Vol 6 Issue 6 March 2007 V2.pub - Highcliffe School

In the Community
In Memoriam—John Baker CBE JP 1928—2007
We were sad to learn of
the death, on March 3 rd , of
John Baker the first headteacher
of our school. In
1961 Mr. Baker was appointed
to be the head of
the new Christchurch
Grammar School and became,
I believe, the
youngest headteacher in
the country. At that time
these buildings, which now
house Highcliffe School,
were still under construction
and the first grammar
school students shared the
accommodation at The
Gore County Secondary
School in New Milton.
Eventually in 1963 they
were able to settle in here
at Highcliffe.
John Baker was inspirational
and innovative as a
headteacher; his attitude
to education was very forward-looking
and in many
ways “before its time”. For
example, he wanted to
adopt the idea of school
starting early and finishing
Student Bulletin Goes
Online!
Would you like to be more
informed about the many
activities and opportunities
that our students are offered
in school every
week? Well now you can!
You may be aware that at
the beginning of every
week, an information bulletin
is published for all
students, informing them
of the many goings-on in
at lunchtime – leaving the
afternoon free for sporting
and other extracurricular activities.
Always approach-
able, he would listen to any
ideas that might benefit his
students and he would always
support his staff. A
former colleague remarked
at John’s funeral “He was
born to lead and did it with
Keeping You Informed
school for the coming week.
Up until now, these ‘Student
Bulletins’ were only distributed
in paper format, with
copies displayed in all tutor
rooms and on the School
Student Notice Board.
We have now moved to publishing
the Student Bulletin
on the School website, to
enable parents and students
to access the information
more easily. All the Student
Bulletins that have been
an incredible restless energy.”
Changes to the education
system, both locally and
nationally, led to the
introduction of comprehensive
schools. The
Hampshire LEA opted
for a system of 11-16
comprehensive schools
feeding sixth form colleges.
At this stage, in
1970, John Baker was
appointed to manage
the transition of Brockenhurst
Grammar
School to a sixth form
college and later to a
tertiary college.
For his services to education
John Baker was
made a CBE; he also
served as a highly respected
magistrate in
Hampshire. Our condolences
go to his widow and
to his children Hilary,
Helen and Richard who
were all students here.
H2U, Vol 6 Issue 6 March 2007 Page 2
Report by Mrs Gower
printed this year can be
accessed through the
‘Parents’ and ‘Students’
sections of the School
website.
Every Friday afternoon, the
Student Bulletin for the
forthcoming week will be
added to keep us all more
informed and up to date!
Report by Mr Yapp