GREENFORD HIGH SCHOOL Ruislip Road, Greenford, Middlesex UB6 9RX 01-578 9152 1939-1989 Headteacher: Maggie Oliver Jubilee Committee: Sheila Rees, Kelvin Meredith, Robin Walton, Mair Ingram Commemorative Book published at the School, November 1989 IMAGE From Mrs Maggie Oliver Dear Readers, Welcome to the Greenford High School Golden Jubilee Commemorative book. Whatever your association with Greenford, I am sure you will find it an interesting insight into the history of the school. For some readers it will provoke nostalgic memories, for others it will offer an intriguing glimpse of school life during the past five decades. As a result of the research that has gone into the compilation of this book, 1 have learnt a great deal about the events and circumstances which governed the lives of my four predecessors and I discover that we have had much in common. I think of the appalling circumstances under which Mr Withrington the first Headteacher presided over the opening of the school in September 1939 coinciding with the outbreak of World War II. How the second Headteacher, Mr James, died in office, how Miss Smith's Headship was dogged by proposals for reorganisation and how Miss Bolt was confronted with the traumas of amalgamation. In 1985, my start at Greenford was no exception bringing with it the tragic news of the death of our Senior Master Bernie Beach, still sadly missed by all who knew him. Now 1989 brings the upheaval of the new Education Act. The good news is that Greenford survives and thrives and is a noticeably friendly and cheerful school. Perhaps the wartime spirit of camaraderie into which it was horn lingers on. We have been overwhelmed by the response to our jubilee celebrations and greatly look forward to playing host to the many past staff and pupils who will visit us. We hope they enjoy renewing acquaintances with the school and with each other. Greenfords success as an educational institution is witnessed by the many achievements of its past pupils front all walks of life and who ore now scattered across the globe. We have been contacted by former pupils from as far afield as Brazil and America. Few youngsters leave Greenford without settled career prospects and this year has been no exception. The Sixth Form in particular has excelled, and more students than ever before will be taking up places in Polytechnics and Universities including Oxbridge. I feel proud and privileged to be the current Head of Greenford High School which I look forward to leading into the nineties. I have a fine team of staff and governors and a supportive community of parents and pupils. I have no doubt that our achievements will be even greater as we move together into the school's second fifty years. An especial thank you is due to Kelvin Meredith (Head of Modern Languages) and Sheila Rees (Deputy Head) who despite the rigours of their already over-stretched lives have put so much time and effort into producing this book. Michael Elliott Member of the European Parliament London West Constituency The Golden Jubilee of Greenford High School provides an opportunity to review the dramatic changes that have occurred in the character of the school over the past fifty years. In many respects they mirror the social changes that have taken place in Britain and especially in the local community in this period. No school could have had a more traumatic start, opening as it did in the same week as the commencement of the Second World War. In the 1960s administration of education locally passed from the Middlesex County Council to the London Borough of Ealing and a decade later the school transformed from a small grammar school to a much larger comprehensive high school with an accompanying major building development on its site. The pupil population has also page 2