Greetings Noble Sir

by Nigel Flaxton

  It is a pity that comprehensive education became a political football, though it is understandable given the basic views of the two main parties. Now it has been a feature of secondary schooling for over forty years it is salutary to realise that so much of the population experienced it - some 78% of people up to the age of sixty in 2013. Of the reminder only about 8% went to independent schools. Today over 90% of students are educated in comprehensive schools. Yet listening to people and plays on television one could easily imagine the proportions are 50-50. Often in plays one hears the disparaging phrase ‘the local comprehensive’ and the betting is that the writer is in the 8% bracket. Indeed, if all politicians, programme makers, news readers, writers, seniors in businesses, bankers, officers in the Forces, senior policemen, in short all who lead in any way in society had to declare their educational background when speaking, the degree to which the 8% influence our lives would be very surprising to many of the 78%.

  It is natural that people prefer to be with others of their own kind. What is not so natural is for some people to want to stratify society and so feel they are in the top echelon. In Sweden, with a group of Heads, I saw equality in operation. At a university where I was to speak to a group of colleagues we went into the refectory for lunch and our friends wondered whether they could arrange for us all to sit together, so tentatively they put ‘Reserved’ notices on a few tables. These were immediately removed by various students, as though they were clearing litter. One evening I went to a fairly large dance-cum-party organised by students at the school to which I was attached. To check entry each person was ink stamped on the back of their hand and I was no exception. Later, as students wanted to quiz me about English education I sat on the floor with a group. Needless say on both occasions everyone’s ability with the English language was excellent! Conversely, of course, I knew no Swedish.

  On another visit I wanted to investigate their then new experiment in abolishing exams entirely. Obviously, however, they needed to apply restrictions to some areas of employment, yet achieve this without introducing inequality. Teachers were required to award grades regularly in subjects to students, then entry requirements to various professions, for example, were set out. Students who didn’t achieve the required level could retake courses and most schools accommodated adult students, often in substantial numbers. It seemed that final decision about failure was left to the individual rather than being imposed by any organisation. However. schools’ performances in total grades awarded were certainly published in the press and comparisons could be drawn even from differences of tenths of a point. This is a very brief outline of the system - understandably it was far more sophisticated. One difference in school organisation which intrigued us greatly was that departmental budgets were voted upon by all people in a school’s locality. Such financial decisions were not a matter for Heads!

  I also went to Sweden on occasions when Rocky judged dogs, specifically Tibetan Spaniels. There was no objection to open competition in that activity; dogs were placed on merit according to the judge’s view based on knowledge of the Breed Standard as laid down by the FCI - the International Dog Federation. Dog judging is the same activity the whole world over and we have been fortunate enough to engage in it in quite a few countries as well as for many years in the UK, including Crufts,

  In recent years government has introduced more kinds of school to satisfy concerns about lack of competition. There has also been much development in the governance of schools. It so happened that I was fortunate enough to be a Head for twenty-two years, each of my three schools being new. I would have thoroughly enjoyed the ability to have full financial control but that was given to schools just as I ‘retired’. I experienced a taster, however, when the government introduced the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) in 1983. As was policy at the time a pilot project was funded centrally requiring the setting up of a local administrative framework, then after a few years withdrawing support in the hope that local benefits had been such that local finance would take over. The object of TVEI was to encourage schools to develop courses more relevant to the needs of industry and also embrace modern technology. Three LEAs were selected for this in which five schools were to be chosen for the funding which, most unusually, was made through the Department of Employment and not that of Education. Bedfordshire was one of the trial counties and, as soon as I heard of the proposals - and the finance that would be available - I volunteered my Upper School. Unknown to me my Chairman of Governors had already decided that we would be one of the trialists. He was Leader of the local Conservative party, then in a majority and this was a Conservative government initiative, so he carried the necessary weight.

  Of course we collected a considerable amount of money which bypassed the LEA’s officials, to their chagrin, so for a time I was not the most popular character around, nor with my colleagues. Both teachers and students were called on to give talks and demonstrations and I found myself addressing some seventy Oxford University graduates who were on their Post Graduate Certificate course to give them qualified teacher status. In the question session I was quizzed closely as to how I accepted the unfairness the TVEI trial bestowed on my School, to which I answered that I was appointed to do the best I could for it alone; I had no responsibility for all schools in the LEA. I then countered by asking them how many really intended entering the teaching profession. The room erupted with laughter because, as I very well knew, they were using it as insurance against not being able to get better jobs and hold on to them throughout their active working lives.

