N O. 1 2 1 T H E T R U S T Y S E R VA N T
whether they shared the Headmaster’ s view in 1945 that the war had‘ helped to break down our isolation, and the complacency that is bred of it …. and given us a conscience of being part of a great working community; it’ s imparted to all our activities a deeper sense of relevance and reality’. Most agreed with the honest confession that this was‘ somewhat above my head – [ I was ] mostly interested in where the next match was to be played’. Others commented that the war‘ made us read the newspapers every morning to see the progress of the war – especially in the latter stages when the Allies were on the offensive. And in reading the papers, inevitably one became more aware of every other aspect of life outside’ and‘ during the war we schoolboys necessarily felt the importance of what was going on around us, and this increased the sense that we were part of the wider community, and would be responsible in due course either for defending or improving it’. Many, however, thought that the School had remained an insular community both during and after the war and that‘ complacency reasserted itself all too quickly afterwards’. One commented,‘ National Service brought us into touch with others from a different background but the School continued to be elitist – strong on authority, weak on humanity’.
The survey then went on to ask about educational reforms after 1945 and whether Spencer Leeson and Walter Oakeshott were seen as reformist headmasters. One OW felt that Leeson was‘ just pragmatic’ but that Oakeshott‘ seemed to champion change and to be an inspiration for many a boy’. Another stated his respect for Oakeshott and took‘ an interest in what he was doing in the School, so far as I was kept aware as an OW. He seemed to be moving the School forward’.
When asked about whether a new school emerged from the war years, most felt that any changes were minimal but that the softening of the treatment of
junior boys and the introduction of social interaction with girls’ schools were welcome improvements. Most felt that change was slow and, as one OW who had been at school in the mid-1940s put it,‘ the School seemed to be a very similar place when my son went to it in the early 70s’.
A question was also asked about the future of public schools. Some concurred with the respondent who wrote that such schools were‘ so well established that I did not foresee changes’ and that schools like Win Coll would continue‘ for many future generations’. But others commented on the political context of the immediate post-war years and the threat that‘ left-wing politicians would abolish public schools’. Some OWs remembered a visit to the school by a group of Labour MPs in 1943 who arrived‘ expecting to find ammunition for denouncing the privileged luxury of feepaying schools and went away horrified by the Spartan, inhumane, conditions of living in College’.
Many OWs commented that they were too young as schoolboys to give much thought to post-war educational reforms and were instead focused on academic and sporting results. One respondent commented that‘ since 1382 poor boys could get scholarships and DID’, suggesting that the spirit of the wartime Fleming report wasn’ t new. The majority of respondents generally approved of reforms requiring public schools to accept pupils from the state system, declaring an awareness‘ that we were privileged and that there was strong pressure for a more equitable post-war settlement’, but no one felt that these national reforms led to much change at Win Coll. The Fleming Report‘ had little impact on us or on the School ….. It wasn’ t radical enough to survive or make a difference, but it was at least a tentative, very small step in the right direction’. The boys who did arrive at Win Coll from state schools were‘ accepted as any other’. One Collegeman commented,‘ In College we were unconcerned about social background. Intelligence, and a certain ability in some sports, mattered much more’.
Clémence would like to express her gratitude to those OWs who took the time to share their memories. ■
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