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HOLYHEAD COUNTY SCHOOL was the very first school to become a secondary comprehensive in Great Britain. This happened in 1954.
There were two main reasons why HOLYHEAD school was chosen. Firstly the headmaster of the school at the time - Mr. J. M. Hughes was retiring, and he was replaced by a new headmaster who was interested in the development of comprehensive education. Secondly St. Cybi central (modern) school and the county school adjoined one another so it was easy to bring about the amalgamation. Pupils attending the school would be from Holyhead and the surrounding smaller villages. Mr. Lovett took up his new job in January. He'd previously taught at Vaynor and Penderyn school so his views about secondary education were well knows, as were the educational principles in which he believed. These remained the core of his philosophy during his headmastership at HOLYHEAD, and showed itself time and again in his writing and lectures. This led him to be known as "the first apostle of the
comprehensive movement". In his opinion, for a comprehensive school to be successful it should serve a definite catchment area, and cater for ALL abilities and social background. The pupils should be 11 years of age and could enter the school without a previous examination (called the 11+ which was abolished in 1954). He did not believe that a child's WHOLE FUTURE should be based on just one exam. He also believed that providing specialised
education for the able pupils would be of benefit to them. It was possible to do this because of the large number of teachers at the school. He believed in giving all pupils of all abilities a chance to reach their full potential. Mr. Lovett took the lead in he planning of the amalgamation of the grammar and modern school in co-operation with the Anglesey Education Committee, the School's governing body and the teacher's representatives. Great progress was made, and after just two years he
reported "The school is rapidly approaching my concept of what a comprehensive school should be. On the grammar side, the facilities are good. The technical side is also rapidly developing and with the erection and equipping of the new
engineering workshop the facilities continued ....
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