The Middy - July 29 1999

Educating body, mind and spirit

Before the First World War, there was a great variety of private education in Burgess Hill – often at a price.

Burgess Hill private schools included Baronscourt, Elmshurst, the PNEU (now Burgess Hill School) and England's first school for the deaf in London Road.

Those who could not afford private education attended towns to council schools, London Road school and Junction Road school (now Manor Field), which were the only elementary educational facilities in the town until the 1940s.

The PNEU – Parents National Education Union – was established in 1906 by three parents who were regular subscribers to the "Educational Review” magazine.

The parents decided their children would benefit from the principles of education outlined in the magazines and wrote to the headquarters of the Parents National Education Union to ask if a qualified teacher could be sent to the town.

The original school, with nine pupils, was based in rented rooms in Church Road in the building which now house is Lloyds Bank.

Boys were accepted up until the early 60s.

The concept of education provided by The PNEU was considered quite revolutionary – founder Charlotte Mason believed in educating the "whole child" in body, mind and spirit.

She also believed in equal rights to education for girls and boys.

The first teacher to be sent to Burgess Hill was Beatrice Goode – "Miss Bee”.

In 1908 she offered to take over the school and it was officially recognised as Burgess Hill Parents Union School.

The curriculum included promoting an interest in books, encouraging a love of nature, physical well-being of the child through games and drill, handicrafts to improve manual dexterity, artwork in pencil, brush, charcoal, wood and clay, study of reproductions from famous pictures, music lessons and music appreciation classes.

In addition to the curriculum, children were taught the meaning and importance of the school motto – "I am, I can, I ought, I will.”

In the morning session, pupils studied maths, science, geography and languages. Afternoons were devoted to art, handicrafts, singing, games, nature walks, scouting, cookery, laundry and swimming.

Lessons were shorter for lower forms and varied to help concentration.

There was no homework set other than the reading of books used in history lessons.

The 1920s was a period of expansion for the school – both in terms of pupil numbers and buildings.Boarding accommodation was increased for juniors and seniors, playing fields acquired and a cottage built.

In 1928 the school began to move to the Keymer Road site with the purchase of "the Oaks". The school left its old buildings in Church Road in 1931 when "The Croft" was purchased.

The Middy on May 5, 1931, proclaimed: "Miss Goode must be proud of the way that the little class of nine has developed into a school accommodating some 150 pupils and which is acknowledged in educational circles as being one of the best institutions of its kind in the country." The school was taken over by the Charlotte Mason Schools’ Company in 1936.

Two years later, the school's founder, Miss Goode, left and her successor Miss Gillies had the task of steering the school through the War years.

During the first year of the Second World War pupil numbers swelled as the town was considered a safe area.

Some of the school buildings were used to house evacuated families and some were requisitioned by the government.

After dropping numbers in 1943, the school gradually brought itself up to its former strength.

Additions in the 60s and 70s included the music room, science laboratories and the school hall.

The schools link with The PNEU was broken in 1979 as it became more committed to families working overseas with young children.

Many of the traditions are still upheld including classes on music and picture appreciation.

Facilities for six form pupils were expanded in 1981, opened by Lavinia, Duchess of Norfolk.

Up until the 1940s there was little change in facilities for elementary education.

Pupils went to the two council schools, London Road or Junction Road.

London Road Secondary School served generations of schoolchildren from the town, but rapid expansion and a baby boom after the Second World War created an urgent need for a new school.

Alfred Barnden was the last headteacher of London Road Secondary School and was, for a short while, running two schools at the same time.

In 1954 the new secondary school, Oakmeeds, was nearing completion and 500 pupils were transferred class by class as each part of the school was finished.

Mr Barnden became the first headteacher of the new school, cycling daily between the two schools.

Mr Barnden’s wife Marie suggested the name for the school –taken from the oak trees in the school grounds which are on the site of the old Meeds pottery.

As Burgess Hill expanded, more primary schools were built in the town. In the 1970s a new secondary school was planned for the town, although it was never built.

Dene Hollow Oral School for the deaf was established by Mary Hare in 1916.

Miss Hare’s interest in teaching deaf children stemmed from reading an article in a magazine by the Principal of the Ealing training college for teachers of the deaf.

After completing teacher training, she opened her first small school in Upper Norwood, London before moving to premises in Brighton.

The success of the Brighton school resulted in yet another move to a larger building in Burgess Hill.

In the 1940s the school ceased to be a private establishment and became a voluntary special school with the new name of Mary Hare Grammar School for the Deaf .

The school role in 1946 numbered 40 borders and six day pupils.

The school moved to new buildings in Arlington Manor, Newbury in 1949, where it is still open today.