Accrington Grammar School Old Boys

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March 10, 2010, 06:24:42 PM

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Welcome from the Headmaster by Admin
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Welcome from the Headmaster

TO CONTACT THE SITE OR TO CONTACT BOB DOBSON

My colleagues and I strove, in completely inadequate premises and at a time of great difficulty, to maintain high standards of scholarship, conduct and responsibility, and the greater problems we faced, the more we loved the school. When a distinguished person dies he is commemorated by a service of thanksgiving for his life and work. In the same way, I feel that we should express our pride and joy in the achievements and influence of Accrington Grammar School. The late Sir Percy Lord once described it as a great school, and I believe he was right. For eighty years it produced hundreds of pupils of the highest intellect and character, whose parents unstintingly supported the School and made untold sacrifices for the good of their sons and daughters. It was splendidly staffed by scores of able and dedicated men and women, and it was governed in an enlightened and liberal way by people who were proud of the School and anxious for its welfare. In co sequence, the reputation of the School spread far beyond the confines of its country and even its continent. I still hear from former pupils in distant parts of the world, men who acknowledge what they owe to the training and inspiration they received at School. Administrative changes in education can only be justified if they result in wider opportunities for all boys and girls in the schools and a raising of the intellectual and moral standards of the whole population. If they do not have this effect, then the destruction of schools like Accrington Grammar School is an unpardonable crime. Only time and experience will show whether education in this country has benefited or not.

Bernard Johnson, Headmaster

Reproduced with kind permission from 'An Accrington Mixture' by Bob Dobson [ISBN 1 872895 26 3]

Bernard "Ben" Johnson, Headmaster, 1941-1967

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(4 Comments , 0 are new)

1 Re: Welcome from the Headmaster by Admin on October 29, 2009, 01:32:43 PM

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2 Re: Welcome from the Headmaster by Bob Dobson on November 20, 2009, 05:07:57 PM

I am getting very favourable comments about this comment from Ben. I hope that our webmaster will consider giving a longer version of it, and also posting the words of Lou Portno at the time when the school on Blackburn rd was closing.

3 Re: Welcome from the Headmaster by Jim Procter on November 24, 2009, 03:38:58 PM

Ben Johnson took over as Headmaster in 1941 I think.This was the same time as I entered the School in 1b.Ben or The Boss as we called him made the change of numbering the classes Before it had been the Third Lower Fourth Upper Fourth Lower Fifth ETC.He was a Tyrant as far as I was concerned.My parents couldnt afford the Football boots so I got six of the best.My mother sewed up the opening in a pair of underpants so as to make some Gym shorts so I got six of the best. And so it went on throughout my career at the School.But Ben did give me a choice I could have my punishment on my hand or-Bend over that chair boy-
But despite Ben I got on rather well and I will always be grateful for the training for life that I received.

4 Re: Welcome from the Headmaster by Hartley G on December 08, 2009, 10:27:20 PM

An anagram of 'The Accringtonian' is 'a tanning ricochet', which may excite some resonance among old boys.

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