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Indefatigable School, New Building Programme
By 1987 it became apparent to me, if nobody else, that the school would have to take a radical new turn if it was not to become an educational anachronism.
Bob decided that he had had enough and sought early retirement.
Despite the efforts of the staff to persuade the Governors to appoint an academic to the post, a young member of the board of Governors was offered the post of Captain Headmaster. Strangely enough he was another "Old Conway", but of a rather later vintage to Bob and me.
More changes however, were to come. The Bursar John Chiverell, who had served the school diligently for many years, retired. His successor was a pleasant but brash younger man who had grandiose ideas about the future of the school. It wasn't until much later we learnt that the Governors hadn't even bothered to check up on his references!
We on the teaching staff of Indefatigable School were thrilled at these signs of "change" in the air. At last the academic potential could be properly and more fully developed.
This new post was taken by a teacher from a minor public school, on the Welsh border.
He was an ascetic looking rather cold and humourless man in his middle thirties. His status within the school hierarchy was necessarily vague.
After all we had never had such a being as "Head of Studies" before! It became apparent to the Captain Headmaster that the school now had two "heads", which was making his position almost untenable.
The following summer he tended his resignation. Without blinking an eyelid, the Governors appointed this newcomer as the school's first (and as we shall see) Headmaster was freed, so I fondly thought at first, from the fetters of a nautical background.
I have to admit things were going just the way I wanted. I and other teachers would have long discussions with the new Head and the bursar, outlining our proposals for the way ahead.
Over the next few years a great deal of money was raised or borrowed to fund an extensive building project at the Indefatigable School and was supervised by the Bursar who acted as the "Clerk of Works"!
Alterations were underway within the main building to provide new sleeping accommodation for the boys and two new self-contained flats for the extra numbers of teaching staff now required.
One of the classrooms was converted into a long needed new staff room, and another classroom was turned into a library. The indoor swimming pool was heated for the first time!
Meanwhile outside, a complex of new classrooms was built, in the old kitchen gardens, around a quadrangle - eight rooms in all including a brand new laboratory.
Two accommodation blocks were constructed to house the junior boys; and finally an impressive sports hall was erected, to the envy of many a local school!
All these changes took place over less than a three year period!
Meanwhile, after a year I began to wonder whether all these, in themselves laudable, changes were taking place "too fast and too late"!
The pupil application rate was still falling. We look forward to read more of what Patrick Purser remembers about the Indefatigable School in the future editions.
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