Graham Savage
Encyclopedia
Sir Graham Savage CB
(born August 31 1886, Erpingham
- 18 May 1981, Highgate, Islington
) was an English civil servant who largely invented the concept of comprehensive school
s and originated the phrase.
School, King Edward VI Middle School, Norwich
(merged with the Presbyterian School to become the City of Norwich School
) and Downing College, Cambridge
. He gained first in Part 1 of the Natural Science Tripos
in 1905 and in Part 2 of the Historical Tripos in 1906.
.
He was a tutor at Bede College, Durham
then Assistant Master at St. Andrews College, Toronto
and Tewfikieh School, Cairo
. He became a lecturer at Khedivial Training College, Egypt. From 1914-9 he served in the Royal West Kent Regiment in Gallipoli
, becoming a Captain then a Major
. He was injured at Ypres
. After the war he was Assistant Master at Eton College
.
He became a District Inspector for the Board of Education from 1919-27, then
Chief Inspector of Technical Schools and Colleges in 1932. He was a Senior Chief Inspector from 1933-40, then Education Officer to the LCC
from 1940-51. This was during The Blitz
. Labour had controlled London County Council since 1934.
and Ohio
, and was impressed by the democratic nature of the high school
s in terms of social diversity, although overall academic performance of such schools was less well-researched; it was of secondary interest. He noted that the system did not account for the different needs of the school population, but he nonetheless liked the general nature of the schools. The Labour Party had been a champion of grammar school
s in the 1940s, but by the 1950s had begun to look at Graham Savage's ideas instead which had been implemented partly in London.
In 1947 he introduced the London School Plan of comprehensive schools, wholly driven by the wishes of the incumbent Labour council. Although largely responsible for their first introduction, he was a man with his feet on the ground and had some misgivings about the comprehensive system; he hoped these could be alleviated, specifically that although at the same school, pupils would study different courses in keeping with their abilities. In this his ideas were more for bi-lateral school
s than comprehensives. He explicitly did not want all pupils of differing abilities studying the same courses. To achieve this, schools would have to be very large - up to 400 in each year. In many comprehensive schools this is simply not possible.
He was knighted in 1947. He thought highly of direct grant grammar school
s, saying in 1965 that they were the scaffolding on which a good state system of secondary education is slowly being built. Most of London's fifty five state grammar school
s would stay until the 1970s. He retired in 1951.
in Essex
, in 1911 in Rochford
. They had two sons and a daughter.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(born August 31 1886, Erpingham
Erpingham
Erpingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 541 in 210 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of North Norfolk....
- 18 May 1981, Highgate, Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
) was an English civil servant who largely invented the concept of comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
s and originated the phrase.
Early life
He was the son of Edward Graham Savage and Mary Matilda Dewey, teachers at the Upper Sheringham elementary (primary) school. He was the eldest in the family and had two brothers and two sisters. He attended Upper SheringhamUpper Sheringham
Upper Sheringham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk . The village is North-north-west of Norwich, west of Cromer and north-north-east of London. The village is from the town of Sheringham. The nearest railway station is at Sheringham for the Bittern Line which...
School, King Edward VI Middle School, Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
(merged with the Presbyterian School to become the City of Norwich School
City of Norwich School
The Eaton School, more commonly known as CNS, is a secondary comprehensive school situated in Norwich, Norfolk on Eaton Road.-Admissions:It has over 1500 pupils and currently employs over 190 staff...
) and Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College, Cambridge
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1800 and currently has around 650 students.- History :...
. He gained first in Part 1 of the Natural Science Tripos
Natural Sciences (Cambridge)
The Natural Sciences Tripos is one of the several courses which form the University of Cambridge system of undergraduate teaching...
in 1905 and in Part 2 of the Historical Tripos in 1906.
Career
He became a schoolteacher and later an educational administrator. He became an education officer for London County CouncilLondon County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
.
