The history of our School - Kings Norton Boys

History of our School 1911-1971
Taken from the 'Eagle'. March 1971.
The King's Norton Council Secondary School was built by the Worcestershire
County Council. By 1911, when the buildings were completed, King's Norton had
become a part of The City of Birmingham, and it was by Sir George Kenrick,
chairman of The Birmingham Education Committee, that the school was officially
opened in November 1911.
Sixty boys presented themselves on the first day of school, September 1911,
and of these about thirty came from The King's Heath Pupil Teachers' Centre,
where their Headmistress was Miss Cotton. The accommodation was for 200,
but by 1914 it was found necessary to use the library and the clerk's room as
form rooms in order that the 250 boys on the register could be accommodated.
The west side of the school was occupied by the boys and the east side by the
girls and they were kept very much apart. In the early days the west field was
shared by the combined school. When Mr. George Cadbury visited the school in
about 1914, he saw the difficulty of this situation and very generously made a
gift to the school of the adjoining field of area about 5 acres. It then became
possible to proceed with an adequate organisation of the school games.
In September 1911 the boys were received by the Headmaster, Mr. A. James,
and four assistant masters, Messrs. Weaver, Morris, Valiance and Randle; a little
later Messrs. Wright (second master) Hale, Wareham, Holton, and Thomas
joined the staff. The first boy to win a university award was C.V. Hackett who
went on to obtain a M.Sc. degree at the University of Birmingham in 1921. A
few years later Harold Roxbee Cox obtained a Ph.D. at London University. He
became Sir Harold Roxbee Cox and later Lord Kings Norton.
In September 1927 the girls moved to a newly built school in Selly Oak Road
and the boys took over the whole of the buildings in Northfield Road. The number
of boys on the school roll had remained fairly constant at 250 until 1927.
However the additional buildings enabled the numbers to be increased and by
1933 the school was again full with 500 pupils. The old gymnasium was turned
into a dining room, whilst the old dining rooms and kitchen were pulled down
and rebuilt as a large and well equipped gymnasium, judged of course by 1927
standards. In 1930 the word Council was omitted from the title King's Norton
Council Secondary School for Boys.
Mr. James contracted sleepy-sickness in the summer term of 1926; he returned
to school in the early part of 1927 and it speaks well for his determination, after
so severe an illness, that he should have done so. He was a great teacher and
disciplinarian. He put the emphasis on work, possibly too much, but in many
ways he was an excellent Headmaster. He had been a fine cricketer and he
played chess for his county. Mr. James retired at Easter 1934 and so ended
what could be called the first chapter in the School's history. Mr. James was
succeeded by Mr. W.H. Reynolds, a first class honours graduate in Physics of
London University. Mr. Reynolds came to the school from the then Central Secondary
School where he had been Headmaster for a number of years. This
school was housed in the same building as the Technical College in Suffolk

Street and conditions were very difficult. The new headmaster was pleased to
be in a school where the buildings actually belonged to the school.
Mr. Reynolds introduced many new ideas. The first was the introduction of the
prefect system of which he wrote in a subsequent issue of the school magazine,
they have carried out their new duties with ability and discretion, and their assistance
is appreciated by the staff. The second notable innovation, at that time,
was the organisation of the school into houses. These, Greves, Jervoise, Lyttleton,
Middlemore and Mortimer were named after distinguished families who
had, during the years, developed strong connection with King's Norton and
Northfield. These names have come to mean much to old boys of the school.
Many societies were formed. Mr. T. Welburn and Mr. Ecclestone inaugurated the
Scientific Society and it is pleasing to note that this has continu­ed with success
until the present time. The dramatic society was formed on a much larger scale;
a cyclorama was built into the back of the stage and an efficient switch board
and lighting system were installed by members of the staff and boys. The plays
presented for the first public performance were Tom Thumb The Great and Under
the Skull and Bones produced by Mr. Roach and Mr. Cole respectively. The
plays were very successful and were the fore­runners of many others, such as
Androcles and The Lion, Man and Superman, The Rising Generation, She Stoops
to Conquer and The Admirable Crichton. Other new societies included the Model
Railway Club, The Hobbies Club, The Lecture and Debating Society, The Natural
History Society, The Chess Club, The Wireless Club and the Bee Keeping Society.
A Parent-Teacher Association was formed in 1935 and in 1936 a Jubilee Pavilion
was built on the school field; the cost of this was borne jointly by the Education
Committee and the School. The first commemoration service was held at St.
Nicolas Church, King's Norton for the celebration by the school of its 25th anniversary.
The service was conducted by Canon T.S. Dunn, vicar of King's Norton,
and the address was given by the Ven. J.H. Richards, Archdeacon of Aston. This
service became an annual one.
In August 1935, the first overseas holiday in the history of the school was organised
. Four masters accompanied 72 boys to Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
Finland and Germany. The party sailed in the troop-ship Neuralia and the cruise
was sponsored by The Secondary Schools' Travel Trust. It is interesting to reflect
that the total cost including excursions and foreign currency was about £8.
10. 0d. per head.
In July, 1935, the school obtained its first state scholarship through R.W. Stanford
who subsequently went to Christ's College, Cambridge. At Easter 1939, the
school became King's Norton Grammar School for Boys Later in the same year
war was declared on Germany and so ended another phase in the school's history.
Many staff and boys will always remember Friday, 1st September 1939, the day
that the school was evacuated to Gloucester. As a short magazine report so well
expressed it at the time - The pelting rain of the morning; the hot sunshine of
the afternoon; the foreboding tin hats of the King's Norton A.R.P. officials; the

