Note to genealogists
- It is anticipated that the Admissions records will primarily be of use for family historians and genealogists.
- The data covers 75 years from the late 19th century but there are duplications which may represent the school’s own records, copies submitted to the County Council, as well as parental admission forms.
- There are nearly 4,000 names recorded from about 40 handwritten volumes in the N Devon Record Office and transcribed onto an Excel file, equivalent to 75 pages of A4. Yes, months of seriously tedious work.
- In the early years, many students admitted were re-admitted (some up to 3yrs later), probably due to shortage of money or manpower in a mostly farming community.
- Blank cells in the spreadsheet are where the original is unreadable or simply missing.
- The occupations of parents were recorded (in some record formats but not others) up to the end of WW2.
- The numbers of pupils during WW2 rose significantly after Selhurst Grammar School pupils in London pupils were evacuated.
- Similarly, in 1970 the numbers expanded as the BGS and the much larger Geneva Secondary Modern school began to be amalgamated and also made coeducational; the so-called comprehensive system. All the BGS teachers knew there was a vast difference in the curriculum, ambition for the pupils and educational levels reached, they knew there would be a drastic reduction in educational standards, to say nothing about how the teaching staff could be integrated. The change was initiated by government for social, not educational reasons and consequently it would destroy the school culture as they knew it, so it is hardly surprising that Headmaster Stephenson, took the opportunity to retire.
Finally, it is useful to bear in mind the Education Acts that affected this period:
The Education Acts of 1870 and 1880 were the first of a number of Acts of parliament passed between 1870 and 1893 to create compulsory education in England and Wales for children aged between 5 and 13 years.
The 1902 Education Act, (drafted by AJ Balfour who became prime minister later that year) radically reorganised the administration of education at local level, and abolished the previous school boards in England and Wales. The driver for these changes was the need for an educated workforce to maintain Britain’s position at the forefront of world trade and technical achievement.
The 1918 Education Act raised the school leaving age to 14 and provided ancillary services such as medical inspection & nursery schools. (In fact, the leaving age had been increased in steps over a long period of time: to 11 in 1893, 12 in 1899, 14 in 1918, and 15 in 1947. Then in 1964, preparations began to raise the school leaving age to 16. These were delayed in 1968, and eventually the decision was taken in 1971 that the new upper age limit would be enforced from 1 September 1972 onwards. In England, this was increased to 17 in 2013 and 18 in 2015).
The 1944 Education Act made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales and provided free secondary education for all pupils. The purpose of the Act was to address the country’s educational needs amid demands for social reform that had been an issue before the Second World War began. Most Anglican church schools were effectively absorbed into the state system in return for funding: a third became voluntary-aided which entitled them to enhanced state subsidies, whilst retaining autonomy over admissions, curriculum and teacher appointments.
These radical changes were supported by the public because it ended the fees they had to pay for secondary education. The act also introduced the 11+ examination to determine if a child would be eligible for a grammar school, a secondary modern or a technical college. It was phased out across most of the UK by 1976, coinciding closely with the 5-year period (1970-75) for the full integration of the two state secondary schools in Bideford.
