ALL CHANGE

1946 to 1950

A New Head

The period immediately following the War saw dramatic changes for the School, and for education in general.

In 1944, Mr Oldroyd had tendered his resignation, as required by the Board of Education pension regulations, on reaching the age of 65, but permission was sought and granted for him to continue for the duration of the War. His last Speech Day address, in December 1945, included no formal goodbyes, but three months later his successor was appointed, and Mr Oldroyd retired with tributes coming from all sides. Appropriately his last year saw the School achieve 100 per cent passes at both School Certificate and Higher School Certificate. As Headmaster he had seen 720 pupils sit for the School Certificate, with a pass rate of 85 per cent, 121 sit for the Higher School Certificate, with 80 percent passing, and 70 former pupils take university degrees. Scholarships worth over £14000 had been won by his pupils.

The new Headmaster was Colonel John Farish M.A., chosen from 225 applicants. He would be the last Headmaster of Heywood Grammar School.

A New System

He inherited a School thriving in numbers and with an enviable record of academic excellence, but was not allowed an easy introduction. He was immediately called upon to oversee the major changes brought about by the implementation of the 1944 Education Act. These were many and far-reaching. The 11-plus was introduced as the national method of selection for entry to state Grammar Schools, and the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate were to be replaced in 1951 by the General Certificate of Education at Ordinary and Advanced levels in individual subjects. Fees were finally abolished.

The changes prompted Mr Oldroyd, at one of several functions marking his retirement, to draw a comparison between his early years and the new situation. "In the future my successor is not going to have the struggle I have had to get pupils. They are going to be found for him. They are going to be sorted out and sent to him." He added an ominous, and accurate, premonition. "I have a feeling, having regard to all the changes taking place, that the School may be engulfed."

Mr Farish set about his task with a will. The new disciplines of Science and Modern (the latter a strange name to describe a curriculum placing more emphasis on Humanities and Languages, including Latin) were introduced. First year pupils would be split into classes according to age, thereafter according to ability. He increased the duration of each period to 45 minutes, and dispensed with the afternoon break. Of course, he also took up Mr Oldroyd's demand for new premises, describing as "organised chaos" the present state of the School.

Squeezing them in

The County Council hinted that provision for a new Grammar School would be included in the building programme for 1949-50, but this was met with general and justified disbelief, and in December 1947 Councillor W Pickup, Chairman of the Divisional Education Executive, agreed that "we shall have to continue, as for a long time past, methods of adaption and improvisation."

It couldn't go on. In June of 1948 there were 382 pupils, and Mr Farish stated that even under unacceptable conditions the maximum number that ought to be accommodated was 310. The County Council was forced into action, but its plan for improvement was controversial.

The Art Gallery and Museum bequeathed to the town by Mr Thomas Kay were still housed in the rooms, on three floors, built as part of the 1912 extension to the building. It was proposed that these rooms should be used as classrooms, provoking an outcry that the bequest was conditional on the exhibits being open to the public. In the event of the public being denied access, the bequest was to pass from Heywood to Mr Kay's adopted town, Stockport.

A compromise was grudgingly accepted by all sides. The rooms would be used as classrooms, but would open to the public during holidays. The Town Council accepted the situation only after the County Council indicated (it would later deny that it was a promise) that the rooms would revert to the town in 1950 or at the latest 1952 when a new school would be completed.

Controversy or no, the change brought much-needed space, and, in an attempt to improve the working environment, the interior of the School was re-painted for the first time since its opening. Light colours were used throughout, and the result met with general approval.

Still the campaign continued. In February 1949 the Town Council again brought to the notice of the County Education Committee the inadequacies of the building, and asked for the renting of suitable accommodation "so that all those who qualify and seek admission to the School in September may be admitted".

This request was rejected, but at the end of 1949 the new canteen built to serve the Primary and Secondary Modern schools at Bamford Road was opened, and arrangements made for the pupils of the Grammar School to dine there. Although this involved parading pupils through the town in all weathers, it at last freed the hall/gymnasium and Domestic Science room for use throughout the day. (In latter years even the hall had not been large enough, and many pupils had been eating meals at their desks.)

The end of the 1940s saw the School with 400 pupils for the first time. The final years of the School Certificate were marked with success rates above the national average, and in 1948 all eligible candidates for entry to Training College were accepted against a national average of seventy-five per cent. The social side of school life was back to pre-war levels (including a trip to war-ravaged Normandy in 1949!) There were problems with staff recruitment, and Biology was temporarily dropped from the syllabus as a teacher could not be found, but Mr Farish was able to claim in 1950 that "the School is fulfilling the function of a Grammar School, which is to provide recruits to the learned professions and the higher branches of industry and commerce, either directly or through further training."