mellow serenity of Evesham's apple orchards; Birmingham's indifference to our
departure; Gloucester's staring multitudes. We were not made particularly welcome
by the Crypt School but all made the best of it. Many will recall the spectacle
of the Severn Bore, the school's invasion of The Plaza Cinema where the
film The Mikado was shown, our lessons in the afternoons only, the commemoration
service held at Gloucester Cathedral, our visits to Painswick Beacon and
so on. However the evacuation was short-lived; the school returned to Birmingham
in March 1940 in time for the bombing which occurred later.
During 1940 lessons were interrupted from time to time by air raid warnings
and an orderly procession moved to the air raid shelters which had been
erected. In April a National Savings Group was formed; by 1945 this had
reached the splendid total of £13,111. During December The Pig and Poultry
Club came into being. Pigs were fed and slaughtered at the appropriate time.
Some of the pork was distributed to the shareholders in lieu of dividend whilst
the rest was sold to The Meat Control Board.
In April 1941, the King's Norton and Bourneville Squadron of the Air Training
Corps were inaugurated under the command of Flt. Lt. W.H. Reynolds M.C., the
officers including F.O. L.K. Ecclestone, P/O S.E. Pickering and F/O D.W.
Wheeler. The extremely efficient warrant officer was Mr. Frank Waltew, the chief
grounds man of the Birmingham Education Committee. The school was the
headquarters and much of the work normally carried out at Initial Training
Wings was now done by the A.T.C. A very high standard was reached by the
240 cadets and many will recall the winning of the Wing Cup, Church Parades,
camps at Tern Hill and Hereford and many other occasions. In May 1942, an
Army Cadet Force was formed under the direction of the local battalion of The
Home Guard.
From July 1942 and continuing for about four years, successful Harvest Camps
were held at Offchurch, Near Leamington. The local cricket pavilion provided the
headquarters and tents were erected on the field. Much of the organisation was
arranged by The Warwickshire War Agricultural Committee, ably assisted by the
late Mr. Brian Hindle.
After the war, life gradually returned to normal. Functions were again held at
the school and societies were reformed. Prefabricated classrooms were erected
in the east playground in about 1946 and they were of great help although their
heating was always a source of trouble. The late Mr. R.T. Cooling was elected a
judge at the 14th Olympic held in 1948 at the White City; this was a great
honor for the school. Mr. K.R. Welburn designed the War Memorial to old boys
who had given their lives in the first and second world wars. This was dedicated
by the Ven. G.C. St. M. Parker, the Archdeacon of Aston, on Sunday 24th April
1949 and was unveiled by Mr. F.W. Wright, the second master of the school,
who was at the time the president of the Old Nortonians Association and who
had done so much to keep the Association together during the war years.
In August 1949, the school began a series of holiday camps at the Isle of Wight.
These were held at St. Helens, between Bembridge and Sea View, where an excellent
site was shared with Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Bristol. Many old boys will
remember with pleasure Messrs. Richardson and Brooks from Bristol, The glori-

