools The final bell, on the final day at the end of the school’s final year has not yet been rung, but the money men (and women) at the Whitgift Foundation are already hustling the remaining young pupils out of Old Palace’s prep school in South…

[insidecroydon]

Charity Commission alerted to problems at Whitgift Foundation

CROYDON IN CRISIS: No chief exec in place for 12 months, accounts later than usual to be filed, and £50m wiped off its funds in five years. Now the borough’s biggest landowners are subject to a formal complaint to regulators. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Formal complaint: the Whitgift Foundation has effectively been accused of sexism over its decision to close Old Palace School Croydon’s biggest…

[insidecroydon]

Teenager pleads not guilty to murder of Elianne Andam

The 17-year-old boy charged with the murder of Elianne Andam outside the Whitgift Centre last September this morning entered a not guilty plea at an Old Bailey hearing. Killed in the street: Elianne Andam He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter. The boy, who cannot be named because he is under 18, also pleaded not guilty to possessing a blade in a public place. Andam, who was aged…