Battle of the Schools
Another Clash Between the West Riding and the Catholics
Lively Inquiry at Denaby
Father Leteux’s Appeal for Justice
Middle Schools “Miserable Makeshifts”
Army Hut “Abominations”
Mr. A. W. Newton, a Board of Education Inspector, yesterday held an inquiry in the Balby Street School, Denaby, into rival proposals for the provision of new schools at Denaby. One was made by the West Riding County Council, whose programme was to provide a central school. Against this proposal had been made by two ratepayers. As the proposed central schools are under the Elementary Education Department, an inquiry was necessary.
But there was a further proposal by the Roman Catholics of the township to provide an elementary school under Roman Catholic control. In each case the proposed school was to accommodate 300 scholars.
Colonel Cartwright, solicitor, conducted the County Council’s case, and with him were Mr. W. H. Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the West Riding Education Committee; Mr. Robert Heaton, Chief Clerk in one of the County Council departments; and Mr. W. H. Jones, the local Divisional Clerk. The Catholics’ case was conducted by Father Leteux, and he was supported by Messrs. T. Hill and W. J. Worsley, members of the Urban District Council and official representatives of the local Labour Party. Among those present were Mr. J. Brocklesby, Chairman of the Conisborough District Education Sub-Committee; Mr. E. Berry, Chairman of the Conisborough Urban District Council; and the Rev. W. A. Strawbridge, Vicar of Conisborough.
The hall was filled by a large crowd, mostly Roman Catholics, who enlivened the proceedings with interjections. The Inspector again and again appealed for order, and in the end had to ignore the interruptions.
The Central School Described
Mr. Cartwright outlined the County Council’s proposal. Central or middle schools were only approved by the Board of Education as recently as 1918, under the Education Act of that year, which laid down the provision of such schools by local education authorities as a duty.
The West Riding County Council prepared a scheme for the whole of the Riding, and concluded that one of the places where it was desirable to provide a central school was Conisborough. Before the plans could mature, the economy campaign opened, and the Board issued a famous Circular, partially prohibiting the erection of any new schools. That Circular had now been withdrawn, the public having demanded that education should go forward.
The West Riding decided again to go forward with the provision of a central school at Conisborough, and put forward a counter-proposal, its erection now being well on the way.
Mr. Brown explained that the aim of the middle school was to give children in the elementary schools who were likely to benefit the fullest possible education. They had a large number of children who had done well in the elementary schools but were not likely to remain at school until they were 17 or 18 years of age to complete a full secondary course.
To deal with these children, the middle school was proposed. The difficulties of the authorities had increased. Scholars were obliged to remain at school until the end of the term in which they reached the age of 14. Many of them had been marking time because they had absorbed all the instruction that the elementary syllabus had to offer.
The middle school would gather all these children together, children of fairly equal capacity, give them special teachers and special rooms, and thus afford facilities for an advanced course of education. The West Riding Authority intended to cover the whole of the Riding with these schools.
At district schools there were 119 children between the ages of 11 and 14, and 135 in standards 5 to 7. It was very reasonable to suppose that all children would be eligible for the proposed advanced course. He found that the usual percentage of children who were eligible for the middle school was between 10 and 12 per cent. There had been a remarkable advance during recent years among parents desiring the fullest possible education for their children.
This proposal was not one they could view entirely from the point of view of economy. The estimated cost of providing the school was £16,000. The loan and interest charges would amount to about £7 per pupil per year, while maintenance would be about £5 7s. Grants from the Board of Education would meet about half, and the other half would be met by the County rate.
The withdrawal of children would probably affect some savings which he had not taken into account.
In reply to the Inspector, Mr. Brown said the authority had not yet decided whether selection of children for the middle schools should be made by examination or on the reports of head teachers. They would be taken at between 11 and 12 years of age and have a three years’ course.
The school would have one headmaster, four assistants, four classrooms and additional special rooms. The staff would consist of 12 assistant teachers and a head teacher. The syllabus would comprise thorough work in English, mathematics, one language, probably French, vocational science, woodwork, domestic work, and probably a district life study.
The Inspector: “You talk about getting 400 children out of roughly 1,200. Has there been any other place so far?”
Mr. Brown: “No, we have been unable to start our scheme owing to the embargo on expenditure.”
The authority did not think the elementary classes would be spoilt by taking out the best children.
Mr. Brown’s “Surmise”
Asked if the scheme would enable them to get rid of any temporary accommodation in Conisborough, Mr. Brown said there would be no religious test in selecting pupils for the middle school.
Father Leteux asked what the difference was between a secondary school and a middle school.
“In the secondary school you expect pupils to stay until 17 or 18 years of age, and they do not get the benefit of the course unless they do.”