ous bathing and the many incidents which made our holidays there so delightful.
In December 1949, Mr. F.W. Wright retired and was succeeded as Deputy
Headmaster by Mr. L.K. Ecclestone.
In January 1952, Mr. Reynolds, the Headmaster was awarded the O.B.E. He
himself insisted that this was an honour , not for himself, but for the school.
However in addition to his arduous duties as a headmaster, he was a devoted
educationist and had done much for the teaching of general science. He was a
member of the Joint Matriculation Board and chairman of the King's Norton
Branch of the United Nations Association. He was a member of the committee
and a past chairman of the City of Birmingham choir and a governor of Saltley
Training College. He thus richly deserved this great honor in his own right.
At Easter 1953, many new building changes took place at the school, changes
which Mr. Reynolds had asked for when he first came to the school in 1934.
New cycle accommodation on the east field.
The Art block was built.
The General Chemistry Laboratory and General Biology Laboratory were built.
The old art room was converted into a library.
The old library was converted into an office.
The old office became the second master's room.
In 1954 the school acquired a motto which had hitherto been lacking:
Humani semper contendimus.
We, being courteous, sympathetic and understanding,constantly strive.
The number of boys on the school roll was about 700 when in August 1956. Mr.
Reynolds retired. So ended the second chapter in the school's history. Mr. W.H.
Reynolds was succeeded by Mr. G. Sheen. Mr. Sheen was an open scholar of
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he gained first class honours in Mathematical
Moderations and in the Final Honours School of Mathematics - with distinction
in atomic structure. He had been senior mathematics master at Wolverhampton
Grammar School and head of the mathematics and science departments
at Bromsgrove School. He had been a very active scout leader and he
had strong interests in music, school orchestras and dramatic societies. He was
an active member of the
congregational Church and he had a growing interest in philosophy. Above all
he was a most able and enthusiastic educationist with a tremendous capacity
for work.
Mr. Sheen's task was a very difficult one at the time of his appointment since
the number of boys in the school was steadily growing each year. In the early

1960's, the peak was reached when the number was 780 and conditions became
most difficult; 100 boys were entered for A level. The acquisition of Brunnaker
House was a great help but not altogether suitable, However progress
continued to be made, a fate was organised by the Parent-Teacher Association
as a result of which the school obtained its own electronic organ. Later an excellent
gymnasium was built, the old gymnasium became a new dining room and
arrangements were much improved. Through the efforts of Mr. Sheen, the
school forged a link with Solesi through the person of Neil Nkanza, boys have
taken part in American Field Service and in Voluntary Service overseas.
The Parent-Teacher Association also provided a sailing boat for the school and
sailing took place on the Earlswood lakes. A little later Alderman Ernest Tye,
J.P., who was then Mayor of Stourbridge, kindly presented the school with another
boat.
In 1966 Mr. Sheen acquired for the school a cottage at Pen-Rhos in Merionethshire
on a 50 years lease from The Forestry Commission. This is now the venue
for many happy and instructional visits. In 1967 the old prefabricated class
rooms were removed and a splendid sixth form block, including a new staff
room, was built. The base of this block is now the music room.
During the last 60's- early 70's the school excelled at games, particularly association
football and basketball. The dramatic society, too, staged productions of
outstanding merit whilst overseas visits costing upwards of £50 were commonplace.
Mr. L.K. Ecclestone, The Deputy Headmaster, retired in July, 1968 and
was succeeded by Mr. K.A. Hearne who came to us from The Hulme Grammar
School, Oldham. In September 1969, it was found necessary to reduce the
number of houses from five to four; many old boys will feel a tinge of regret at
the passing of Greves. Jervoise, Lyttleton, Middlemore and Mortimer in spite of
the fact that they have been replaced by such distinguished names as James.
Reynolds. Weaver and Wright.
It was with deep regret that we learned of the tragic death of our Headmaster,
Mr. G. Sheen on 5th June 1970. An appreciation of Mr. Sheen's great work,
written by Mr. K.A. Hearne, is printed in The Autumn 1970 edition of The Eagle.
Mr. Hearne had been beset with illness and great difficulties since he became
Deputy Headmaster in January 1969. Everyone was delighted when be was appointed
to succeed Mr. Sheen as Headmaster of the School in October 1970.
What lies ahead From July 1966 onwards, Sir Lionel Russell produced numerous
schemes for the education of Birmingham children. How­ever, education
and politics are closely linked and other schemes had to be formulated. It now
seems likely that the School will maintain its Grammar School status for some
time. If one day, comprehensive education for all is to come, it is hoped that it
will be administered in purpose-built Schools.
Come what may, the old Grammar School in King's Norton Church Yard will always
be a reminder of our own grammar school although our connection with it
is one of name only. The date of origin of this old school is still a matter of
speculation, but it is probably 1344, when Edward III signed letters patent, licensing
William Pass, vicar of King's Norton, to build a house on the church

grounds. It seems that its educational function was intended from the beginning,
and it was established as a full grammar school of some note in the sixteenth
century, fulfilling this role until 1884. The building, now scheduled as an
ancient monument, was restored in 1951 and houses a collection of books,
maps, furniture and other items of local interest.
In looking to the future our destinies are, we know, in the hands of others, not
ourselves. On behalf of all who have passed through our school and all who
have a genuine affection for it, one hope that those who have it in their power
to shape our ends will remember that there has been a King's Norton Grammar
School since the 14th century.
Surely this is a tradition that should not be readily forsaken.
L.K. Ecclestone.