What does "Wapping" mean in this phrase? "Wapping First School". It seems to be the subject of a report by Ofs

Question

What does "Wapping" mean in this phrase? "Wapping First School". It seems to be the subject of a report by Ofs

Answer 1

"Wapping" is a place name in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.  In that dockside area, at least one school had the name "Wapping First School"; however that school's site was being disposed of by the City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in 2002.

Additionally, I do not find definitive evidence that a "Wapping First School" on that site was the subject of an Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) report; however, there was an Ofsted report concerning a "Wapping First School" done in 1997.   I should hasten to add that a nursery school in Bradford on Wapping Road appears to continue to exist as  "Wapping First School."

To answer your question directly, whether these schools continue to exist, the term "Wapping" appears to refer to the place, first settled by Saxons, from whom "Wapping" takes its name:  Meaning literally "[the place of] Wæppa's people."   "Wapping" is situated on the north bank of the River Thames between London to the west and Shadwell to the east and north, and it faces Bermondsey and Rotherhithe on the south bank, separated from them by that section of the Thames known as the Lower Pool.  It is also part of the Docklands area of London. "Wapping" lies between the River Thames and the ancient road simply called The Highway.