Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 17540 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| RALPH GARDNER HIGH SCHOOL 1951-1954 | 1951-1954 | 1951-01-01 |
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Details
Original Format: 16mm Colour: Black & White Sound: Silent Duration: 11 mins 6 secs Genre: Amateur Subject: ARTS / CULTURE CELEBRATIONS / CEREMONIES EDUCATION ENTERTAINMENT / LEISURE SPORT |
| Summary A compilation of films recording school sports and drama activities at Ralph Gardner High School, North Shields, in the 1950s. |
|
Description
A compilation of films recording school sports and drama activities at Ralph Gardner High School, North Shields, in the 1950s.
The opening section of the film features highlights from the 1951 England v Wales Under 15s rugby match at Cardiff Arms Park (14/04/1951), refereed by Jack Spark, headmaster of Ralph Gardner High School and England Schoolboys Rugby selector.
Title: A Sleeper in 15 Minutes
An outdoor performance of King of Sherwood, a school operetta, is underway (1952).
[The next...
A compilation of films recording school sports and drama activities at Ralph Gardner High School, North Shields, in the 1950s.
The opening section of the film features highlights from the 1951 England v Wales Under 15s rugby match at Cardiff Arms Park (14/04/1951), refereed by Jack Spark, headmaster of Ralph Gardner High School and England Schoolboys Rugby selector.
Title: A Sleeper in 15 Minutes
An outdoor performance of King of Sherwood, a school operetta, is underway (1952).
[The next section is too dark to properly make out events, but is – according to Trade Films’ notes – footage of the presentation of the Thomas Haswell Memorial Medal.]
Very brief sequence of an industrial riverside, possibly Tyneside, before the next section begins.
Schoolgirls shuffle around a school hall at an exhibition of pupils’ handicrafts. A teacher lights a Bunsen burner with a match.
On Empire Day, the Union Flag is raised to the top of a flag pole, and groups of children participate in gymnastics and folk dancing demonstrations.
Rabbits and their young sit on the grass and are stroked by some of the boys.
Boys and equipment are loaded into a truck as they leave for the annual camp.
The next scene offers a panoramic view over the outdoor Tynemouth Swimming Pool as boys participate in the Tynemouth School Swimming Gala. Races and diving. One boy has won a silver trophy. Front crawl and breaststroke. Trophies and shields are awarded to the winners.
Lastly, at a school sports day, boys compete in a javelin event, finish a sprint race, and heave in a tug o’ war.
Context
Contacted by Janet Spark, daughter of Jack Spark who was headmaster of Ralph Gardner High School and features in this film. She advised that Jack fought hard to be able to include pupils from public school included in the England v Wales Under 15s rugby match featured in this film. She also said that around North Shields he was known as the "Fourth Policeman" and helped keep many boys out of trouble.
TWAS:
In 1933 the foundation stone to Ralph Gardner School was laid and two years...
Contacted by Janet Spark, daughter of Jack Spark who was headmaster of Ralph Gardner High School and features in this film. She advised that Jack fought hard to be able to include pupils from public school included in the England v Wales Under 15s rugby match featured in this film. She also said that around North Shields he was known as the "Fourth Policeman" and helped keep many boys out of trouble.
TWAS: In 1933 the foundation stone to Ralph Gardner School was laid and two years later in June 1935 it was officially opened. At this stage, there were separate boys and girls schools, each with its own headteacher. In 1944 administrative changes saw these become Secondary Modern Schools. During the 1940s the schools saw a significant increase in pupil numbers and it became necessary to built extensions. A new girls school was erected on the west side of the site, while the old school building was completely taken over by the boys. The extensions took three and a half years to completed and were officially opened on 18 April 1951. In the late 1960s significant changes took place. The school buildings were extensively rebuilt and extended between 1967 and 1973. Then in 1969, following educational reforms, the separate boys and girls schools were merged to form a mixed sex comprehensive school, under the name Ralph Gardner High School. In 1985 the school celebrated its Golden Jubilee, with a wide variety of organised activities. However falling numbers at the school led North Tyneside Council Education Department to press for its closure and despite strong opposition by governors and parents Ralph Gardner High School closed its doors for the last time on 15 July 1994. The school buildings were demolished shortly afterwards. For a more detailed history of the school see TWAS Collections E.NS1/3/4/2. States that official opening ceremony was on 5th June 1935. The opening ceremony took place inside the quadrangle. ‘The school had actually begun work two days earlier.’ |
