Extracts from Anthony Silson's experience of West Leeds High School, 1949-56

Foreword
This month I have chosen extracts from Anthony Silson's detailed personal account of his West Leeds schooldays taken from his paper "Leeds municipal grammar schools 1944-72"
Leeds municipal grammar schools.pdf (yas.org.uk)
Municipal Grammar schools, like West Leeds, were a product of the 1944 Education Act. Previously middle class parents paid fees for their children to attend from a young age and the school had its own kindergarten. Brighter children from state primary schools were invited to take a selection exam at age 11, and if they were successful were awarded a scholarship by the local authority to attend the school. This system was still in place when Anthony Silson joined as a "scholarship" boy in 1949. Many of his fellow pupils would still be fee-paying and the last generation to have been to the kindergarten.
Although I joined the school only 3 years after Anthony left, in 1956, the system he described was already a bygone era. The old wooden "kindergarten" building was a relic used for the music room and by the CCF.The 11 plus had become the universal entrance exam for Leeds grammar schools. Some pupils had another opportunity and could join the school at 13.
Aspects of the story will resonate with anyone who attended WLBHS between the 1944 education act and going comprehensive. If you attended the comprehensive school post 1968-ish I suspect it will seem as relevant as Greyfriars in Billy Bunter's schooldays.-JS

Bramley St Peters School
Prior to entering West Leeds Boys' High School, I attended Bramley St Peter's School from
the autumn term of 1942 to the summer term 1949. This was, I believe, a good school.
Yet there was no uniform. Most boys wore slipovers; a few jackets or windjammers;
ties were rarer still. Whilst many wore shoes a few wore clogs. Girls mostly wore
dresses, some wore gymslips, and some wore ribbons in their hair. If at times, we
were a rather threadbare lot, most of us were clean. It was claimed that Mr.
Sweetman, the head teacher, kept a cane in his office; if he did, it was well hidden and
never seen. Corporal punishment of any kind was almost unknown at least to me. Just
once, I received a tap on the hand with a ruler and had to stand in the corner when I
was five years old. I seem to remember I had spoilt Brian Lumby's painting and may
well have painted him too! If, from time to time, we were not too well-behaved, it was
nevertheless, an orderly place. Of course, we were taught reading, writing and arithmetic,
but much more besides.

The Entrance Exam
In February 1949, about half a dozen of us (boys and girls) went to West
Leeds High School (Figure 1) to sit an examination, or scholarship as it was still
thought of then, for entry into a municipal grammar or technical high school. We six
had been selected by the school as the ones most likely to pass; but most of the
school's eleven-year-olds did not even have the opportunity of sitting an examination
for grammar school. The majority simply continued their education at St Peter's until
they were fifteen. It was not until the summer term that we were informed, by Mr.
Sweetman, that the same five or six of us had been successful in the entrance exam.
Even then it was not all plain sailing. There was, for example, the problem of the
choice of school. Left to myself, I might have opted for Central High. Fortunately, my
mother made the final decision and sought my entry into West Leeds Boys' High
School. Of the schools available to me, this was by far the best choice as I was an
academic boy not interested in practical skills. Had I not passed the scholarship, had
my mother made a different choice, my career would have been totally different. To
my mother, to my schools I am indebted. Having said that, West Leeds Boys' High
School was a good school for me primarily because it offered GCE whereas Bramley
St Peter's did not.
First Day at West Leeds
On Tuesday morning, 6th September 1949, I made my way to my new school.
I was, of course, on my own. No one would have lived it down if a parent had
accompanied them. All new boys were assembled in the playground at the back of the
school. For no known reason, only prefects, staff and visitors were allowed to enter or
leave the school by means of the front doors. For me, there ensued a short period of
uncertainty and worry. Trevor Briggs and William Cartman, the two other boys from
Bramley St Peter's, soon had their names called out as they were destined for 2A and
teachers read out names alphabetically. When all the 2A's were called, but not my
name, I began to worry if I had been forgotten. Those chosen for 2B were soon having
their names called. Surely, I must be a member of 2B. But the end of the alphabet was
again, reached without my name being called. Was there a complete mistake? Was I
even at the correct school? Boys were beginning to line up for 2C, alphabetically, of
course. At long last, almost at the end, my name was called and I began my secondary
education in 2C, the bottom stream. Our form teacher assured us this did not matter.
That clearly told us it did matter and mattered a lot. This streaming of boys, and the
way in which boys were informed of the stream they were in, made a poor start to a
new school. Without too much effort, I not only came top of 2C at Christmas but also
was moved up into 2B in January. And at the start of the new school year, I was
promoted into 3A. Few indeed were so fortunate. In the fifth form many in 4C entered
5 General. In those days, when a subject had a large entry for a GCE examination,
only a certain percentage were expected to obtain a pass. Looking back, it now seems
almost as if the purpose of most of the pupils of 5 General was to fail, thereby
enabling certain 5 Science and 5 Modern pupils to do well. At the time, I was in 5
Science and gave little thought to pupils in 5 General.

School Uniform

School uniform was simple and of limited extent. The rule in 1949 was that, out-of-doors, boys had to wear a school cap until the end of the fourth form, but by December 1952 the rule had changed to become caps to be worn by all boys.Throughout one's school career, a school tie had to be worn, but the tie and the cap were the extent of school uniform. One was, though,expected to wear smart clothes such as a blazer or suit. Most lower school boys opted to wear a blazer, and, for a time, I did so myself.
However, by the fifth, I had rather begun to fancy myself. My blazer was cast aside and replaced by a light-coloured sports jacket. Brown corduroy trousers took the place of grey flannels). Instead of black laced up shoes I elected to wear brown slip-on shoes and Ieven brilliantined my hair. But not a word was said!


(Ed note: It seems that enforcement of the school uniform rules was pretty lax in the 1950s. A decade later brown corduroy trousers and brown shoes would never have been accepted. About 1963 I was slippered myself for the offence of wearing "loud socks", ironically by the music teacher . The offending nylon socks were white with lime green stripes, otherwise I was in correct school uniform. )


Fig. 2. School Uniform 1952/53 style

 

Anthony Silson (WLHS 1949 - 56) Read more of Anthony's memoir by clicking here Scroll to Chapter 4.