Linking Themes
The three schools we have researched are all very different but there are some common themes that link them:
Extra-Curricular Activities
Both Henry Harbin and Bournemouth School offered significant extra-curricular activities. For instance, both schools took a keen interest in history, with Bournemouth School and Henry Harbin having a history society.
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Similarly, there was a love of travel, with both schools providing the opportunity to travel abroad, for Henry Harbin this focused on Europe in the 1960s, with Switzerland being a particular favourite.
Gender
Bournemouth provided a choice between single and mixed sex schools.
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Although Henry Harbin and Beaufort were structured differently both schools taught similarly segregated technical subjects such as metalwork for boys and home economics for girls.
The War Years
The First World War saw all of Bournemouth School's 'old boys' being of the age to be conscripted. Whilst the school was not affected directly by the war, the Memorial Board lists 98 men who lost their lives in battle.
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In October 1914 there were plans to build a second block at Stourfield to accommodate a further 300 students but the war made it impossible to proceed and they were not built until 1926.
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Extra-Curricular Activities
Later, these ventures would expand as far as Israel. Bournemouth School offer modern language visits to France, Germany and Spain, as well as a history trip to the World War I battlefields. Their travel brochure for 1996-1997 records trips to Netanya in Israel, a ski trip, golfing activities both in the UK and abroad, and a planned trip to Borneo the following summer.
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Both schools also participated in the Duke of Edinburgh Awards scheme, which is still active today.
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All three schools shared a love of cricket, football and athletics. Henry Harbin students enjoyed boxing, while Bournemouth School continues to offer rugby, tennis and table tennis.
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Music played an important role in all three schools, with the presence of a school orchestra at Henry Harbin and Beaufort. Both Bournemouth School and Beaufort offered a wide range of music lessons
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Beaufort hosted a show in which children and adults competed in the production of horticulture and handicraft goods. Bournemouth School's Drama Society performed regularly.
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Henry Harbin and Beaufort both had swimming clubs.
Gender
Henry Harbin School was split into two sub-schools, Henry Harbin Boys School and a Girls school. They shared facilities but were otherwise completely segregated with different house-systems. The girls houses focused on key figures such as Curie for Marie Curie.
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Within the school, girls also had role models such as Headmistress Mrs G.M. Harding who worked for 16 years and was commended by the National Union of Teachers for promoting girls' education.
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Bournemouth School and Bournemouth School for Girls did not mix socially until 1984, when mixing on the field at lunchtime was allowed, on the condition of no ‘unseemly behaviour’.
There was a mixed response from the boys and girls.
The Combined Cadet Force (started in 1903) is now a joint venture with girls from Bournemouth School for Girls.
The War Years
The Second World War involved communities pulling together for the war effort and this included schools.
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In 1940 the staff at Beaufort School were on duty all night preparing for the reception of French troops. They arrived on 3 June and left on 6 June.
The lower floor of Bournemouth School was used for 800 French soldiers who had been evacuated from Dunkirk and later as a hospital.
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Bournemouth School took students who had been evacuated from Taunton's School in Southampton while some of Henry Harbin's first students were from nearby schools that had closed to billet soldiers and other early students were evacuees. Evacuees from Southampton were also merged with Stourfield School in 1939.
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The assistant caretaker of Henry Harbin was called up for service while students of Bournemouth School helped the war effort by providing 5,576 hours of work at the Harvest Camp to aid the shortage of manpower. Henry Harbin School's netball ground was requested by the W.A.A.F
The Memorial Board in Bournemouth School's entrance lists the names of the 106 'old boys' and staff who lost their lives.