BURSTING AT THE SEAMS

1951 to 1960

Stability

The decade of the 1950s was a time of stability in British society. The austerity of the immediate post-war years was gradually replaced with relative prosperity. There was full employment and low inflation. Although the teenage revolution epitomised by the advent of rock and roll caused a stir, and the "angry young men" surfaced, there was not the social upheaval which would come in the 1960s. Crime figures were low; the use of drugs all but unknown to the general public. It was the time of "never had it so good".

The same could be said of Heywood Grammar School. The end of the 1940s had seen the fundamental changes brought about by the 1944 Education Act, and the 1960s would see the coming of the comprehensive education system and the end of the School. In between, the School prospered along with the country. Pupil numbers continued to rise, and by the end of the decade had reached 470. The problem of accommodation would not go away; indeed it worsened inexorably. Mr Oldroyd's prediction of the School being "engulfed" was being fulfilled, and worse would follow in the 1960s, but overall this was the most settled period in the School's history.

In 1951 the first GCE exams took place. The average of four passes per pupil at Ordinary level was widely accepted to be the equivalent of four credits at the School Certificate, and was therefore regarded as satisfactory, as well as being in line with the national average. The following year the School's pupils gained an average of five passes, and moved above the national performance, while sixteen out of eighteen 'A' level students qualified for University entrance, 45 subjects being passed from 53 offered.

Staff shortages eased, and as well as the School having its first full-time Physical Education teacher in 1950, Biology was re-introduced in 1953.

Still Waiting

In 1952, there was a proposal to upgrade Littleborough Central School to Grammar School status to alleviate the crush at Heywood, and the difficulties of pupils travelling from Littleborough. The idea was revived from time to time throughout the 1950s, until events rendered it redundant. There were also grumbles locally that the School should not suffer from overcrowding because of "outsiders". Memories were short. The School's survival had been assured in 1930 mainly by the intake of pupils from beyond Rochdale.

Mr Bagot's proposal in 1934 that a replacement School be built at Siddal Moor was at last revived in late 1955, but four years later was still "envisaged", and by then had been developed. The School would occupy the same site as a new six-form entry Secondary Modern School. Ten years on, when the building was finally ready, comprehensive education would be on the scene, and Heywood would have neither Grammar School nor Secondary Modern Schools.

Finally Overflowing

The first structural extension to the School since its opening in 1912 took place in 1957, with new classrooms for the use of the Sixth Form being erected on part of the school yard, but even as the rooms were occupied, it was clear that they were insufficient. The School began to use rooms in the Hornby Street School, and then in the New Church Sunday School as well. Including the canteen and the playing fields, the School now operated on five separate sites. The logistics must have required all of Mr Farish's military training.

Still the pupils flooded in. The intake of 1958 was a record ninety-eight, and a growing Sixth Form helped swell the numbers. Despite all the difficulties under which the School operated, the average number of passes at GCE Ordinary Level remained above four, with the top stream consistently achieving in excess of five.

Following a School Inspectors' Report in 1959, the County Chief Educational Officer sent his congratulations on the Inspectors' commendation of the work of the School and his sympathy for the handicaps imposed by the inadequate building.

Innovation

As the decade neared its end major changes were on the way. In 1958 the School began the experiment of admitting pupils of ability at the age of fifteen, to add to the admissions at thirteen which had existed for several years. The fifteen-year-olds sat an exam, and were then interviewed by Mr Farish. If admitted, they took a two-year course leading to GCE exams. In the first year, the Headmasters of the town's Secondary Modern Schools were asked to recommend suitable pupils. Thirty-seven were assessed and twelve admitted. It was a praiseworthy project, especially in view of the extra strain it put on the School's stretched resources, but it was short-lived, being abandoned in 1961 as candidates failed to materialise. By then, more fundamental changes in the School's admission policy had taken over.

The LEC announced that a new system for selecting pupils for admission to the School would begin in 1960. It would be a pilot scheme for introduction throughout the county if successful. The eleven-plus would be replaced by a method of selection based on head teachers' assessments, school record cards and internal examinations. A panel of head teachers would be charged with the duty of putting children in the proper school for their abilities and needs.

The stability of the 1950s was about to be replaced by a more fluid period, as the long awaited and promised school was finally approved and built, but coincided with changes in the educational system which meant that Heywood Grammar School would never occupy the new building.