Henry Morris (education)

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Contents 1 Career & Achievements 2 The Henry Morris Trust 3 Related External Links 4 Bibliography

[edit] Career & Achievements

Henry Morris (1889-1962) was the Chief Education Officer for Cambridgeshire for over thirty years, taking up the post in 1922 during a time of depression in the United Kingdom following the First World War. At one point during the Great Depression, Cambridgeshire was the second poorest county in England, despite its extremely wealthy universities. Education outside of the City of Cambridge was in a poor state due to lack of funding, with no separate secondary schools in the countryside; all children between the ages of three and fourteen were educated in their village school-house, often in one room and by the same, single teacher for their entire school career.

When Henry Morris took up the post in 1922, he brought with him a vision. His vision was of intergrated secondary and community education accessable by all those living in the villages and small towns around Cambridgeshire: the idea of 'Village Colleges'. He described this as "raising the school leaving age to ninety", and firmly believed that education, masquerading both formally and informally, should be a life-long process. In the 1930s his visions materialised as the Village Colleges he had initially only hoped for, and the first four Village Colleges in Cambridgeshire were opened before the country became heavily involved in the conflicts of the Second World War.

Henry Morris' idea evolved from what was initially seen by many in the government as a radical, liberal, paternalistic approach to delivering secondary education; to a system of education that was adopted by many other counties within the United Kingdom and abroad, due to its proven success in Cambridgeshire. By the time of his death in 1962, there were many village colleges successfully delivering education to both secondary school students (11-16 year olds), and members of their local communities of all ages.

Today the concept lives on to great success in Cambridgeshire and many other areas of the country. Comberton Village College in South Cambridgeshire has, in several recent years, been located at the top of the league tables for state comprehensive schools in England, stated in The Times newspaper. The system of whole community education, as used by Comberton Village College, has received direct compliment by the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair - a true reflection of the success of Henry Morris' concept.

[edit] The Henry Morris Trust

In order to commemorate the life works, and achievements of Henry Morris, a group of his friends decided to create a memorial to him that they felt he would be truly proud of. They established a trust fund, with the objective of promoting enjoyment in the form of independant travel and study among the youth of the City of Cambridge, East Cambridgeshire and South Cambridgeshire. The trust fund, for several decades now, has anually awarded grants usually ranging from £20-£200 per person for self organised projects involving travel abroad or home based interests. It is possible to recieve a grant from the trust if you are aged thirteen to nineteen, are a student or permenant resident of the City of Cambridge, East Cambridgeshire or South Cambridgeshire; and wish to persue an intrest either from home or abroad.

[edit] Related External Links

The Henry Morris Trust: [1]

[edit] Bibliography

Research carried out at:

[2]