who performed Wizard Things in 1997. This page was originally compiled in the same year.

Harbinger School is on the Isle of Dogs in the East End of London, UK, quite close to Canary Wharf

River Thames	London Arena	ASDA
Burrells Wharf	The Millenium Dome	Mudshute Farm
Docklands Light Railway	Great Eastern Steamship	Cutty Sark
Canary Wharf

Our School

Our school was built in 1908. Being just after the Victorian period, they had separate entrances; one for the girls, one for the boys and another for the infants. During World War Two it was a boarding school. The school playground at that time was full of houses but a bomb during the second world war destroyed all of the houses except for one, which is now the schoolkeeper's house.

At the present time the school has again changed -  it has a new playground.
Our headteacher’s name is Helen Jenner, she has been the head teacher since 1986.
Our deputyhead is Mandy Boutwood, who is also our class teacher.
There are 54 staff including support teachers and supervisors.
There are 360 pupils in our school. This school has 10 classes on 3 floors.
There are 8 other rooms which are used for staff room, library, resource room. The study centre room is for parents to learn English.
We also have clubs after school like French, Homework, poetry, puzzle, Language activities, basket ball and foot ball.

There are many different Cultures represented in Harbinger like Bengali, Chinese, Somalian, Vietnamese, African, Caribbean and Sri Lankan, to name but few.

  e-mail us! click the envelope button on the left
our phone number is 0171 987 1924
our fax number is 0171 538 8966

Our address is: Cahir St, London E14 3QP, UK

Some of the sights in our area

River Thames

  Tower Bridge, upstream from Harbinger School

The River Thames is the name of the large river running through London. It makes a U shape at the Isle of dogs, almost making an island (hence "Isle") there is also a rumour that Henry VIII kept his dogs here (hence "dogs") - but that’s just a rumour!

Link to the Tideway River Thames site

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London Arena

London Arena was built about 1992. It is situated across from Asda and near the Docks. It is a venue for sports competitions, concerts, award ceremonies, horse and ice skating shows.

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Asda

Asda is the biggest store on the Isle of dogs. Most people go there for their shopping and it also sells clothes, C.D.s and toys etc.

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Burrells Wharf

In Burrells wharf there used to be a colour factory. In the factory they made paint from all different colours which was made from dye. The pigment powder was made from plants and rocks which came from other countries by ship. Kathy, who works in our class, remembers that men used to come out different colours. If they were making blue, the powder went into their skin. There is a very tall chimney. If you were making the colour red, red smoke would come out through the chimney. They used to shovel them into sacks so that's how the powder went into their skin.

Now the factory is a block of flats. The people that live there are quite rich because they have a swimming pool and a gym. Only they can use them. I'm a bit jealous.

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The building of the Millennium Dome

  The new Millenium Dome

The MIllenium Dome was started in 1997, and was completed in 2000. The exhibitions take place in Greenwich opposite the Isle of Dogs. In the Dome there are various exhibits such as a giant human body that you explore inside, art galleries, concerts and museums. Also there is information about lifestyles in the future.

link to the Millenium Dome website

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In our area there is only one farm, Mudchute City Farm. It’s a bit like being in the countryside. There are lots of different animals - horses, pigs, rabbits, goats, kids, ponies, ducks, insects, pot belly pigs, sheeps, cows and birds. We used to have a llama.

There’s also good views of Greenwich from there because before it was a big hill it was flat land. It became a hill by people taking the mud out of the Millwall Docks. The farm is close to ASDA supermarket.

Some local people set the farm up in 1977. It spreads over 32 acres. We walk there. We use it for education. The last time we went we did pond dipping and made dragon flies and frogs .If you go to the Mudchute farm you are allowed to feed the animals.

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The Docklands Light Railway

The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) was started in 1984 and finally finished in August 1987. It travels to many different places such as Island Gardens, Bank, Limehouse, Shadwell and Canary Wharf. There is currently a extension being added to the DLR which will enable people to travel to the Cutty Sark, Greenwich, Deptford Bridge, Elverson Road and Lewisham.

The DLR is a fast train which enables people to get to places quickly as possible. Most trains are controlled by drivers but other trains are controlled by a computer. There is a main computer in Poplar which sends a signal to trains, however if the signal is interfered with the trains controlled by computer will fail.

Link: Follow the Docklands Railway to the Isle of Dogs

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The Great Eastern Steamship

The Great Eastern Steamship was built next to Burrels Wharf. It took four years to build. The Great Eastern was built by men and boys from 1853-7. They tried to launch it 13 times longways and the 14th time, sideways, it worked.

In 1984 builders were going to put houses on the old ship yard when they discovered the old logs. Instead they restored them and now we have a special piece of history near us. Lots of us go and play on the logs after school.

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Cutty Sark

Across the river there are lots of boats. These take the tourists up and down the River Thames to see London. You can go through Greenwich foot tunnel from the Isle of Dogs. It goes under the river, it’s a very very long walk. The markets sell lots of things that people make.

Link to the Cutty Sark web site

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Canary Wharf

  Canary Wharf under construction

Canary Wharf used to be a quay that once docked ships from the Canary Islands near Spain.

It is the tallest building in Western Europe. Its 800ft/250m tall. It also has 50 floors. People are superstitious about the number 13. You could try looking for fl0or number 13. Canary Wharf hasn’t got one. Cesar Pellis designed Canary Wharf. was finished in 1991. It has got a light on top of it because if it didn’t have a light on top, the aeroplanes might crash into it. It flashes all night long, every second.

Inside Canary Wharf it’s mostly shops. There’s a big super-market called Tesco.

On the 12th and the 14th floor there’s loads of journalists writing down information for the Daily Telegraph. Hashu and all the year six have been to visit them. They remember Matt the cartoonist. Rebecca and some other people have been up to the top. When you look down you think you’re going to fall out. I know I did!

Canary Wharf looks like its on fire at the top but its not. Its just the heating mixing with the cold air. When Canary Wharf was first built people kept on phoning the fire Brigade to say it’s on fire. But it never was.

It’s not possible to go up Canary Wharf since the bomb went of at South Quay. Sometimes they let a few children go up from local schools, but never more than 25 at a time. We’re sorry you couldn’t go up.

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