A brief history of Bournemouth School

Bournemouth School opened at 9.00am on Tuesday, 22 January 1901. Fifty-four boys assembled in the hall of their brand-new school in Portchester Road under the watchful eyes of the headmaster, Dr Edward Fenwick, and his two full-time and two part-time members of staff.

Then officially known as "Bournemouth Secondary and Technical School," Bournemouth School was controlled jointly by Hampshire County Council and Bournemouth Borough Council. Some of the pupils came from Hampshire and travelled by train from places as far afield as Lymington and Ringwood. The school's 1906 prospectus declared as its aim: "To provide for boys of between 8 and 18 years of age a sound general training, moral, mental and physical, and at the same time to give such an education as will thoroughly prepare them for professional, commercial or scientific life."

Over time, Dr Fenwick introduced the features which Bournemouth School students now take for granted. As a keen sportsman himself, he encouraged cricket, football and athletics and Bournemouth School teams were soon competing on equal terms with the other older and more established schools in the county. (In contrast, rugby appeared as a school sport for the first time in the Autumn Term of 1935).

In 1903, the headmaster established the Cadet Corps, with 68 members initially. The cadets wore army-style uniforms and became a company of the Officer Training Corps in 1908. At the outbreak of the Second World War, all cadet forces within schools became known as JTCs – Junior Training Corps. The transformation into a Combined Cadet Force (CCF) was completed in 1948. In 1987, the first girls from Bournemouth School for Girls were recruited. The CCF today numbers more than 300, with around half of the cadets being girls.

In 1908, the first division of the school into houses took place. Over the years, house names have come and gone; the first houses were named after their housemasters: Barraclough, Ord, Sewell and Taylor. The house system continues to this day; there are now six houses: Darwin, Elgar, Moore, Newton, Scott and Turner.

At the beginning of the 1932 Autumn Term the school welcomed its second headmaster, Mr Parry. Those who remember him describe him as a small man with a pronounced Welsh accent who always wore his academic gown and mortar board in school.

In the Spring Term of 1935, the school's governors resolved to proceed with the building of a new school. The proposed site was in East Way, overlooking the new playing fields and the Stour valley. Mr Parry hoped that it would "rank with the greatest and finest education institutions in our land, and thereby enhance the glory of our borough."

Bournemouth School on its current site opened its gates exactly at the time of the outbreak of the Second World War. The first pupils who walked into the new buildings were not, as expected, Bournemouth boys but those of Taunton's School, who had been evacuated from Southampton. During the war years the school's buildings served students from both schools, resulting in a relationship between both sets of past students which prevailed for more than 70 years.

Mr Parry decided to retire in 1957, after twenty-five years at the helm. He had presided over two major events: the transfer from Portchester Road to East Way, and the difficult war years.

When Mr Bennett, the school's third headmaster, took office in 1957, there had been virtually no changes to the building or the school's way of life since the boys had moved to East Way in 1939.

Just one year after Mr Bennett had taken up the reins of office, in the Autumn Term 1958, the editor of The Bournemouthian was to write that "no September has brought quite a such a 'new' feeling to the school as this one." There was a new timetable, six new members of staff, a new organisation of forms with a new method of naming them and one hundred and seventy new boys, bringing the total to 956 on the roll.

In 1960, Bournemouth School for Girls opened its new buildings at the bottom of East Way, relocating girls and staff from the old premises at Lansdowne. However, girls and boys were severely discouraged from meeting; a forlorn editorial in The Bournemouthian commented that "for all the difference it has made they might just as well still be at the Lansdowne."

In 1966, work began on the biggest transformation to Bournemouth School since it moved to East Way – the construction of the sixth form block, which was opened in 1968. The new facility comprised a magnificent library, a state-of-the-art language laboratory, a suite of sixth form rooms and, ingeniously using the sloping site leading down to the copse, a large lecture theatre capable of holding a full year-group at a time.

Academic excellence in Bournemouth School attained new heights under the headmastership of Mr Bennett, with it becoming the expectation that virtually every sixth former would leave the school to enter university.

