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Some twenty years ago, educational policies resulted in the
move of 16+ education away from many schools and into "sixth
form colleges". So it was that the Harton school lost
the upper part of the school, and pupils from years 11 to
13 went elsewhere for their "sixth form education".
Now, with the school's continued
standards of excellence, and with funding from the Learning
and Skills Council, a formal proposal was placed before the
South Tyneside, and this morning the council's executive has
approved the idea.
So, on 1st September, 2010, it
is expected that a new "Post 16 Centre" will be
opened on the school's grounds. This should dovetail into
other plans for the site in line with the huge Building Schools
for the Future (BSF) project, that will also result in major
developments on the site. It is an extremely exciting time
for the school and for education
in the area.
From an educational perspective,
this extension to the school will open up what many of use
would call "6th form education" to students, not
just at Harton, but throughout the borough.
From an old boy's perspective,
however, I was concerned about the maintenance of the school's
character, including the 1936 building. While the building
itself cannot be allowed to go on into the future as it is,
the hopes and expectations are that its architectural character
(including the distinctive frontage) will be preserved, whilst
the functional part of the building will undergo a major refurbishment.
Of course space will have to be
found to accommodate the new 16+ centre, as well as for the
major work needed for the BSF side of the project. I know
some Old Boys have expressed concern over the loss of playing
fields and so on, but great care appears to be being taken
to preserve and, if anything, improve the sporting amenity
of the site.
I'm gratified that the two projects
(16+ and BSF) are being planned with the both the school's
heritage and its future in mind, and as
time and information permits, I plan to open up a small section
on this site to document the plans as they unfold, right through
to the completion of the project.
On behalf of the Old Boys who visit
here, I would wish Ken Gibson, the Head Teacher, Scott Duffy,
Chairman of the Governors, the staff, students, architects
and planners, the very best of luck!
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Whether you, or perhaps other members of your family, went to the
South Shields High School for Boys, the Westoe Secondary
School or Westoe Higher Grade School, South Shields Grammar-Technical
School for Boys, Harton School, or Harton Technology College
(or you're a student or member of staff there today), this site
is for you.
The present-day school at Harton started life as the South Shields
Boys' High School in Mowbray Road (founded in 1885) and the Westoe
Secondary School (founded in 1890 as Westoe Higher Grade School,
itself founded in the Ocean Road Schools Arts and Science section
in 1887) - they both combined in 1936 to form the South Shields
High School for Boys in a custom-built building in Harton.
In 1953 the name changed to the South Shields Grammar-Technical School for
Boys, and then in 1974 it became Harton Comprehensive. By the end of
the 70s it had become co-educational and became Harton School. It is now
called Harton Technology
College
effectively a co-ed comprehensive with Technology College status.
This site is for anyone who went to or taught at any of these schools,
but I also hope that it will prove useful for those researching
their family history (as several genealogists have already discovered).
I was at the school (South Shields Grammar-Technical School
for Boys, hence the dominance of that name on the site) from
September 1962 to July 1969, and have very fond memories of my time
there (although there are a few things I'd rather forget). So I
decided to put together this site about the school, from its founding
to the present day. It was launched in December 2001, and re-launched
with a new design in December 2002 - by June 2003 it had attracted
almost 3 million hits!
Almost everything you see has either been sent to me by Old Boys
from the school, or has been taken from the school's archives.
If you have anything at all to offer, whether it's
just to correct or add a name or two to the photos, or if you have
old photos that aren't on the site, old ATOMs, Speech Day programmes
or anything else of interest (or you just want to let me know what
you think of the site), please email me
(but please contact me first before sending any material,
as you may be about to send something I already have waiting in
the wings).
Oh ... and you may recognise the colour scheme for the site as being the school colours
- dark blue, light blue and gold.
Mike Todd, August 3rd, 2004
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