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A history of the Greenwich Blue Coat Schools

The new school was one of only seven schools in the L.C.C. to offer a vocational course in commercial catering. On the top floor of the 1963 extension a modern catering kitchen was developed with a small restaurant attached. A two year course was offered with a maximum of 10 students in each year. Students were prepared for City & Guilds Courses and links were set up with Further Education Catering Courses at South East London College and Westminster College. Twice a week a full three course lunch was offered to staff and visitors so that the pupils not only learned the necessary cooking skills but also learned to wait at table and catering management skills.

The school took part annually in the International Catering Exhibition Hotel Olympia and regularly won a number of prestigious awards. Many pupils went on to college and subsequently to work in the catering industry.

Unfortunately, this very successful course was closed down in 1989 through lack of funding. There are still many people in various Hotels and Restaurants who began their career through this course. The pictures date from the early 1970s when Mrs Doreen Harris was the Head of the Catering Department

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