Before Ofsted there were school visits by experienced teachers to see what other schools were doing, they could then write whatever they wanted about the school. Here's an extract from 1977.
An Inspector Calls
“Beachamwell lies in that quiet triangle made by Swaffham, Downham and Mundford and neighbours, in a nudging kind of way, the villages of Cockley Cloy and Barton Bendish. The flatness of Swaffham Heath once a tangled mass of stunted alders, scrub oak and grunting wild pigs is now a mixture of arable, conifer and mixed deciduous woodland. Barley whispers to itself in the cold wet wind but the pheasants, fat and arrogant as turkeys, scratch around in the sugar beet as if they were farmyard fowls. There is no gamekeeper to keep the jay in check and the magpie flaunts his neat black and white outfit with the careless rapture of the sober middle-aged suddenly drunk with the joy of living. In the village the silence is that of the deep country, a bird sings, the wind is rebuked by the swaying trees, an aeroplane grumbles past, out of sight well above the low cloud. The church clothed in the peace of centuries waits and waits with its thatched roof and fretted round tower closer to time long gone than the tractored, horseless age that now enfolds it.”
W. H Thompson 15th June 1977.
I forgot to mention… the school was Beachamwell County First School in Norfolk, unfortunately the school is no longer open.
What a charming, delightful world!
I do not know if you made this up or if it is real, but it is the best thing that’s happened to me all day. More please. Sounds like my kinda school.
It’s all true, here is the next paragraph which actually speaks about the school itself - worth reading for the final sentence alone!
Miss Ball, who came as head teacher in October 1976 from the United Nations School in Switzerland, appears to have made this school come alive. Much of the children’s work is on display and even in the art work it is obvious that they are being encouraged to observe carefully. There is the right emphasis on skills and the enthusiasm of the head is reflected in the adoration seen in the eyes of the young children. Already these children have been taken on a theatre visit to Norwich and 2 further visits are planned. Miss Ball has part-time assistance - am only - but this teacher was not seen. Miss Ball said that she was given an assurance on appointment that the school would remain open for some years. The school building remains the same as mentioned in Mr Symonds’ note of last visit but Miss Ball has managed to wheedle new furniture and a variety of extras from the LEA. There can be little doubt that she is the best thing to happen to Beachamwell since they stopped burning their witches.
I think they should do inspections of work places.
This place would get a low mark and be burned just like the witches.
I wish inspections were like this these days. I bet now it’s all ticking boxes. And I bet there are no boxes like:
Adoration in the eyes of young children YES/NO
or
Wind rebuked by swaying trees YES/NO
today’s bureaucracy is a complete embarrassment compared to the bureaucracy of yesteryear.
Haha that report is great!
I actually went to this school up until I was in year two, which is when it closed. Both my brother and sister attended too. It was so great, it had a real family feel to it, because there was only actually 14 pupils there! That’s why they shut it. It’s a shame really because I loved it there. It was perfect and the surroundings too were just as brilliant and picturesque as the inspector’s report implies. But hey I guess money is the deciding factor in everything.
Hey Calum
It’s great to find a real pupil like you!
I was curious to know what the school would’ve been like in more recent times.
Thanks for your comment.