THRIVING AT LAST

1930 to 1946

Recovery

As in 1917 the change which took place in 1930 was dramatic. The intake of pupils, only weeks after the Inspectors' report, was the highest since 1920. Looking back on the period in November of the following year, Mr Oldroyd was able to celebrate:

"There is a proverb to the effect that the darkest hour is just before dawn. Our darkest hour occurred two years ago, when after the Board of Education inspection it was suggested that the possibility of closing the School might have to be considered, owing to the falling off of the number of pupils. Our dawn began immediately afterwards, for last year we admitted 54 pupils, the largest number since 1920, and we hope to exceed that number this year."

He was also able to announce, more routinely, a pass level of 96% for the School Certificate examinations.

There was no mention in Mr Oldroyd's speech of the reasons for the avalanche of students. They were several, the main one being that there was a large influx of pupils from outside the town. The LEC, recognising that Heywood was unable to provide a sufficient number of pupils to support the School, and in an attempt to pre-empt further threats from the Board of Education, began to direct children from beyond Rochdale, especially Littleborough, into Heywood Grammar School. In this, they were helped by the School's reputation, many parents needing little persuasion, despite the travelling involved. By the end of 1933, over a quarter of the School's students were from outside Heywood. There were other reasons for the sudden influx of scholars. One was demographic. As the low birth rate of 1918 had its worst effect on the intake of 1929, so the rise in birth rate in the aftermath of the War now came into play. A third factor played a part. Not for the first time, good came out of bad. The percentage of compulsory free places had by this time been increased to forty, and as the Depression meant that there was no work available, parents of those of ability opted for more education.

The advance continued. After the admissions of September 1932 the number of pupils was back above 200, and rose over the next two years until stabilising at between 220 and 240, at which it was to remain for the rest of the decade.

Consolidation

Pressure for new and bigger premises, simmering before, now increased. After a visit from the LEC in early 1934, Mr F Bagot, a County Councillor for Middleton, but who was to champion the cause of Heywood Grammar School over many years (there being no Heywood representation on the LEC) wrote:

"The School is old-fashioned and in almost every respect totally unfit. It is a marvel how the high standard of efficiency is maintained in such difficult circumstances."

Thirty years before it happened, he proposed new premises be built on the School playing fields at Siddal Moor as soon as the Government embargo on building, due to the state of the national economy, was lifted.

There were also more complaints about overcrowding, although the school's population was little over a third of what is was to become before a new school was eventually built at Siddal Moor in the 1960s.

As the main issue of the 1920s had been school numbers, so that of the 1930s became the clamour for new premises, but what didn't change was the academic performance. In 1934, Mr Oldroyd announced that his pupils had achieved 100 percent pass rate in the School Certificate examinations. In 1936, and again in 1937, the same figure was achieved at the Higher School Certificate level, despite the influenza epidemic of January 1937 causing absences during that month of forty percent of pupils and fifty percent of staff.

In 1937, Mr Bagot resumed his support. He claimed that there was no adequate remedy for the defects in the building, and that only a new start would suffice. A deputation from the LEC visited the School but, while unable to deny that deficiencies existed, rejected the calls for a new building.

The deficiencies were many. The assembly hall covered as a gymnasium and canteen, with no land available to build either one. The Domestic Science room was used to prepare school meals. Both rooms were therefore unavailable for teaching for a large part of the day. The lower floor was dark, and so noisy as to disrupt lessons, especially with the gymnasium above, and with buses having been re-routed along Pine Street. There were no spare rooms for storage, so that equipment, materials, books and furniture littered the corridors and classrooms. The playing fields were a mile away from the School, with children having to walk in both directions.

The outcry grew, but to no avail. Mr Bagot urged the Governors to be more aggressive in their demands, and Mr Oldroyd used the visit of the Chairman of the LEC to the 1938 Speech Day to emphasise the arguments, claiming that he might have to limit admissions to the School in view of the lack of space and facilities.

The decline in the cotton industry, cause of so many of the School's problems, provided some respite when the spinning and weaving machines used for evening classes were removed because of insufficient enrolments. The room was released for school use, and became the Woodwork room, providing another classroom, and moving the noise of Woodwork to a more isolated part of the bottom corridor.

As war approached, the Council tried again for larger premises, as they claimed 1500 people would be employed at the new Air Ministry facility on the outskirts of the town, many moving into the district and requiring secondary education for their children.

The argument was futile.

Another War

With the outbreak of war, the building of a new Heywood Grammar School was clearly very low on the list of priorities, and as the Blitz took its toll on housing and infrastructure it became obvious that the post-war building industry would be busy for many years on essential work. The School would, for the foreseeable future, have to cope.

This war was different. The threat of air raids meant that the School could not re-open for the Autumn Term of 1939. Pupils were first of all given work to do at home, then the School opened part-time in October as air raid shelters were being erected in the school yards. Full time working was eventually resumed in December, with a week deducted from the Christmas holiday in an effort to make up for lost time.

It was far from business as usual. With frequent night-time air raid warnings, pupils and staff were often arriving at School with little or no sleep. An effort was made to change the starting time on mornings following a warning, but this was even worse, as pupils from an area where there had been no alarm arrived earlier than those pupils and staff who had heard one. Starting later every morning would shorten the school day in winter because of black-out restrictions. The plans were abandoned, and normal hours restored, despite the problems. When the air raid sirens sounded during school hours, pupils and staff took to the shelters, where the staff kept spirits high by organising games and singing.

Disruption was caused also by staff members entering the Forces, and curtailment of after-school activities due to transport difficulties, and, in the winter months, by the blackout. The School Magazine ceased publication. As the War progressed, the casualty lists included more former scholars.

After a long period of stable pupil numbers, they started to rise again, so that from 230 at the start of the War, they had reached 330 by its end. Sadly, it had taken another war to provide work for everybody, with the town and the surrounding ones casting off the recession as the needs of war had to be met. Education became more affordable again, and by the end of the War, the abolition of fees, proposed in the 1944 Education Act, was taken as inevitable and imminent, with a consequent removal of one financial barrier.

The rise in numbers made staff shortages even more acute, and retired teachers were drafted in on a temporary basis, with new appointments being made where possible, but as the tide of war turned, the School returned almost to its peace-time working. For the second time, the end of a war saw the School in a healthier state than at the start.