The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers
Affiliated to Royal Docks Academy
The Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers is a City of London Livery Company. Livery Companies (guilds) date back over 800 years and were set up to promote and police the trades of the City. To ensure they had the best employees many founded their own schools some of which still exist today. The Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers, although having its roots back in history, as taxis as we now know them were first licensed in 1654, was founded in 1990. Being a new company it was not able to found a new school but it wanted, as many other livery companies do, to have an affiliation with a school that could benefit from its help. So the affiliation was set up with Royal Docks in 2008.
The Company seeks and has sought to support the school in many ways and a Past Master is currently vice chair of governors. The main theme of the affiliation is to promote the career development plan by bringing speakers from across the spectrum of professions, industry, the service sector and even the armed forces into school. Pupils also make visits to Livery halls and the Guildhall to meet a range of experts from Surgeons to Architects and many others so they can understand firsthand about the variety of opportunities there are in the world of work and understand better the practical benefit of what they are being taught in school.
The new Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers ‘Progress Award Scheme’
This year there will be a new award scheme launched to celebrate pupil progress. The top 3 pupils in each year group who have made the most ‘progress’ no matter their starting point will be awarded cash prizes at the end of the autumn term, with a total value of £900.
The Head Girl being presented to HRH at the granting of the Company’s Royal Charter.
The Company organised a Gliding trip for the top 10 science pupils.
3 pupils labelling blood samples they took on a trip to The Barber Surgeons Hall to understand the world of Medicine with leading practitioners.
30 art pupils took part in creating a huge display depicting the role that the trades of the Livery played in World War 1. This artwork was then displayed in The Guildhall Art Gallery for 3 months. An enormous credit to these year 8 pupils.
Associate Head Teacher Pinar Taze accepting a cheque from the Master at the Founders Day lunch in the City where the Head Boy and Girl were also able to experience a formal city luncheon.