He was a tutor at Bede College, Durham
College of St Hild and St Bede
The College of St Hild and St Bede, commonly known as Hild Bede, is a college of Durham University in England. It is the University's second largest collegiate body, with over 1000 students. The co-educational college was formed in 1975 following the merger of two much older single-sex...
then Assistant Master at St. Andrews College, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
and Tewfikieh School, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. He became a lecturer at Khedivial Training College, Egypt. From 1914-9 he served in the Royal West Kent Regiment in Gallipoli
Gallipoli
The Gallipoli peninsula is located in Turkish Thrace , the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles straits to the east. Gallipoli derives its name from the Greek "Καλλίπολις" , meaning "Beautiful City"...
, becoming a Captain then a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
. He was injured at Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
. After the war he was Assistant Master at Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
.
He became a District Inspector for the Board of Education from 1919-27, then
Chief Inspector of Technical Schools and Colleges in 1932. He was a Senior Chief Inspector from 1933-40, then Education Officer to the LCC
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
from 1940-51. This was during The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
. Labour had controlled London County Council since 1934.
Comprehensive schools
From 1925-6 he visited America specifically the states of New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, and was impressed by the democratic nature of the high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s in terms of social diversity, although overall academic performance of such schools was less well-researched; it was of secondary interest. He noted that the system did not account for the different needs of the school population, but he nonetheless liked the general nature of the schools. The Labour Party had been a champion of grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
s in the 1940s, but by the 1950s had begun to look at Graham Savage's ideas instead which had been implemented partly in London.
In 1947 he introduced the London School Plan of comprehensive schools, wholly driven by the wishes of the incumbent Labour council. Although largely responsible for their first introduction, he was a man with his feet on the ground and had some misgivings about the comprehensive system; he hoped these could be alleviated, specifically that although at the same school, pupils would study different courses in keeping with their abilities. In this his ideas were more for bi-lateral school
Partially selective school (England)
In England, a partially selective school is one of a few dozen state-funded secondary schools that select a proportion of their intake by ability or aptitude, permitted as a continuation of arrangements that existed prior to 1997....
s than comprehensives. He explicitly did not want all pupils of differing abilities studying the same courses. To achieve this, schools would have to be very large - up to 400 in each year. In many comprehensive schools this is simply not possible.
He was knighted in 1947. He thought highly of direct grant grammar school
Direct grant grammar school
A direct grant grammar school was a selective secondary school in England and Wales between 1945 and 1976 funded partly by the state and partly through private fees....
s, saying in 1965 that they were the scaffolding on which a good state system of secondary education is slowly being built. Most of London's fifty five state grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
s would stay until the 1970s. He retired in 1951.
Outcome of his work
In later life he came to realise that the overall lowering of educational standards of comprehensive schools was more than the marginal amount he had predicted in 1928.Personal life
He married May Thwaites, from SouthchurchSouthchurch
Southchurch is now part of Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. However, it was an independent parish until 1894 and has a documented history going back to the ninth century AD....
in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, in 1911 in Rochford
Rochford (district)
Rochford is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named for one of its main settlements, Rochford, though the major centre of population in the district is the town of Rayleigh...
. They had two sons and a daughter.
See also
- Debates on the grammar schoolDebates on the grammar schoolThe Grammar schools debate is a debate about the merits and demerits of the existence of grammar schools in the United Kingdom. Grammar schools are state schools which select their pupils on the basis of academic ability with pupils sitting an exam in the last year of primary called the 11-plus to...
- Tripartite SystemTripartite SystemThe Tripartite System was the arrangement of state funded secondary education between 1944 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland....
- Anthony CroslandAnthony CroslandCharles Anthony Raven Crosland , otherwise Tony Crosland or C.A.R. Crosland, was a British Labour Party politician and author. He served as Member of Parliament for South Gloucestershire and later for Great Grimsby...
- Social mobilitySocial mobilitySocial mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...