From THE CITY OF OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE VoL. LI, ii MARCH 1959 No. 165
School Notes
At the time of the issue of our December number we were on the edge of a crisis.
The Secondary Education Sub-Committee had placed before the Education Committee a set of proposals modifying the system of Secondary Modern Education and putting forward a plan for combining the City of Oxford School into a small scale experimental bilateral school when it is supplied with its long promised new premises on Marston Ferry Road. The Plan came as a surprise and a shock. We were unskilled in the diagnosis of all the reasons behind it and the attempt to forecast the individual reactions of members of the Education Committee did not, at first, give us much encouragement.
We did feel, however, that we ought to do our utmost to maintain the essential character of the School—not merely out of respect for the past but in the sure knowledge that the School still had a contribution to make to the life of our city in the future. The teaching staff of the School rallied to this view and we soon found ourselves buoyed up with a degree of support which we had scarcely expected. The Governors of the School indicated quite early on that they were not disposed to accept the plan as a fait accompli. The teachers of Oxford, acting through their various organisations, issued a unanimous report which rejected the bilateral idea. A well-attended Parents’ Meeting called in response to Alderman Lower’s request for public discussion, and addressed by him and Alderman Pickstock rejected the proposals with only four dissentients. The Old Oxford Citizens’ Society confirmed with only one dissentient the action taken by its Committee in writing to the Press to oppose the change in status and character of the School.
These matters were reported in the Press and a public discussion in the correspondence columns developed. Some confusion of thought developed too—not on our side, we trust. Our opponents now disclosed that they would really have liked a comprehensive School but numbers ruled that out. Much was made of the abolition of the ‘eleven plus’ as if that were possible thus.
In the midst of this argument, the Education Committee met on Feb. 16th and, after a discussion for two hours, adjourned – to meet again on March 16th. The postponement gave our opposition an opportunity to lunch a series of not very well attended meetings in which were adduced political rather than educational arguments, and even a direct attack on the School was launched – a sort of forlorn hope which gained them more publicity than Public support. A statement to the Press issued by the united staff three days before the second meeting effectually extinguished the dull embers of this piece of incendiarism.
A calmer atmosphere reigned when the Committee met again on March 16th, and it soon became clear that the majority had realized that the question could not be solved either on the lines of party politics or in the vague light of generalised educational theories but that they were facing a particular problem-how best to supply a good secondary modern school or schools in North Oxford without having to maim the City of Oxford High School in the process.
The bilateral scheme was rejected by sixteen to twelve.
It now remains for the Secondary Education Sub-Committee either to adhere to the original Development Plan, or, after consultation with all those whose advice can be helpful, to devise a new scheme. This must be no mere compromise but one comprehensive in range to cater for the needs of the generation now arising for whom ‘ O level ‘ is an incident and ‘A level’ a normal objective.