TOWARDS REORGANISATION The Governors In January 1959 Ealing's Secondary Schools were formed into groups for each of which a governing body was set up. Greenford County Grammar School came under the Governing Body of Greenford Secondary Schools with Coston and Perivale Secondary Girls' Schools, and Horsenden, Selborne and Stanhope Boys' Schools. This arrangement was to continue until 1974 when Greenford High School acquired its own Governing Body. One Governor served on the Governing Body for the whole period and even on the post-1974 one for a while. That was Mrs G. A. Duponchel. Mr J. Murray served as the first Chair of Governors. Mr Michael Elliott joined it about four or five years after its formation and for most of the years since has served not only as a governor but as Chair of the Governing Body. While the governors gave an increasing amount of attention to special provision for children with linguistic or behavioural problems, by far the largest part of their work was connected with the various proposals for the reorganisation of Education in the Borough that were put forward in the period from the early 1960s to 1974. Co-Education Under Threat Suddenly in 1963 the whole nature of the School came under threat. A local paper reported that the Ealing Education Committee decided to ask Middlesex County Council to amend its revised Development Plan for primary and. secondary education so that Greenford Grammar School would cater for girls only and Walpole Grammar School for boys only. At that time both schools were mixed. Cllr H. E. Gilmour commented: 'There is one very powerful argument in favour of this recommendation, that there are not enough single-sex schools in Ealing to meet parents' wishes at present. I have much sympathy with that and it may well be that in the end it is thought that this argument ought to be decisive. But there are two reasons why 1 am not happy about this. One is that Walpole and Greenford are now well established as successful mixed grammar schools, I always feel that a proposed improvement ought to he a very great improvement indeed if it is worth all the turmoil, confusion and disorganization of changing over.' Secondly, he did not like the idea of the committee having to make up its mind so long in advance about precisely what the new organisation was going to be. Strong protest against the suggestion that Greenford Grammar School be abolished as a co-educational establishment and be retained as a grammar school for girls only came very quickly from the Old Scholars' Association which told the Chairman of Ealing Education Committee. Ald. Mrs E. M. Stephens: 'In our opinion, co-education is more than ever desirable at the present time. When men and wmen work alongside each other, it is advantageous that they should receive their education alongside each other in what is, after all, a natural environment.' 'If, as we are led to believe, there is a demand for single-sex schools, this should have been foreseen. Provision should have been made when the new grammar schools were built, rather than destroy now the thriving community which staff and pupils have worked for, and achieved, in the past 24 years.' Mr James wrote to the Old Scholars: It has come to my attention that many Old Scholars are extremely shocked and disturbed by the report in the Middlesex County Times of 5th April of a meeting of the Ealing Education Committee which seems to indicate that this school may become a girls' grammar school. You will appreciate that the scheme under discussion is hemmed around with many queries. I feel sure that you will understand that such a scheme could not come to fruition for some years even if approved. Further, we do not know, and cannot know, what the views of the new authority to come into existence in 1965 will do about education in the new borough. This puts a very great responsibility on all Old Scholars. The responsibility is to see that a community which has been steadily built up over 25 years, in which we all believe and which is now having an impact on the locality, is not destroyed. We may best, as I see it, play our part by being aware of moves taking place which may affect the school. We must be prepared, each one of us, to act in whatever responsible way is most open to us to persuade and show those in authority the absurdity and backwardness of such a step. My own feeling is that this action may well never be put into effect, but we have to be extremely vigilant at all times to avoid being taken unawares. (Whatever else may have happened to the school since, it is still a community of boys and girls!) Proposals and Counter-Proposals The authorities were determined on reorganising the Borough's schools and a couple of years later another proposal was made which again upset the Old Scholars who read in their June 1966 Newsletter: We feel that the time has come for Old Scholars to know that the outline of the scheme for reorganisation of Secondary Education in Ealing, envisages a run-down of Greenford Grammar as a grammar school in 1967, and a build up of a four-form entry comprehensive School from 11-16 years. Pupils wishing to take 6th form courses would have to transfer to 6th Form Colleges. Of all the plans considered, this is the one which is the least sound, and the one which will destroy the whole school as we know it because it means the disappearance of the 6th form by 1968, and the extinction of the school by 1970. (The item went on to recommend that Old Scholars should register their objections to the plan by letters to the press and Chief Education Officer.) Exactly a year later the Old Scholars Association Newsletter Editor was upset about yet another plan: Old Scholars will be interested to know that yet another Comprehensive Scheme is under consideration which, if implemented will mean the end of grammar schools. The ultimate aim is for Greenford Grammar to become a large Comprehemive School, but the initial stage is for two local Secondary Modern Schools to link up with Greenford in one unit from September 1968. Borough elections are due in May and the local Conservatives have produced another plan if they win. By the Autumn Prospice made the announcement: The school year began on September 5th 1967 when the usual intake of new pupils was welcomed into the school first forms. In the same month yet another plan for the reorganisation of secondary schooling in the Borough was page 64