During the 1970 summer holidays, Mr Bennett suffered a heart attack which resulted in him deciding to retire. He was succeeded by Peter Harper, who became the School’s fourth headmaster on 1 May 1971.

Mr Harper's declared intention was to make the school a happy place for both staff and boys. Times were changing and his relaxed style of leadership was appropriate for the difficult and turbulent decade ahead.

One dramatic summer night in May 1973 the school hall, which had been built in 1939, was completely destroyed by fire. Fortunately, the fire was contained: it destroyed the hall and the stage, but nothing more. The present hall was ready for use by September 1975.

The opening of the new hall coincided with deep political movements, too, which inevitably had unsettling effects on the life of the school. Under the Local Government Act 1972, which came into effect in 1974, Bournemouth lost its County Borough status and this part of Hampshire was incorporated into a new, enlarged county of Dorset.

Both Bournemouth and Poole strongly resisted the movement to remove grammar schools from the local educational landscape, with the result that Bournemouth School, Bournemouth School for Girls, Poole Grammar School for Boys and Parkstone Grammar School for Girls remained as the only four grammar schools in Dorset.

The election of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative Party in May 1979 released Bournemouth School from the threat of becoming a comprehensive school. There remained, however, significant challenges for the school's leadership. In a very revealing final letter to the school in The Bournemouthian, Mr Harper's words spelled out the situation with heartfelt sadness:

"The past year is one over which we could be very gloomy… Financial cuts have led many schools to the edge of desperation and much of education service painfully built up over many years has been dismantled at a stroke. Purchasing power has been cut to a ludicrously low point, only structurally essential repairs are carried out to buildings, redecorating is a thing of the past. Most hurtfully, Bournemouth School has had to accept a cut in ancillary staffing of well over thirty percent. This at a time when we have the largest Sixth Form on record."

Peter Harper retired at the end of the Autumn Term 1981. John Kelsall was appointed as headmaster in the Summer Term 1982 after two terms as acting headmaster. He had joined the school in the Autumn Term 1978 as deputy headmaster.

In July 1987, John Kelsall bade farewell to Bournemouth School after nine years of positive contribution to its wellbeing: three and a half years as deputy head and five and a half as headmaster. In the entire history of the school, he was the first head to move on to another post: all his predecessors had left only upon retirement.

Colonel Allan Petrie arrived as headmaster in September 1987 from the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Dover. He had an absolute insistence on the expectations of both the students and the staff. Under his leadership the school made considerable academic progress, entering the newly-imposed world of comparative performance tables in a strong position. During his tenure the physical fabric of the school was enlarged and improved almost beyond recognition.

In 1990, the school gained Grant Maintained status. By 1992 it was decided to replace the traditional Lower School, Middle School and Sixth Form setup with a new vertical pastoral system which would also embrace the activities of the old house system. It was felt that a system such as this would help to develop a better sense of belonging and coherence in the growing school. Accordingly, it was decided that the six old houses of Avon, Forest, Hambledon, Portchester, Romsey and Twynham would now be reduced in number to five; their colours would remain but the names would be new. The choice was to be given to each of the new heads of house, and they reflected their interests and a decided Englishness. Darwin, Elgar, Newton, Scott and Turner houses were created (Moore house came into being in when the school expanded further to welcome 180 students into Year 7 from 2018).

New science labs were constructed along with a new art and technology block behind the school, with six teaching spaces coming into use in 1996. Two other projects which had been the brainchildren of Allan Petrie came to fruition after his departure: the extensions for the music and modern languages departments and, most prestigious of all, the Sir David English Sports Centre. This latter project was made possible not only by National Lottery funding but also by the generosity of parents.

Local demographic changes also led to the introduction of five-form entry in September 1996, which added weight to the school's various bids for better facilities. An increase in roll coincided with John Granger's arrival as the school's seventh headmaster in September 1996. The new Labour Government, elected in 1997, swiftly passed legislation which yet again led to a change in the status of the school. This was the third change of status in less than twenty five years (from being "ruled" by Bournemouth Education Committee in the years up to 1973; to being under the thumb of Dorset County Council from 1974 to 1990; and having its independence as a Grant Maintained school from 1990-1999).

