ABSTRACT
Towne Secondary Modern School for Girls was one of the earliest in the country to enter the field of public examinations, at that time almost wholly thought of as the prerogative of grammar schools. Specialist teachers were glad when the one or two lessons they had each week with them were over, and there was an alarming turnover in their ‘class’ teachers, who followed each other in quick succession to break down, to give up teaching, or to graduate to a less-exposed niche in the school. Children are taken much more at face value there and the narrow constrictiveness leading to vicious circles of negative attitude, negative response, and an all-round atmosphere of blame and resistance do not develop. In many respects – size, district, buildings, streamed organization – the two schools were comparable, yet there was a marked difference in their tone, particularly as it was reflected in the less able children.
