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

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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