A HISTORY OF THE RGS IN ITS PEOPLE DAVID GOLDWATER

A HISTORY OF THE RGS IN ITS PEOPLE

BY DAVID GOLDWATER (51-62)

For the first centuries of the RGS’s existence, its main impetus was to educate boys. Masters – a term which was to last well into the 20th Century—guided boys along the paths of literacy, numeracy and of course, righteousness. Co-education was not to flourish until well into the 20th Century, although there were some exceptions. The world’s oldest co-educational school is thought to be Archbishop Tenison’s Church of England High School, Croydon, established in 1714. The world’s oldest co-educational both day and boarding school is Dollar Academy in Scotland. From its opening in 1818 until now, the school has admitted both boys and girls.

Two women should be especially noted as having a crucial role in the establishment of our School as we know it. In 1525 Thomas Horsley made provision in his will that upon the death of his wife Johanna, the income from a trust should to be paid to the city for part of the stipend of a grammar school master. Around two generations after the establishment of the School, on March 22nd 1600, Queen Elizabeth I granted the burgesses of Newcastle upon Tyne a new ‘Great Charter’, part of which bestowed its Royal status on the Grammar School.

The names of the female domestic and catering staff have gone unrecorded, but like Barrie Bulch of today, iconic Catering Superintendents, are remembered by the many thousands of willing recipients of jam roly-poly and lashings of ice-cream. Ma Stevens (31-56), Clara Teunon (57-72), who was Jack Wolstenholme’s (48-75) cousin and Jenny Sims (72-98) helped the regiments of RGS students to sustain their studies well into the afternoon and without selfservice, or industrial ovens.

Long before the momentous millennial move into co-education, relations with the nearby girls’ schools were warm and close, despite the Debating Society in June 1907 opposing the view that women should be included in the electorate and in March 1909 upholding the motion ‘Women were not to be allowed into the professions’. By 1936, Novo was reporting that an interdebate took place with members of the Central High School. A record 163 attended and there was a high standard of speaking from both schools on the subject: ‘That the Arts are more important in education than Science’. Through the decades, Novo records very many examples of warm inter-school relations, particularly with CHS and CNHS. April 1952 Astronomical Society meetings invited members of the Science Society of the NCHS. In Spring 1953,

The Great Charter of 1600

a Sixth Form Club was formed in conjunction with the Central and Church High Schools and a Country Dance was held on 19 March. It was in 1960 that the Scottish Country Dancing Society was formed. The Committee included Joy Knowles (52-84) and John Douglas (5694). Novo reported that ‘warm thanks went to the girls of NCHS and CNHS ‘who grace our meetings with their presence’.

As an all-male school for the major part of its history, the RGS as far as we know, did not employ women teachers until the 20th Century, when the First World War deprived the School of many of its staff. Succeeding a Miss Jackson, Mrs M Akhurst arrived in the Junior School for four years, but left as the men returned from the trenches. She went on to found Akhurst Boys Preparatory School, from which very many future RGS boys ‘graduated’. A Mrs Burns also left in 1924. Many of the female staff particularly in the Junior School were featured in the last issue 109, but it is good to remind ONs and other readers of the dedicated work in boys’ formative years by Miss Snowball, Brenda Joy, Patsy Gordon, Mrs Crocker, Mrs Bainbridge, Miss Watson and Miss Joy Patterson (later Knowles).

Val James (83-05), who sadly passed away in 2010, was a person of rare quality, talented, determined, kind and generous. In charge of art in the Junior School from 1983, she inspired very many students to progress their talents in the Seniors and beyond. After retirement in 2005, she continued to support the School as a supply teacher until illness overtook her.

The Senior School was considerably slower in recognising the enormous variety of talent that female staff could offer.

Wendy Williams (76-99), Art, was the first of what was to become a steady stream of women teachers, followed closely by Sue Rodgers (78-89) who answered an unusual search for a combined Biologist-Geographer and who developed Orienteering to championship level. Pauline Perella (82-04) joined the Mathematics team, teaching across all age groups at a time of vast change in the subject. She worked with Frank Budden (63-82) and ONs will recall her distinctive multi-orientated problem sheets or her meticulously produced Maths entrance papers. She applied an all pervading enthusiasm in all her enterprises which included a thriving Bridge Club.

Pat Sainsbury’s (80-05) career spanned 25 years from 1980 till 2005. ‘A bit of a fairy godmother really…’; ‘A generously supportive colleague…’; ‘…most importantly a fantastically positive person’: some of the accolades accorded to Pat by colleagues on her retirement. She will be remembered primarily as a teacher of French, but added to this were Comparative Religion, MFL Drama productions, French Exchanges, overseas trips and more. To quote Camus: ‘Là était la certitude, dans le travail de tous les jours……L’éssential etait de bien faire son metier’. (‘There was the certainty…the main thing was to do your job well.’)

Lavinia Wilson (82-84), as a Queen’s Guide, became enthusiastically involved in School Camps, Drama, Debating and Chess. A conscientious teacher of English, she left to be married and work in the Midlands, when she was followed by Hazel Jones-Lee (84-09), who came to the RGS to teach English as one of only five full-time members of staff (8%). At her retirement, there were 31 (34%). Her keen involvement in School Drama, particularly through the XXl Club with John Armstrong, led to many marvels of school theatre. She was Head of General Studies and Voluntary Service and in 2001, by then Senior Mistress, orchestrated the School’s welcoming its first girls into the Sixth Form and becoming fully co-educational in 2006. Wendy Collins (89-07), might have followed her first instincts to become a doctor, but came to RGS to teach Chemistry. On Neil Goldie’s tragic death in 2003, she was the natural choice to become Head of Science. A member of the CCF’s Navy section, she organised many watersports trips to France and Spain. Her subject expertise, dynamism and warmth made her equally popular with colleagues and students alike.

Liz Radice joined RGS in 1993 and although she stayed for just over five years, Liz was to contribute a real sense of academic charge in the English Department. An HMC inspector described the Department as ‘vibrant and scholarly’, which she certainly epitomized. But as Liz was to retort, ‘vibrant and scholarly are all very well but there’s got to be that primal imaginative sympathy too’. After leaving RGS in 1999, Liz moved on to be Headmistress at Channing School in Highgate and later, Haberdashers’ Aske’s in Elstree.

As is evident in this brief overview, the predominantly masculine nature of the RGS lasted until the latter part of the 20th Century. In the last 20 years, the picture has changed dramatically and now the School more properly reflects society at large, celebrated in this ONA Magazine.

As an all-male school for the major part of its history, the RGS as far as we know, did not employ women teachers until the 20th Century, when the First World War deprived the School of many of its staff.”