  We received a cross section of visitors, inspectors, education officials, employers from many parts of industry, other teachers and so on. The youngest students in the scheme were aged between fourteen and fifteen and we found they gained enormous experience in talking about their work on the new courses. It was fascinating to see a fourteen year old holding the floor and giving lucid explanations to some twenty very able and intelligent adults. Such students received more valuable skills beyond their new courses.

  An unexpected downside was revealed at the end of the first year when the sixteen year olds reached their official leaving date. One intention of TVEI was that students would want to remain at school to gain further skills, but our leaving rate shot up. The reason came from the new use of computers in which the students rapidly became proficient. Part of the Scheme required longer periods of work experience and a good number of local employers found their students very useful in developing computer use in their businesses, to the point where a number were offered jobs to be taken up the moment they left school, which naturally they did asap, much to their advantage and our dismay.

  From the management point of view, however, there was much satisfaction in having real control of some finance. It was amusing to see the reaction of people given the job of alterations to the Science laboratories. An order was placed in July and we insisted on a penalty clause if the work was not completed by the 1st September. Shock and assurance that was impossible was met on our part by the assurance that we would place the work in other hands. The message got around that we were no longer the old soft touch of the LEA.

  I had seen that attitude during the phased development of my School. We grew annually by a comprehensive year group taken from the former Secondary Moderns with additional buildings provided as the roll increased. Inevitably there had to be ‘misuse’ of what we already had, and for one year we suffered the absence of Science labs - the subject was temporarily housed as two rooms in what was to become a PE activities studio. There was a low temporary wall between the ‘rooms’ and water and drainage to and from temporary sinks was achieved via tubing around the walls. To avoid damaging the future high standard wooden floor this was omitted, leaving bare concrete to resound to any movement of metal framed chairs and tables. Lessons were a struggle for all concerned and a visit by the Chief Education Officer drew the comment that one really had to be dedicated to
teach in such circumstances. It is a tribute to both Science staff and their students that examination results were very good.

  But after three years phase two of the building was due to be ready to provide the necessary rooms and facilities for the new Sixth Form. Building began and the shell of a new block appeared. Suddenly, however, the builders disappeared. After some time my enquiries revealed that the firm had begun a new project elsewhere and I was left with the realisation that they guessed the LEA would do nothing about the delay in completing our building which they would do in their own good time. Angry at this ploy I talked with the Chair of Governors who said the LEA could end the contract and seek new builders but inevitably that would take time. Meanwhile we would have to accept temporary classrooms on site. Stubbornly I opted for the delay rather than submit to malpractice. I wasn’t popular with the LEA officers who had to undertake additional paperwork.

  At the beginning of term, as the first students entered the Sixth Form the temporary classrooms arrived. They were covered with large and disgusting graffiti. The School was on an attractive site on the edge of a popular village in the middle of the large rural area it served. These ‘huts’ would stand out like the sorest thumb. I got the impression this was a deliberate snub. I rang the Chair of Governors who instructed the appropriate people to have all the classrooms painted immediately. This was done and the students soon entered well decorated classrooms.

  I was not surprised to receive an aggrieved telephone call from an LEA officer telling me that my request for painting should have been made through the ‘usual channels’. I accepted the stricture but countered that the usual channels would have left the graffiti open to public gaze for some weeks at least. In time the second building phase was completed as quickly as possible by new builders. Since then, because the School has continued to grow year by year as its popularity has increased much more building has been undertaken by my successors who enjoy the power bestowed by the policy of school based financial control. I reached retirement age too soon!

  Chapter 41

  On the whole I enjoyed good relationships with LEA officials in the three Counties in which my schools were, though lack of full control was always irksome. Because each school was new I was often engaged with builders and of my twenty-two headship years I spent eleven with them on site. I also learned much about plans and architectural briefing. The size of buildings was decided by a formula specifying the amount of space allocated to each child. The fact that I had the opportunity to open three schools says much about the expansion of the Country’s stockpile during those years but the concomitant reduction in space-per-pupil is a comment on the economy over that time.

  My first school was the small Cambridgeshire Village College. Such institutions were the idea of Henry Morris who was Secretary to the Education Committee - the forerunner of the post of Chief Education Officer - in the twenties and thirties. His contention was that as the Church was no longer the centre of the community the educational institution should become the social, recreational and educational centre instead. So it was to offer adult classes, opportunities for clubs and societies, contain a branch of the public library, offer clinics for young mothers and babies, sponsor exhibitions, etc. It would also contain a secondary school. Houses were to be built for the Warden, some teaching staff and the Caretaker. The buildings were to be attractive and well designed. In short it was to be truly a centre of village life.

