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Girls' school takes lessons to the pub
Benedict Moore-Bridger and Ellen Widdup06.05.09
Not many headteachers would encourage pupils to spend all day in the pub.
But Vivienne Durham, head of leading independent school Francis Holland, is sending her students to a 19th century alehouse for lessons in English, psychology, history and art.
Ms Durham took the step after the owners of The Gloucester Arms - a former hang-out for poet Dylan Thomas - announced it was to close.
Governors drew up plans to buy the pub and connect it to the main school block in Clarence Gate, near Regent's Park, keeping all original features.
The £13,000-a-year school, whose former pupils include actresses Jackie and Joan Collins, Sienna Miller and socialite and Hugh Grant's ex-girlfriend Jemima Khan, spent around £2million on the 5,000-square-foot extension, which includes seminar rooms and an art studio.
It also features a music, drama and theatre studio behind the original saloon bar and was due to be opened by the Duke of Gloucester today.
Ms Durham said the 430 pupils were delighted to have such a unique classroom. She added: "It was a very well-loved pub. Our caretaker used to drink there - he was one of the regulars.
"But times have changed for breweries and it was put on the market. We put in a bid and were very lucky that it was accepted." But she said staff were disappointed the pub was not going to be kept in full working order.
"My staff were unhappy that I took the pumps out," she said. "They had high hopes for a staff bar, but it was a no-brainer that we were not going to run it as a pub. I don't have the barmaid skills. The pupils love it. It still has the bar and still looks like a pub.
"We preserved all the historic features, the shape of the rooms - everything that makes it distinctive."
The owners announced the closure of The Gloucester Arms in 2005 and planning permission for the conversion was granted for the listed building in 2007.
Francis Holland School is governed by the Francis Holland Church of England Schools Trust, and was opened in 1878 in Baker Street. It transferred in 1915 to its present building.
The Gloucester Arms dates back to around 1880, but the building is believed to have been there since 1820.
The school's architect Robert Johnson's designs retain the original pub signage, glass and panelling.