Asked whether a secondary school would not be better for the district than a middle school, Mr. Brown replied that they would not get anything like the same numbers.
A lady present asked if there were opportunities for middle school children going to a secondary school. Mr. Brown replied that every child would have such opportunities at various points in a school career if he would get greater benefit thereby.
Another questioner asked whether children attending the middle school might continue at a secondary school. Mr. Brown replied that most parents would be unable to send them to a secondary school.
The questioner remarked: “That is just your surmise. You don’t know what they would do.”
There was a burst of applause.
Mr. Berry asked if the middle school was preliminary to the secondary school.
Mr. Brown said some would be able to go from the middle school to the secondary school, while the benefit of the middle school would be wider than that of the secondary school.
Another question was whether the children would remain in the central school to 16 years of age. Mr. Brown explained that pupils would leave at 14.
Mr. Brown added that in all suitable cases they would facilitate the transfer of pupils from the middle to the secondary school.
The Catholics Demand Justice
Father Leteux, opposing the case for the County Council, said they were very sorry to be in opposition to the West Riding County Council. They opposed the proposal on two grounds.
First, the intolerable injustice that Catholics of this district suffer. They are outcasts who must go without instruction in their own religion, and must have instruction of a kind they are not accustomed to. Those who have already had the help of education should not approve of a proposal which bars them from justice in this matter.
“We pay exactly the same rates as non-Catholics, and we are paying for a type of education that we detest.”
He said one-sixth of the children born there were Catholic children. They were a solid, compact body with a driving force. Yet apparently all were expected to do is to pay.
He objected to the proposal because it ignored Catholic rights. Throughout the four years that the project for a Roman Catholic school had been before the public, there had not been a single objection to it locally.
Secondly, they opposed educational grounds. They were as keen on the benefits of education as anyone else in the district and were not likely to be willing to see their children suffer the lack of them.
The central school was not secondary education. It was a temporary phase. Bradford had condemned them and many educational authorities were unable for the moment to put up a secondary school. If they expected to provide education through middle schools, the Advisory Committee of the Labour Party were against them.
They regarded them merely as a temporary phase because true secondary education was not available.
Mexborough Times Quoted
Father Leteux quoted from an article in the Mexborough and Swinton Times, arguing that the central schools were not desirable and would benefit only a few children while costing heavily.
Continuing, he said:
“In other words, organise your schools with the higher type, and you will save your £20,000, but that is what it will cost you to build, and then wait until you can provide a secondary school for the district.”
The Inspector asked whether, if the central school and the Roman Catholic school were both erected, the authority would be agreeable to children leaving the Catholic school to enter the central school at age 11 or 12.
Father Leteux replied that if their school were granted, children would not be transferred from one school to another.
The Inspector remarked that they were agreeable to considering the idea of a junior school as a basis of negotiation.
Father Leteux said he did not want to build himself, but would agree to regard such an idea as a basis of negotiation.
Mr. W. H. Brown stated that there were already enough elementary schools and that they were, in fact, providing planned education for the whole district.
Father Leteux responded: “Then why can’t you give us secondary education at once?”
Mr. Brown replied: “Because there is no money to do it with.”
There was loud applause.
A “Miserable Makeshift”
Father Leteux said the people wanted a secondary school and a central school and a secondary school. Why not give the secondary school straight away instead of the miserable makeshift of a middle school?
At this there was another burst of applause.
Father Leteux said there was deep feeling among his people about the whole matter and they felt the injustice very keenly.
Mr. A. Boylan, of Denaby Main, rose to protest against a question and said it was difficult to give an idea of the views of parents except through properly elected representatives.
Father Leteux replied:
“They are not popularly elected. Most of them are imposed upon us by the West Riding.”
Local Education Committee’s Views
Mr. Brocklesby was asked to give the view of the District Education Sub-Committee. He said the Sub-Committee was unanimous up to a point. Only latterly had opposition developed.
He believed there would be a substantial majority in favour of the middle school proposal. One reason was that it was impossible to get a secondary school in the district at present, and they were prepared to take what they could get. They felt a middle school was a step in the direction of a secondary school.
A good deal of disturbance took place while Mr. Brocklesby was speaking.
He said about 80 Conisborough children were attending the Mexborough Secondary School. He hardly thought the number likely to attend would justify building a secondary school at Conisborough.
A considerable percentage of parents would be willing to send their children to a middle school, and such a school would give a great educational advantage to the district.
Someone asked whether it would not be better to put up a Roman Catholic school until a secondary school could be obtained, and there was applause.
“Bottled Feelings”
The Inspector (to Father Leteux): “Can you keep your friends quiet, please?”
