Selhurst High School for Boys was a name that has been given to two separate schools in England that existed at different times, but occupied the same site. The former school had been a grammar school that closed in 1988, the latter was the relaunch of a former comprehensive school, Ingram, under a different name in a different location. Thus, the later Selhurst High School for Boys was not simply an extension of the old school but rather has a more complex heritage. The school, located in the north of Croydon, was later referred to as Selhurst Mathematics and Computing Specialist School. The school was notable not only in the eminent alumni that feature among its forerunners' former pupils, but also because of the dramatic contrasts in its academic fortunes over time.
History
The original Selhurst High School for Boys
In 1904 two schools were opened under the name Croydon Borough School, one for boys, the other for girls. The Borough (renamed Selhurst in 1921) Grammar School for Boys opened in September 1904 at the Scarbrook Road premises occupied in the evenings by Croydon Polytechnic. The school moved into its premises in the Crescent in September 1913 but returned to Scarbrook Road in 1915 for the remainder of the First World War. In this period, the Crescent was used as a hospital. The school enjoyed a good reputation as a grammar school and remained a grammar school until it was taken into the State system in 1970 by Margaret Thatcher, the Education Secretary in Edward Heath's Conservative government. As a comprehensive, it became known as Selhurst High School for Boys. By 1977, a study of the school's population of 650 14- to 18-year-old boys, showed that the school was the most ethnically diverse in the UK, with an overall mix of 51% non-white grandparents. The school's legacy as a grammar school permeated its culture and structure even into its comprehensive era. Masters continued to wear gowns, and it retained a two-tier prefect system, the cane, and a public-school 4-house system: alpha (red); beta (green); gamma (blue); delta (yellow). During the late 60s and early 70s, Prefects also wore gowns.
The school's proximity to Selhurst High School for Girls led to regular interaction between the two schools with regular drama productions involving both schools, and a mixed-gender sixth-form block and 'playground', although lessons were still attended separately.
Due to falling student numbers the school closed in 1988, as did the girls' school. The Boys school buildings went on to house Selhurst College, a tertiary sixth form college. This closed in the late 1990s and when in September 1999 Ingram School buildings were closed, this separate comprehensive was moved to the old Selhurst site and renamed as Selhurst High School for Boys.
Headmasters of the Boys' School
Arthur Hillyer BA – Previously for 11 years, Head of Elementary School in Leicester and then, for 15, Head of Croydon's Pupil-Teacher Centre) 1 September 1904 – 31 August 1920 when retired Walter Henry Bentley MA – Member of staff from 1905 (latterly 2nd Science Master, a Housemaster and, from 1 September – 31 December 1920, Acting Headmaster) 1 January 1921 – 31 August 1939 when retired Frederick W. Turner MA MSc – Headmaster, Morley Grammar School, Yorkshire 1 September 1939 – 31 August 1945 when he took up an administrative post in Wolverhampton Frederick T.B. Wheeler MA – Member of staff from 1906, latterly Senior History Master and then Second Master 1937–45, 1 September 1945 – 31 August 1950 when retired A.H.J. Barlow (Acting) – Earlier a pupil at the school 1 September – 31 December 1950 C.F.R. Ackland – 1 January 1951 – 30 March 1969 Ronald A. Smith MA – 17 April 1969 – 31 August 1988 when retired and the school closed