Sir Cyril M. Norwood (15 September 1875 – 13 March 1956) was an English educationalist who served as Headmaster of

Bristol Grammar School Bristol Grammar School (BGS) is a 4–18 Mixed-sex education, mixed, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Bristol, England. It was founded in 1532 by Royal Charter for the teaching of 'good manners and literature', endowe ...

and

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, Master of

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, and President of

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

Biography

The son of the Reverend Samuel Norwood, of Whalley,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Norwood was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and St John's, Oxford. After passing the Home

Civil Service examination Civil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for recruitment and admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system for recruiti ...

, he joined the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

in 1899, but left in 1901 to pursue a career in education. He was a

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

Leeds Grammar School Leeds Grammar School was an independent school founded 1552 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally a male-only school, in August 2005 it merged with Leeds Girls' High School to form The Grammar School at Leeds. The two schools physica ...

(1901–1906), before serving as Headmaster of

(1906–1916), Master of

(1917–1925), Headmaster of

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

(1926–1934) and President of St John's, Oxford, from 1934-1946.

Norwood Report

After being appointed to chair a committee for R. A. Butler, the

President of the Board of Education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

, Norwood and committee wrote a 151-page document entitled ''Curriculum and Examinations in Secondary Schools: Report of the Committee of the Secondary School Examinations Council Appointed by the President of the Board of Education in 1941''. In June 1943, they published the ''Norwood Report'' on secondary schooling: subsequently, some of its recommendations were adopted. In particular, the report led in time to the creation of three kinds of secondary schools:

grammar schools 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 ...

; secondary technical schools; secondary moderns.

Other

During the Second World War, Norwood served on the Tribunal hearing the cases of men seeking to be accepted as

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s. At this time, Norwood owned and lived at Trerose Manor in Cornwall. His son-in-law was the Rev C. B. Canning, Headmaster of

Canford Canford Magna is a village in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. The village is situated just south of the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour and lies between the towns of Wimborne Minst ...

. After

WW2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

, in 1946, Norwood was the President of the

Geographical Association The Geographical Association (GA) is an association in the United Kingdom. The organisation has a stated aim of improving geographical knowledge of the public through promoting geographical education. Origins The Geographical Association was fo ...

, following an earlier Marlborough colleague: Clement Cyril Carter (who had been President at the outbreak of the war) to the position. As well as his role in education he also wrote an introduction for '' The British Encyclopaedia'' in 1933. He retired to

Iwerne Minster Iwerne Minster ( ) is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It lies on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, approximately midway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum. The A350 road, A350 main road between those towns passes t ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

where he died in 1956. He was married to Catherine Margaret Kilner in December 1901 and was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

ed in 1938 for services to education. A building is named after him as part of Bristol Grammar School's Elton Road Houses and is primarily used for the teaching of modern languages. The main dining hall at

is named the Norwood Hall. Norwood wrote the lyrics, in Latin, for Bristol Grammar School's song, ''Carmen Bristoliense'', which is still sung today.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood, Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Education policy in the United Kingdom Norwood, Sir Cyril Norwood, Sir Cyril Bristol Grammar School Head Masters of Harrow School English Anglicans Masters of Marlborough College People from Whalley, Lancashire