Museums And Archives

Educating Deptford: The Deptford Ragged School and its place in the Community

The Deptford Ragged School was situated at the heart of working-class Victorian Deptford. Few families in the district were unconnected to the institution, yet we know very little about those families, or the children who attended, or the communities they lived within. Our ambitions are to increase knowledge and understanding of the history and heritage of the Deptford Ragged School, and of the lived experiences of those in and around it, as well as examining continuities between lives in the past and the present. We will utilise local stories to communicate broader issues and examine how the school was not simply a provider of education, but also an agent for charity, community, care and nurture, and social mobility. Our legacy will be continued knowledge-exchange through a digitised archive, exhibitions, performances, education resources for schools and local organisations, and research into links between education, schooling, wellbeing, the environment, and social mobility.