In September 1999 the school became a "Foundation School" under a newly-reconstituted Bournemouth Borough which now possessed its own Local Education Authority once again.

Through careful management of limited budgets, John Granger was able to continue improvements in the school's infrastructure. Funding streams, including those through acquiring language college status and then becoming a training school, were used to improve ICT facilities and, most significantly, build a new mathematics teaching block in 2006.

Dr Dorian Lewis became the school's eighth headmaster in September 2009. A school mantra of "hard work, discipline, smart appearance and respect" was introduced, with the quality of teaching becoming a focus for improvement. The school converted to become an academy on 1 September 2011 (regaining independence from the local authority). Later that same month, the school was inspected by Ofsted and judged to be "outstanding" (previous Ofsted inspections had judged the school to be "good").

Alongside the continuing efforts to maintain and upgrade the school's accommodation and infrastructure, there were more significant changes ahead. By the beginning of the 2012-13 academic year, a six-period day had been introduced and girls were admitted to the Sixth Form for the first time (with attempts to develop a joint sixth form with Bournemouth School for Girls having foundered). In September 2017, the pastoral system became year-based rather than house-based, but the house system continued under newly-appointed house leaders, providing a focus for competitions, student mentoring and charity events.

Perhaps the most significant changes during this period, however, were to the school’s admissions policy. These changes were made to ensure that high ability students from all backgrounds were able to access selective education and that disadvantaged children were not held back due to financial or other barriers. From 2016, priority was given to boys eligible for the Pupil Premium grant who have met the required standard in the entrance tests. The school also determined a "priority area" to ensure that it provides education for students who are mainly drawn from the area in which the school is situated. These changes gave the school the opportunity to bid for additional funding through the Selective Schools Expansion Fund, enabling it to accommodate increased student numbers from September 2019. The Year 7 cohort increased to 180, with students determining that the new house should be named after the footballer Bobby Moore.

During these years, the school was also successful in securing further funding streams for improvement. In addition to successive successful bids to the Wolfson Foundation to refurbish science laboratories and provide additional resources, funds were also secured through the Department for Education’s Condition Improvement Fund. In 2018-19, a successful bid for £1.1 million enabled the replacement of roofs, doors and windows. This was followed by a further successful bid for £131,000 to secure the site (including new doors at reception), and in 2021-22 a further £3.2 million of funding was secured to replace the existing heating and hot water systems.

Many of these improvements were effected during one of the most difficult times in the school’s history. Towards the end of the spring term in 2020, Bournemouth School, in common with schools across the country, closed its doors following a government directive in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Over the next two years there were further full and partial school closures, the introduction of mass testing and continuing uncertainty. The pandemic upended almost every aspect of school life. Over time, the transitions from classrooms to computer screens and back again were made. The school had to modify many of its working practices, and reflect upon its priorities.

Since that first school closure in March 2020, the school chose to prioritise the wellbeing of students and staff. Quite deliberately there was not a focus upon any work that may have been missed or covered poorly. The whole notion of "catch-up," with its inherent danger of adding extra pressure to students who have already experienced plenty from the pandemic, was felt to be unhelpful. The school acknowledged that it was fortunate in having a student cohort who would soon make up any lost educational ground – and the GCSE and A level results over the next years validated that approach.

In many respects, the 2022-23 academic year represented a return to a degree of normality. The highlight of the academic year was undoubtedly the opening of our long-awaited new building. Six new classrooms, additional toilets and a new dining room and kitchen were complemented by a sixth form study centre, the latter funded from careful budgeting over the preceding ten years. The total cost of the project was £4.5 million (with £3.9 million from the Selective Schools Expansion Fund).

Between May 2012 and November 2020, schools like Bournemouth School that were judged to be outstanding in their overall effectiveness were exempt from routine inspections. At the end of February 2024, the wait for the next inspection was finally over. Given the quality of our students, it came as little surprise that the school was found to be "Outstanding" in all aspects of its provision.

Whilst much about the school has changed since 1901, we are sure that there are many aspects of today’s school, including the high achievement of its students and the adherence to traditional values, that any Old Bournemouthian would recognise.