Camborne Grammar School in Camborne, Cornwall, was a girls' grammar school between 1908 and 1976.
Contents |
In 1877 Redbrooke College for young ladies was founded at Redbrooke House on Camborne Hill. There were about 20 boarders and also day girls. There were three teachers at first and later a Miss Chudleigh came from Liskeard to be headmistress until 1896 when Miss Kay took charge. In 1897 Miss Pratt of Girton College, Cambridge took over the role.
With the 1904 Education Act, state secondary education was planned for a limited number of pupils. Redbrooke College became Redbrooke County School and the number of pupils increased so that it was necessary to transfer to a new larger building at the bottom of Camborne Hill, (Trevu Road).
The new premises were officially opened in 1908 as Camborne Grammar School and were built to accommodate pupils from the Camborne-Redruth area, extending from Gwithian in the west to St. Agnes in the east and south to villages such as St Day and Troon. (Boys from this same area attended Redruth Grammar School).
The first headmistress of Camborne Grammar School was Miss Pratt and up until the 1930s the number of pupils increased. In 1933 Miss Evans became headmistress and during the depression years the numbers attending the school decreased. In 1935 Mr C.V.Thomas, chairman of the governors presented the school with a new gym and Camborne was the first grammar school in Cornwall to have a purpose built gym.[1]
During the Second World War the pupils and staff of Paddington and Maida Vale school shared the premises for some time and at this time biology was the only science subject taught due to lack of staff. Even after the war there was still rationing of food and school dinners and milk were said to be welcome.
With the Education Act of 1944 the kindergarten and preparatory department were closed and there were no more fee payers in the school. Also in 1944 the Eleven plus exam scheme for entry to the Grammar school was introduced. In 1947 Miss Evans retired and Miss Bain from Edinburgh University became headmistress.
In the 1950s the school premises became too small for the greater number of pupils and in 1954 a new block was built in the school grounds. Miss Bain left in 1967 when Mrs. Bannister became headmistress until 1971 when numbers had increased by 33%. Mrs Mostyn took over in 1971 when it became necessary to look elsewhere for extra classrooms. The first outpost was the nearby St. Johns Catholic School and the second outpost was the Camborne Community Centre.
In 1975 the sixth form was moved to a new centre at Treswithian School, Camborne and due to the introduction of the comprehensive system, at the end of the 1976 summer term the rest of the school followed to this site.
The school building later became home to Trevithick County Primary until 1997, in which the school moved to a new building further down the road. Today the school premises are known as the 'Trevu Children's Centre' for pre-school children and early learning which provides a toy library, various health services, a nursery and crèche, a cafe, and access to training and development for parents and carers.[2]
In June 2009 Cornwall County Council put the building up for sale as a site for development. Not only does this mean that Children's services and facilities face closure in September 2009, but potentially the building could be demolished to redevelop the site. Local parents have formed a campaign group to try to force the Council to reconsider their actions.[3]
Cornish political party Mebyon Kernow spokesman and local campaigner, Zoe Fox has condemned the proposed closure of the Children's Centre at Trevu in Camborne. She said, “It is a scandal that Trevu Childrens’ [sic?] Centre is under threat and the building is scheduled to be sold off for soulless residential redevelopment. The facilities at Trevu are first class and incredibly well used. The proposed dispersal of these services will impact badly on many families. The Centre gives heart to our community and is the best possible use of our heritage. It gives local people the chance to enjoy a beautiful old building with services available on one site including a sensory playground, cafe, toy library, day care and after school clubs catering from nursery to teens as well as support for families. It is a community hub and a valuable resource particularly for isolated young families. Just because the site is valuable is not a reason to sell it off and disperse the services."[4][5]
|
||||||||||||||||||||