Bedford High School (England)

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For the school in the United States, see Bedford High School (Bedford, Ohio).

Bedford High School is an independent school for girls aged 7 to 18 in Bedford, England. It is one of five schools run by the Harpur Trust. It still stands on its original site near the centre of Bedford.

1 History
2 Bedford High School Today
3 Headmistresses
4 Past pupils
5 References
6 External link

[edit] History

The school was opened on May 8, 1882. It was built on the site of former Harpur Trust cottage almshouses. There were 43 girls on that first day: the young ones with hair in pigtails, wearing pinafores, the elder ones with their hair up, wearing skirts down to the ankles. It was not a uniform as such, but with the strict code of respectability they made a fairly uniform impression. Boaters and gloves were worn in town. They never spoke a word inside the building unless spoken to by staff.

It was the pioneering time of education for girls, and under the early headmistresses Miss Belcher, Miss Collier, Miss Tanner and Dr Westaway the school expanded enormously, encroaching more and more on houses of Adelaide Square and The Crescent, but this was never allowed to intrude on the view of the fine Victorian architecture of the main building which can still be admired from Bromham Road. The original school at first housed both the "High and Modern School for Girls". Each school had its own half of the building, but by the end of the century the Modern School moved to premises of its own in the centre of the town, and in 1938 to its present site near the river where, from 1946, it became known as Dame Alice Harpur School.

The High School has undergone many extensions and additions to its buildings. The Junior School acquired a new wing in 1896 (where ICT and mathematics are now situated) and remained there until moving into the present building in Adelaide Square in 1985. In the 1890s the Main Hall was extended out towards the road so that it became T shaped. It also obtained a beautiful organ built by Norman and Beard of Norwich which is still in use for daily assemblies. Other notable changes include the gym built in 1931 which is now a theatre, the acquisition of the former Trinity Church which was converted into a dining hall with classrooms above in 1981 and, most recently, in 2005, the new sports and performing arts complex with many facilities including a 25m x 13m swimming pool.

At first the morning register was called in the hall after assembly, but soon the numbers had exceeded 100 and so registers were taken in the form rooms. By the turn of the century the numbers were above 600, at which level they stabilised until the late seventies when again they grew, reaching around a thousand in the eighties. Now the numbers are kept stable at around 850.

Sport in the early years of the school consisted of drill given by a sergeant. The gymnastic dress was made of heavy thick blue serge with a light blue sailor collar. Games only began when an asphalt tennis court was laid down in what is now the playground. In 1900 the school acquired the field which is where the girls still go to play games. The flourishing of a lively PE department owed much to the vision of PE teacher Miss Stansfeld (BHS 1887-1918). Today the school has not only 22 acres of games field but also a brand new spa centre, formally opened in 2005 by past pupil Dr Stephanie Cook OBE, Olympic gold champion and World Champion modern pentathlon.

Music, Dance and Drama have always played a large part in school life. Miss Belcher was keen on music, and arranged for five pianos to be placed in a large room, each enclosed in as many glass cases, and just big enough for a pupil and a music teacher. In this way, it was said, the girls would be able to practise in school without disturbing one another! It probably had more to do with making it possible for one mistress to chaperone the girls with their music masters. Mr Bond-Andrews, the piano teacher, would have none of it: he dragged the first piano out of its glass case, refusing to be suffocated. Dr Harding was in charge of music for four decades: designing the new organ, and building up a music department with excellent orchestras and choirs. Today there are still those who remember the dreaded Miss Joyce Harding, his daughter, who trained the choirs, and auditioned all junior girls at the beginning of each year. Those who could not sing in tune were labelled "ghosties" and were only allowed to mouth! Musical alumni include the soprano Agnes Nicholls (Lady Hamilton Harty), the clarinettist *Dame Thea King, and more recently the soprano Alison Buchanan and cellist Naomi Williams.

Royalty have visited the school on two occasions. King George V and Queen Mary paid a visit in 1918 and they complimented Miss Collie on the way the girls curtsied, and Dr Harding on the way they sang "God Save the King". On another occasion, in 1942, they sang the Yugoslavian national anthem. This was for the visit of Queen Marie of Yugoslavia. A governor was heard to remark afterwards how clever the choir were to learn it in such a short time, and in a foreign language. They had, in fact, been singing it in English!

So many members of staff have shaped the life of the High School over a century and a quarter, but within living memory two deserve a special mention for their long service. William Eddy was caretaker at the High School for 47 years. He was always at the door in his livery on special occasions to welcome parents and guests. Mrs Frieda Bray came during World War II to help for two weeks in the Domestic Science department but stayed for forty years, working in the milk room and looking after the welfare of pupils and staff alike.

New girls to BHS frequently mention the assemblies as an impressive aspect of school life. From the start in 1882 hymns were sung every day, accompanied by the piano and then, from 1898, on the organ. Girls always used to kneel for prayers, even in the early 1960s when on one occasion a girl in the front row of the gallery knelt down rather quickly, thrusting her head between the vertical wooden railings where it got stuck. A railing had to be sawn through in order to free her. A bible reading, a hymn and a chanted psalm were mandatory until the 1980s when psalm singing went out of fashion. Hymns are still sung regularly, but the assemblies now have a much wider breadth of subject matter, often given by external visitors.

[edit] Bedford High School Today

The school has changed almost beyond recognition since the early days, although there is still a strong sense of tradition and an emphasis on upholding high educational and moral values. About ten percent of the girls are boarders, living in four boarding houses: Wimborne Grange, The Quantocks, Westlands and The Chilterns. Many day girls travel quite long journeys to school. Girls take GCSE and A levels as well as the International Baccalaureate, an alternative to A levels which encourages intellectual rigour and critical thinking as well as a global outlook. In today’s global society the school has taken on a very multicultural character, reflected not just in the English language support given to the international students and the variety of Language A levels taken, but also in the social life: linguistic assemblies, or fundraising days in which girls are sponsored for speaking all day in a language other than their mother tongue. Science and ICT have kept abreast with new developments. In the sports department girls frequently compete at county and national levels, and hockey and lacrosse teams have recently travelled to Holland, Canada and Australia. In the music department tuition is offered in all orchestral instruments, keyboard, guitar, piano, recorder and singing, and there are choirs and orchestras. There was a recent musical and cultural exchange trip to Slovakia. There are language trips to France, Germany and Spain, as well as Italy and Greece for the Classics, sailing trips to the Mediterranean, and skiing trips to the Alps.