Bethnal Green - Education

Education

Bethnal Green has numerous primary schools serving children aged three to 11. St. Matthias School on Bacon Street, off Brick Lane, is over a century old and uses the Seal of the old Metropolitan Borough of Bethnal Green as its badge and emblem. The school is over a century old but underwent extensive remodelling in 1994 and added a new sports hall on its Grimsby Street former playground site in 2006. The school is linked with the nearby 18th century St. Matthew's Church on St. Matthew's Row; pupils attend mass and perform seasonal plays and performances at the church and the Parish reverend provides religious instruction at the school. The Bangabandhu Primary School, named after the father of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujib, a non-selective state community school, was opened in January 1989, moved to a new building in November 1991, and has over 450 pupils. 70% of the school's pupils speak English as a second language, with a majority speaking Sylheti, a dialect of Bengali, at home, but the Ofsted inspectorate deemed Bangabandhu a "successful and effective school" where pupils "achieve well and make good progress".

Bethnal Green's oldest secondary school is Raine's Foundation School, with sites on Old Bethnal Green and Approach roads, a voluntary aided Anglican school founded in 1719. The school relocated several times, amalgamating with St. Jude's School for Girls to become coeducational in 1977. Other schools in the area include Bethnal Green Academy, Oaklands School, and Morpeth School.

The V&A Museum of Childhood on Cambridge Heath Road houses the child related objects of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The Bethnal Park (also known as Barmey Park) and Bethnal Green Library provide leisure facilities and information.