Our History

Below are details of the eight Headmasters' who have served at Bournemouth School since its opening in 1901.

2009 - Dr D. P. Lewis, C.Chem. (Soton) MRSC

 

2019

0005 dr lewis

Once the design has been finalised and planning permission obtained, the building works are likely to start in 2019/20 and be completed for September 2021.

2018

Bournemouth School secures a grant of £3.9 million to enable it to accommodate increased student numbers in the future.  The additional funding will help towards an ambitious long-term programme of improvements.

2012 The first girls joined our Sixth Form.
2011 Bournemouth School became an Academy.

2009

Dr Lewis became our school’s eighth Headmaster in September 2009.

During this time, our school has become an academy (regaining financial independence from the local authority), achieved “Outstanding” status at its last Ofsted inspection, and has welcomed girls into our sixth form.

There has also been a refurbishment of our science laboratories, music suite and ICT infrastructure.

1996 - Mr J. Granger, BSc

 

1996

0001 mr granger

Mr Granger arrived as our school’s seventh Headmaster in September 1996.

Through the careful management of limited budgets, he was able to continue with improvements to our school’s infrastructure.  Funding streams, including those through acquiring language college status and then becoming a training school were used to improve ICT facilities and, most significantly, build a new teaching block for mathematics and religious education.

1987 - Colonel A. F. P. Petrie, M.A.

 

1987

0007 colonel petrie

Colonel Petrie arrived as our school’s sixth Headmaster in September 1987.

Under his leadership the school made considerable academic progress, and, term by term, year by year, the physical fabric of the school was enlarged and improved.

New Science labs were constructed, along with a new Art and Technology block.  Two other projects of his came to fruition after his departure: the extensions for the music and modern languages departments; and the Sir David English Sports Hall.

1987

The first girls joined the CCF from Bournemouth School for Girls.

1982 - Mr J. A. B. Kelsall, M.A.

 

1987

0003 mr kelsalls

He was the first Headmaster to leave our school to move on to another post.  All of his predecessors had left only upon retirement.

1982

Mr Kelsalls was appointed as our school’s fifth Headmaster in the Summer Term of 1982.

This came as a relief to the School after two terms of uncertainty during which he had been in office as Acting Headmaster.  He originally had joined the school in the Autumn Term of 1978, as Deputy Headmaster.

1971 - Mr H. P. Harper, M.A. (Oxon)

 

1981

0004 mr harper

 

He retired at the end of the Autumn Term, 1981.

1975

The present new Hall was ready for use in September 1975.

1973

In May, 1973, the old School Hall was completely destroyed by fire.

1971

Mr Harper arrived as our School’s fourth Headmaster on 1st May 1971.

1957 - Mr E. G. Bennett, M.A. (Cantab.)

 

1970

0002 mr bennett

 

During the summer of 1970 he was forced to retire due to ill health.

1968

Our Sixth Form Block opened.

1966

Work began on the biggest transformation to Bournemouth School since it moved to East Way – the construction of the Sixth Form Block.

1957

Mr Bennett arrived as our school’s third Headmaster in 1957.

The building and its way of life had remained unchanged since the boys had moved to East Way from Portchester Road in 1939.

1932 - Mr J. E. Parry, M.A., B.Litt. (Oxon) M.A. (Wales)

 

1948

0000 mr parry

 

The old OTC in Bournemouth School completed its transformation into the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) which has remained so until the present time.

1939

In 1939 our school moved from Portchester Road to East Way, exactly at the time of the outbreak of the Second World War.

The pupils who walked into these premises were not, as expected, Bournemouth boys, but were boys from Taunton’s School, Southampton.

During the war years the school’s buildings served students from both schools, resulting in a relationship between both sets of past students, which prevails to this day.

1935

It was announced that a new school would be built in East Way, overlooking the new playing fields and the Stour Valley.

1932

Mr Parry arrived as our school’s second Headmaster in 1932.

1901 - Dr E Fenwick, M.A., LL.D., BSc

 

1908

0006 dr fenwick

 

The Cadet Force became a company of the Officer Training Corps, and remained so until the outbreak of the Second World War.  All cadet forces within schools became known as Junior Training Corps.

1903

The Cadet Corps, with its 68 members, was established.

1901

At nine o’clock on Tuesday, January 22nd, 1901, fifty-four boys assembled in the hall of their brand-new school in Portchester Road, with Dr Fenwick as their Headmaster.