Page 209 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

Many readers may not realise that Lincolnshire still had a system using Grammar Schools
and Secondary Modern Schools. Children reaching the age of 10 had to take the selective
11 plus examination to decide their next level of schooling. Those that did not attain a pass
of the 11 plus, moved on to Secondary Modern education.

The nearest large town to William Lovell was Boston where there were individual Grammar
Schools for Boys and Girls. There were also individual Secondary Modern Schools for
Boys and Girls.

Despite the existence of two large secondary modern schools in Boston, several double
deck buses arrived at William Lovell’s rural Stickney location every day bearing children
from Boston Town itself and the immediate surrounding area.

These buses were paid for by the
parents who adamantly declared
that education for their children had
to be at William Lovell simply
because it was superior to anything
else available.

Stickney village is 12 miles north of
Boston on the main A16 trunk road.
It is a farming community with the
usual associated small businesses
and the school being the largest
local employer.
William Lovell is a Church endowed
school, its full title was William Lovell Church of England Secondary Modern. Like most if
its contemporaries it was built in the 1950’s to breathe a new “life” into the national
education system.

Having attended the Grammar School at Boston myself and until being directly involved, I
was never totally sure what Secondary Modern Schools achieved. They provide a decent
balanced education that is both “classically” standard “three r’s” and at the same time
offers true practical opportunities for those better with their hands than their brains.

(This by no means excludes bright pupils from more formal secondary education and
constant watchfulness ensures that children with more potential or who develop more
quickly can move upwards from here to a Grammar or High School.)

The William Lovell ethos was so well established by 1984, that the 16 year old school
leavers had literally queues of prospective employers waiting to offer them decent jobs.
Now I have given you a fair and honest, although biased assessment of the position of the
school and reason why I was proud to be one of its governors.

STORM CLOUDS
Storms clouds were gathering on the horizon.
The recent primary school closures up and down the County were the prelude to worse
things to come.

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