  Ten Colleges were built before and after the War. Two areas were left, one on the east and one on the west of the County. The latter contained something of an anomaly - an all age Primary School. Some five of these remained in the Country. The Boundaries Commission was regularising odd county borders and it was expected that the western side would be altered and this School’s area would be moved into neighbouring Bedfordshire. There was considerable local opposition to this because such a move would entail the loss of a projected Village College. So the border was left unaltered and a small but very attractive building was provided to house a one form entry Secondary School by taking in the upper half of the existing ‘Primary’ School.

  The locality responded with delight and soon we had a wide ranging adult programme which, in two years, had the second highest adult enrolment in the County. Local houses were used for classes once the College was full. Local estate agents used the adult education brochure in their advertisements and a builder erected high standard houses on a small plot nearby with his brochures full of ‘nearby facilities and activities’. But the interesting point for me was the fact that everything was completed so the first students could enter a lovely building on their first day. Indeed, so well prepared had it been that on the sports field the cricket square at first was not up to standard so there was time to dig it up and relay it! As I mentioned earlier the College was formally opened by Lord Butler, then Master of Trinity College and well known to senior members of the Education Committee.

  In each College the three senior members of staff were the Warden (a title copied from some university colleges), the School’s Deputy Head and the Adult Tutor - responsible for the adult education programme. Houses were provided for each of these. My first Deputy had been at St Andrew’s, though a year or two after me. He had taken posts abroad and had subsequently become Head of a School in what was then Rhodesia. Concerned about the political changes he returned to the UK. After some time as a Deputy he again got a headship. The first Adult Tutor also went on to headship where he served admirably for a long time and was subsequently rewarded with an OBE.

  The second Adult Tutor was already a prolific author of sci-fi books under various pen names. He went on to an educational post in industry, then to a headship, then entered the Ministry of the Church of England. He has frequently appeared on television and still undertakes various lectureships. Recently I reviewed for Amazon two sci-fi books written by him and his wife.

  It is satisfying to see how former staff members of my schools have gone on to greater things. All First Deputies of my three schools became Heads. One Head of Physics from my Upper School went on to be an Inspector, then to the headship of an excellent School and has recently been knighted. I like to think that I influenced them slightly, if only perhaps demonstrating what not to do!

  No doubt they and all teachers faced problems whenever cuts were made to educational budgets as happened all too frequently. These gave no chance of planning, they had to be accommodated more or less immediately. The School where I was Deputy Head had narrow corridors; the architect had faced a sudden reduction in his budget which he achieved by a few strokes of his pen! In July 1981 a sudden cut was announced and we had to face a 10% reduction in staff for September. This meant that planned additions for a further increase in the roll had to be scrapped with inevitable fudging which, understandably, was unpopular.

  My second School, in Derbyshire, was in buildings of CLASP type. The acronym stands for Consortium of Local Authorities Special Purchase. This achieved greater value for money though also greater conformity and such buildings, not restricted to schools, are easily recognisable. For my School the architect brought into play a new concept, that of open planning, thus giving a reduction in building costs. Little heed was paid to what large groups of students would do in such areas and I was most concerned at open plan Science labs with the usual benches on which bottles of chemicals were to be stored. I remembered these from my Grammar School where they were in lockable separate labs. He also provided separate Science lecture rooms with a main demonstration bench and tiered seating. The image in his mind of Science teaching in universities and colleges was very evident. Obviously he did not take into account the situation of hundreds of unoccupied teenagers loose in open plan buildings during wet lunch hours!

  A better attempt was made with plans of the next projected Upper School when I was in my final post, in Bedfordshire. These were laid before the group of existing Heads and we were able to peruse them in
detail. Looking at the dining hall and its entrance I asked ingenuously where the ‘dinner queue’ could stand. Outside the entrance door was a small area beyond which rooms were ranged but no corridor to the dining room. No account had been taken of the simple fact that on entry students needed to pass a desk where they handed in dinner tickets or had passes checked or paid, etc. Inevitably they had to form a queue, traditionally controlled by prefects and the teacher(s) on duty as was normal in those days. It was obvious the architect had never experienced such procedure. In the event the school was never built as the child population decreased.

  That highlights the general problem of planning - how is accurate information to be obtained to inform future needs? There were formulae laid down centrally as to how LEAs were to estimate future child population numbers but local changes could occur quickly and render these useless. I met the intransigence of attitudes when the School was well established and popular but overall numbers of children in the County were falling. I was summoned to a Planning Committee meeting in County Hall to debate whether my School should be closed to lessen the overall projected spare capacity. I presented my figures of expected intake, based on careful research of numbers in all feeder schools and known local building projects and plans. The response was that these were hopelessly optimistic, as is ‘always the case with headteachers!’ However, I was sure they were conservative. I was proved correct as numbers on roll continued to grow. To-day the roll is 1850 with a Sixth Form of 600, far outstripping my modest figures.