Camborne Grammar School
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Camborne Grammar School in
Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...
,
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, was a girls'
grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
between 1908 and 1976.


Origins

In 1877 Redbrooke College for young ladies was founded at Redbrooke House on Camborne Hill. There were about 20 boarders and also day girls. There were three teachers at first and later a Miss Chudleigh came from
Liskeard Liskeard ( ; ) is an ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) east of Bodmin. Th ...
to be
headmistress A headmaster/headmistress, head teacher, head, school administrator, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. Role While s ...
until 1896 when Miss Kay took charge. In 1897 Miss Pratt of
Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...
,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
took over the role. With the 1904 Education Act, state
secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
was planned for a limited number of pupils. Redbrooke College became Redbrooke County School and the number of pupils increased so that it was necessary to transfer to a new larger building at the bottom of Camborne Hill, (Trevu Road).


History

The new premises were officially opened in 1908 as Camborne Grammar School and were built to accommodate pupils from the
Camborne Camborne (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth, C ...
-
Redruth Redruth ( , ) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. According to the 2011 census, the population of Redruth was 14,018 In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, ...
area, extending from
Gwithian Gwithian () is a coastal village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Gwinear-Gwithian, in the Cornwall district, in west Cornwall, England. It is three miles (5 km) north-east of Hayle and four miles (6.5 km) east of St Iv ...
in the west to
St. Agnes Agnes of Rome (21 January 304) is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. She is one of several virgin marty ...
in the east and south to villages such as
St Day St Day () is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is positioned between the village of Chacewater and the town of Redruth. The electoral ward St Day and Lanner had a population of 4,473 according to the 2011 cens ...
and Troon. (Boys from this same area attended
Redruth Grammar School Redruth Grammar School in Redruth, Cornwall, was a boys school between 1907 and 1976. History The school was opened on 5 October 1907 by General Sir Redvers Buller. It was originally built to accommodate 150 pupils and to serve the Camborne-Red ...
). The first headmistress of Camborne Grammar School was Miss Pratt and up until the 1930s the number of pupils increased. In 1933 Miss Evans became headmistress and during the depression years the numbers attending the school decreased. In 1935 Mr C.V.Thomas, chairman of the governors presented the school with a new gym and Camborne was the first grammar school in Cornwall to have a purpose built gym. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the pupils and staff of
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
and
Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...
school shared the premises for some time and at this time
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
was the only science subject taught due to lack of staff. Even after the war there was still rationing of food and school dinners and milk were said to be welcome. With the
Education Act 1944 The Education Act 1944 ( 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the Butler Act after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Histori ...
the kindergarten and preparatory department were closed and there were no more fee payers in the school. Also in 1944 the
Eleven plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academ ...
scheme for entry to the
Grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
was introduced. In 1947 Miss Evans retired and Miss Bain from
Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...
became headmistress. In the 1950s the school premises became too small for the greater number of pupils and in 1954 a new block was built in the school grounds. Miss Bain left in 1967 when Mrs. Bannister became headmistress until 1971 when numbers had increased by 33%. Mrs Mostyn took over in 1971 when it became necessary to look elsewhere for extra classrooms. The first outpost was the nearby St. Johns Catholic School and the second outpost was the Camborne Community Centre. In 1975 the sixth form was moved to a new centre at Treswithian School (later renamed to Camborne Science and International Academy) and, due to the introduction of the
comprehensive system A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...
, at the end of the 1976 summer term the rest of the school followed to this site.


Later history

The school building later became home to the Basset Junior School under headmaster Mr Treneer and, from 1980, also the site of Beacon Infants School, under headmistress Mrs Gratton-Kane. These later became merged and renamed Trevithick County Primary until 1997, in which the school moved to a new building further down the road. Following this, the school premises became the Trevu Children's Centre' for pre-school children and early learning which provided a toy library, various health services, a nursery and crèche, a cafe, and access to training and development for parents and carers. In June 2009 Cornwall County Council put the building up for sale as a site for development. Not only does this mean that Children's services and facilities closed, but potentially the building could have been demolished to redevelop the site. Local parents have formed a campaign group to try to force the Council to reconsider their actions. Zoe Fox, spokesperson for Cornish political party
Mebyon Kernow Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall (, MK; Cornish language, Cornish for ''Sons of Cornwall'') is a Cornish nationalism, Cornish nationalist, Left-wing politics, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currentl ...
and local campaigner, condemned the proposed closure of the Children's Centre at Trevu in Camborne. She said, ''“It is a scandal that Trevu Childrens’ Centre is under threat and the building is scheduled to be sold off for soulless residential redevelopment. The facilities at Trevu are first class and incredibly well used. The proposed dispersal of these services will impact badly on many families. The Centre gives heart to our community and is the best possible use of our heritage. It gives local people the chance to enjoy a beautiful old building with services available on one site including a sensory playground, cafe, toy library, day care and after school clubs catering from nursery to teens as well as support for families. It is a community hub and a valuable resource particularly for isolated young families. Just because the site is valuable is not a reason to sell it off and disperse the services."'' As part of the Government's Free School programme, the building was once again bought back into use as a school. Following refurbishment and a £3.5million extension,
St Michael's Secondary School St Michael's Secondary School was a mixed free school located in Camborne, Cornwall, England. It opened in 2012, had a Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, ...
opened on the site. Following a disappointing Ofsted inspection, it was announced by the Department for Education and the school's governors that the sponsorship of St. Michael's School would transfer to the Camborne Science and International Academy whilst remaining as a separate school. It was confirmed that the Catholic ethos of the school would be continued, but that the school would no longer continue with as a designation Catholic school.


Headmistresses

* Miss Pratt (1908–1933) * Miss Evans (1933–1947) * Miss Bain (1947–1967) * Mrs Bannister (1967–1971) * Mrs Mostyn (1971–1976)


References

{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1877 Girls' schools in Cornwall Defunct grammar schools in England Defunct schools in Cornwall Educational institutions disestablished in 1976 1877 establishments in England 1976 disestablishments in England Camborne