Rosa Bassett School

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Rosa Bassett School
Motto Honesta Obtinete
("Hold Fast That Which Is Good" cf. 1 Thess. 5:21)
Established 1906
Closed 1977
Type Grammar
Headmistress Kathleen S. Dougill
Location Welham Road
Streatham
London
SW17
EnglandFlag of England
LEA ILEA
Staff c. 40
Students c. 700
Gender Girls
Ages 11 to 18
Houses Buff, Green, Grey, Orange, Light Blue, Dark Blue
Publication The Pimpernel
Badge Scarlet pimpernel
Coordinates: 51°25′23″N 0°09′07″W / 51.423, -0.152

Rosa Bassett School was a grammar school for girls in South London. It was established in Stockwell in 1906 as the Stockwell County Secondary School and in 1913 moved to Welham Road on the boundary between Streatham and Tooting, becoming the Streatham County Secondary School. It was renamed Rosa Bassett in 1951 in memory of the first headmistress.

The school closed when it was amalgamated with Battersea Grammar School, a school for boys, in 1977 to create the new Furzedown Secondary School, a mixed comprehensive school, which incorporated the Rosa Bassett buildings into a larger site.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early years and the Dalton Plan

The school was originally located in Durand Gardens, SW9, Stockwell, where it was known as Stockwell County Secondary School. It transferred to a new building on Welham Road, SW17, in 1913, changing its name to Streatham County Secondary School.[1][2]

The school's first headmistress, Rosa Bassett, encouraged self-reliance and personal responsibility in its pupils.[2] This pattern was carried still further when, in 1920, Bassett introduced the use of the Dalton Plan to the school. The Dalton Plan was a system of education developed in Massachusetts by Helen Parkhurst that moved away from traditional, rigid, class-based teaching and allowed for teaching to be adjusted to the pace of each individual child.[3]

The introduction of the Dalton Plan to an English school resulted in considerable interest and when, following Parkhurst's visit to England in 1921, the school opened its doors to visitors over a thousand people attended over three days.[4] The experiences of the staff and pupils during this period were recorded by Rosa Bassett in a chapter in Parkhurst's book[5] and were also described by Evelyn Dewey in her book on the Dalton Plan.[6]

[edit] Further development

Following Rosa Bassett's early death in 1925 the school's new headmistress, Muriel Davies, continued the principles of the Dalton Plan, although in somewhat modified form.[7] Miss Davies continued at the school until 1947, seeing it though World War II. During the war the school was evacuated to Chichester, sharing accommodation with the High School for Boys (now Chichester High School for Boys), between 1939 and 1943.[8][9]

The application of the principles of the Dalton Plan continued under the next headmistress, Laura C. Jewill Hill,[9] who remained at the school until 1963, when she was succeeded by Kathleen S. Dougill.

The influence of the first headmistress in introducing the Dalton Plan was recognised in 1951, when the school was renamed to Rosa Bassett in her honour, an idea that had first been proposed in 1926.[10][11]

[edit] Amalgamation

With the abolition of the Tripartite System the Inner London Education Authority took the decision to move to a fully Comprehensive System of education, meaning significant changes for grammar schools such as Rosa Bassett.

In the case of Rosa Bassett the change to comprehensive status was achieved in 1977 by amalgamating it with Battersea Grammar School, a school for boys, to create Furzedown Secondary School. The majority of the teaching staff transferred to the new comprehensive school,[12] which incorporated the buildings of Rosa Bassett into an enlarged site. Today the former Rosa Bassett School buildings are part of Graveney School.

[edit] Headmistresses

  • 1906–1925 Miss Rosa Bassett, MBE, BA (1871–1925)
  • 1925–1947 Miss Muriel Davies
  • 1947–1963 Miss Laura C. Jewill Hill (1907–2004)
  • 1963–1977 Miss Kathleen S. Dougill

[edit] School motto

The school's original motto was "Steadiness, Sincerity and Service", but this was changed to Honesta Obtinete (literally "Possess Virtues!") while the school was still at Stockwell.[11] The Latin was normally translated as "Hold Fast [To] That Which Is Good", taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Authorised Version.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Streatham County Secondary School (Girls), Welham Road, S.W.17 – Minutes of Governors – ref. LCC/EO/PS/4/63. London County Council. Access to Archives. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  2. ^ a b "From the Balham & Tooting News and Borough of Wandsworth Chronicle, August 21 1917" (November 1979). The Old Grammarian 8 (3): pp. 7–8. 
  3. ^ Dewey, Evelyn (1922). The Dalton Laboratory Plan. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, pp. 1–21. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  4. ^ Parkhurst, Helen (1922). Education On The Dalton Plan. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, p. xvi. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  5. ^ Parkhurst, Helen (1922). Education On The Dalton Plan. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, pp. 175–195. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  6. ^ Dewey, Evelyn (1922). The Dalton Laboratory Plan. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, pp. 93–131. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. 
  7. ^ Jewill Hill, Laura C. (1977). And I Also Remember.... The Pimpernel 1977. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  8. ^ Wynn Williams, E. (1956). Some Outstanding Memories of The Chichester Period. The Pimpernel July 1956 Golden Jubilee. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  9. ^ a b Major-Stevenson, Irene C. (November 1978). "The Rosa Bassett School". The Old Grammarian 8 (1): pp. 9–10. 
  10. ^ Gillies, L. (1977). The Dalton Plan. The Pimpernel 1977. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  11. ^ a b Buser, Marguerite; Zehra Khan, Julie Sadler (1966–1977). Rosa Bassett School History. The Pimpernel. Retrieved on 2007-12-02.
  12. ^ Stapleton, Graham; Tony Stoddart, Pete Wragg, (eds.) (1977). Battersea Grammar School, design by Tony Stoddart, Linda Stoddart, London: Just & Co. Retrieved on 2007-11-25. 

[edit] External links