Father Leteux: “No, I don’t believe even I can.”
A voice: “You cannot.”
Father Leteux: “In fact I think they have bottled their feelings long enough.”
Mr. Worsley declared that as a member of the local Education Sub-Committee he had not heard the middle school proposal mentioned at any meeting he had attended.
Mr. Brown produced the minutes of the Sub-Committee showing that Mr. Worsley had been present at a meeting at which the question was raised.
Mr. Brocklesby, replying to a question, said:
“We shall have to bide our time for a secondary school.”
A voice replied: “No, we are not taking what we can get.”
Mr. T. Hill asked whether the Urban Council were seeking to alter the constitution of the Education Sub-Committee.
Mr. Brocklesby said changes had been made the previous night.
Colonel Cartwright contended that the central school was not an alternative to a secondary school. These schools were new creations and no authority had yet established one under the 1918 Act. Bradford’s must have been an experiment.
The Roman Catholic Case
Father Leteux said Catholics all over the country wished to have their own schools and were allowed to have them everywhere but in the West Riding.
“We look upon this as most unjust. They cover it up by referring to the economy of the rates.”
He said Catholics should be allowed their own schools if they were prepared to pay for them. Their claim rested first and foremost on the wishes and rights of parents.
Many of their people were Irish and felt that misgovernment in Ireland was reducing them to starvation. They viewed it as an injustice that people should come to England and then be denied education in their own religion.
He quoted Lord Haldane’s statement that parents could not be forced to send their children to a school where the religious atmosphere was not such as they approved.
Irreconcilable Views on History
Father Leteux went on to say that Roman Catholic children in Denaby numbered 154 under seven years of age, with over 200 between the ages of seven and fourteen.
They had at Mexborough children of school age who would attend their school.
Turning to costs, he argued that if the temporary buildings then in use, including army huts, were abolished, there would be a substantial saving and ample room for a Catholic school.
There was considerable overcrowding in the existing schools.
He maintained that a Catholic school would provide a good secular education. They had always found that children moving from non-Catholic schools came into Catholic schools educationally backward.
He further argued that history and geography could not properly be taught from a neutral standpoint.
“Well, if you are going to give me a neutral view of the Reformation, I think that is false education. We give children a direct, emphatic view.”
Father Leteux called witnesses, Mr. P. Neary and Mr. Allen, representatives of Roman Catholic parents, who expressed dissatisfaction with the education of their children in the Council schools and said they desired a Roman Catholic school.
“Abominable” Army Huts
Father Leteux criticised the army huts used for temporary school accommodation.
He said they were condemned all over the country and asked why they should be considered good enough for the West Riding.
“They are not good enough for Denaby Main.”
A voice shouted:
“If the army huts are kept we shall refuse to pay rates.”
Father Leteux said the district was growing rapidly and there was a tremendous demand for houses. The present schools were overcrowded, and if the army huts were not replaced conditions would become appalling.
Mr. Cartwright said the life of the Denaby and Cadeby Collieries was estimated at sixty years. The collieries were opening new seams and within six years from 1,500 to 2,000 more workmen would be required. Contracts had already been let for 500 houses to be erected before September 1925.
Labour Support for the Roman Catholics
Father Leteux said they had the support of Mr. Tom Williams, M.P. At a recent meeting of the local Labour Party a resolution had been passed protesting against continued use of the army huts, and two representatives were delegated to attend the inquiry to support the Catholic application.
Mr. T. Hill said his party supported the application. With the amount of tuberculosis and similar diseases, they did not want children taught in army huts. Secondary education should be brought into the district and there would be support for it. He was not a Roman Catholic but believed they had a sense of justice.
Mr. Worsley spoke in similar terms and said that if he went to Ireland he should not like to be compelled to send his children to a Catholic school.
Mr. Brown replied that facilities for religious instruction were already provided by the managers of the Denaby Main non-provided schools, and this satisfied the parents until 1921.
This statement caused a tremendous uproar, with cries of “Never! Never!” and several people rising to denounce Mr. Brown.
The Inspector appealed for order and pointed out that Mr. Brown was merely expressing the views of the authority he represented.
After order was restored, Mr. Brown continued that there was more than sufficient accommodation in the existing schools, and if the middle school were provided there would also be accommodation for future needs.
The Catholic proposal, he concluded, was opposed to the interests of secular education and to economy of the rates.
At the conclusion Father Leteux moved a vote of thanks to the Inspector, who humorously replied that it was his duty to listen, and that he could have wished some of the ladies present had listened as quietly without being overcome by their enthusiasm.
“The men were all right,” he added amid laughter.
The Inspector further announced that copies of his report would be issued to the local authorities and to the promoters of the applications.