Early days at Bourne Grammar School

THE CURRENT BID by Bourne Grammar School to achieve academic status is a reminder of its humble beginnings ninety years ago.

Although there is some evidence of a grammar school in Bourne in the 14th century, the present establishment is of more recent origin and dates from 1920 when the first headmaster was appointed in September that year. He was Mr Charles Pask Matthews, a mathematician and scientist, who had served with distinction during the Great War of 1914-18 before returning to his post as senior master at Tiffin School, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey.

But on his arrival in Bourne, the school's planned accommodation was not ready and so he and fifty pupils and a staff of three teachers assembled at the Vestry Hall in North Street and this was to be their headquarters for the next few months, to be used for assemblies and P E lessons, while three forms used the old National School next door (now the headquarters of the Grantham and Stamford Conservative Association).

They remained in these temporary premises until the following summer and in July 1921, the new grammar school was officially opened on the present site in South Road. But even here, permanent buildings had yet to be erected. The classrooms were housed in old wooden army huts that had been purchased at a government post-war disposal sale and were extremely uncomfortable being cold in winter and hot in summer. There were no telephones, typewriter or secretary and the premises were lit by gas.

Grammar school education in Bourne, however, is believed to go back much further in time, almost 700 years, although very little is known about this early establishment other than Sir John Fisher was appointed master in 1330. Where the school premises were and how many pupils were taught there over the years is not recorded.

Our only evidence today of such an educational facility is the Old Grammar School that still stands in the churchyard next to the Abbey Church. It was financed by William Trollope, a local landowner, whose bequest in 1636 provided for an endowment of £30 a year to maintain "an honest, learned, and godly schoolmaster" and was known as “the Free Grammar School of King Charles in the Town of Bourne” although the original building has gone and what we see now has been largely rebuilt since his day.

Pupils who attended were taught Latin free but charged tuition fees for English and other subjects and this augmented the schoolmaster's income but the coming of state education for elementary pupils in the 1870s had a serious effect on the numbers prepared to pay for their lessons. The school therefore fell into decline during the final years of the 19th century and by 1897, the number of pupils that had once stood at thirty-two had dwindled to just nine and the school was officially closed in 1904.

There was great concern over its disappearance and in the years that followed there were several attempts to revive it but it was almost twenty years before those who worked so hard for the restoration of secondary education in the town were eventually rewarded and when the First World War ended, it was resuscitated as a co-educational secondary school.

Bequests from two charities founded by Robert Harrington (1654) and that from William Trollope (1636) were united to form a single foundation called the Harrington and Trollope Secondary School and this money was supplemented by an annual grant from Kesteven County Council to meet the fees of those who had secured free places while parental fees were required in respect of the other pupils.

Those early days at the Vestry Hall in 1920 were therefore instrumental in founding the school that we know today and the years that followed have been marked by major changes influenced by educational policy at national level. A new phase began with the passing of the Education Act of 1944 when it became voluntary controlled and then from 1947, the name Bourne Grammar School was adopted with entrants chosen from the result of the 11-plus examination taken by pupils at primary level in the catchment area and the payment of fees was abolished.

Building work to modernise the premises has been progressive with the years, to provide additional accommodation and to keep pace with the increasing number of pupils and by 1970 the school was sufficiently well established to withstand outside pressure for change.

The Labour government's abolition of school selection at the age of 11 plus heralded the introduction of comprehensive education throughout Britain and although many county education authorities favoured the new system, there was a sufficient head of steam in the town to avert reorganisation and so Bourne Grammar School survived.

Today, it is a voluntary controlled, mixed selective school with an annual budget of £4 million. In the last decade there has been a rapid expansion and there are now almost 1,000 students on the roll including 230 in the sixth form. The premises are based around a major building programme during 1959-60 with many modern additions since, notably new classrooms in 1992, a sports hall in 1996, a new block between 2000-04 and an impressive drama studio in 2008. New building has also meant that in 2007, the classrooms that had provided temporary teaching space for so many years were finally phased out, much to the relief of pupils and staff.

Jonathan Maddox, head teacher since 2004, said that the school attached great importance to the pursuit of academic excellence through a tradition of hard work, respect for achievement and sound discipline. Public examination results at all levels remain outstanding and practically all of the students go on to university including a number each year to Oxford and Cambridge and to various medical schools. But the latest challenge of achieving academic status has yet to be decided.

Charles Pask Matthews was a man of vision yet even he could not have imagined the status that the school has achieved today. He was the guiding hand through those early crucial years before retiring in 1945 and after writing a short history of the Abbey Church where he worshipped, he died at the Butterfield Hospital in 1956, aged 70, but was remembered with affection by many pupils who came under his influence.