Monday 14 December 2015

2015 in review

This year marked the peak of our 150th anniversary celebrations, which started in September 2014 and will continue until June 2016. 

In January an alumni reunion in Hong Kong kicked off an ‘international wave’ of events marking our anniversary around the world. It was followed by reunions in the USA, Belgium, Turkey, France, Norway, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Spain. For highlights view the photo gallery.



In February we launched our interactive timeline, telling the story of Brookes through photographs, archive documents and interviews. Recent additions include beautiful photographs of the Oxford College of Technology in the early 1960s; a collection of gig tickets from the Poly years; and an interview with former Oxford Mail journalist Don Chapman about John Henry Brookes. 



On 20 March our new Chancellor, Katherine Grainger, was inaugurated and the John Henry Brookes Building officially opened, and in April Bryan Brown’s new biography of John Henry Brookes was published. 



22 May marked the 150th anniversary of the first lecture at the Oxford School of Art. We celebrated at the Taylor Institution with a performance of a special play by Flintlock Theatre about the history of Brookes since 1865. 



In June our new Vice-Chancellor, Alistair Fitt, was inaugurated and presented the first Brookes People Awards recognising the achievements of Brookes staff. We were delighted to be a main sponsor of the Cowley Road Carnival on 5 July, taking pride of place in the procession and welcoming visitors to the Brookes zone. 



In September we welcomed Brookes alumni back on campus with a commemorative event for pre-1970 alumni and a reminiscence ball for all former students. We also took part in Open Doors 2015, and in October staff and students donned gardening gloves to celebrate 150 years by planting 150 bulbs on our Headington Hill site. 



On Friday 13 November we opened the doors of the John Henry Brookes Building for Brookes Live, a special evening showcasing research, teaching and the talents of staff and students. For a taste of the evening, check the Brookes Live and ‘Strike a Pose’ photo galleries. 



Finally, this month saw the announcement of the winners of the International Poetry Competition, run by the Poetry Centre and part-funded by an anniversary grant. They are Siobhan Campbell in the open category and Marie-Aline Roemer in the English as a Second Language category. For more information and to read the poems, visit the Poetry Centre’s website.

Our anniversary period continues until June 2016, with alumni events, more from the anniversary lecture series, the 2016 Brookes People Awards, and more activities from the anniversary grant-funded projects. The 150 collection of limited edition mugs, stationery and accessories is also still available to buy online or from our Headington Campus shop.

Thank you to everyone who helped us mark our 150 years in 2015. 

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Friday 4 December 2015

Teacher training since 1851

Brookes’ excellence in teacher training has its roots in two of our predecessor institutions: Westminster College and Lady Spencer-Churchill College of Education. Their evolution also tells the story of teacher training provision and of social and demographic trends over the last 150 years.

The impact of legislation and demography on teacher training

Westminster College is the oldest of the institutions that went on to make up Oxford Brookes University. It was founded in London in 1849, the first Methodist teacher training college in the country, and welcomed its first students in 1851.

The college’s fortunes were directly linked to national developments. The 1870 Education Bill extended school provision, and with it the demand for teachers. The increased intake led to capacity issues for Westminster College, resulting in a separate college being set up for women students.

The staff at Westminster College in 1872


This expansion of school provision continued over the decades with two increases in the school leaving age, from 14 to 15 in 1947, and to 16 in 1970. Fluctuation in the birth rate also affected the demand for trained teachers, with post-war increases followed by drops in the late 1930s and early 1970s. In 1938 Westminster College was planning a move out of London as a result of financial pressure due to reduced student intake. The move was stopped when the sale of their Horseferry Road site was blocked by government in order to be requisitioned as part of the war effort. 

War too had a major impact on the demand for trained teachers. After the First World War, 40 day students followed an accelerated course at Westminster College to help address teacher shortages, and after the Second World War 55 emergency teacher training colleges were set up. One of them was Bletchley Park College, based in the code-breakers' recently vacated home. It would later become Lady Spencer-Churchill College and eventually merge with Oxford Polytechnic. Numbers of trainee teachers also increased at Westminster, including students returning to complete their training after war service.

High demand continued in the 1950s, with a government target in 1956 to double the number of trained teachers by the end of the decade, confirmed in a 1958 White Paper planning expansion of teacher training colleges, and by the 1959 Crowther Report. Bletchley Park was made a permanent, council-controlled teacher training college in 1950, and Westminster, which was planning its move to Oxford, had to alter its plans to accommodate additional students

Integration of teacher training with university education 

The first Westminster College students to gain degrees, from the University of London, did so in 1894, and the College went on to accept students on university qualifications – six in 1904 and 33 by 1907. Eventually in 1924 Westminster College reached an agreement with the University of London and made it a requirement for its students to read for an external degree alongside their teacher training.

This evolution was reflected in national policy as the Board of Education announced in 1928 that it would no longer function as an examining body, requiring teacher training colleges to be linked to a university. Westminster became officially affiliated to the University of London, and the ‘Westminster Experiment’ created a four-year degree, allowing students to attend King’s, UCL or the LSE for three years before focusing solely on teacher training at Westminster in the final year.

Bletchley Park College also established university links when it joined with Culham College in having its training validated by Oxford University in 1951. The new alliance formed the Oxford Institute of Education, which Westminster College would also later join.

The next step in turning teaching into an all-graduate profession was the introduction of a BEd degree following the 1963 Robbins Report, which also called for teacher training colleges to be renamed ‘colleges of education’ to emphasise the academic content of the courses. Following the 1972 James Report a White Paper introduced a three-year BEd and four-year honours BEd.

From Westminster and Bletchley Park to Oxford

The first of the two colleges to move to Oxford was Westminster. The move was decided on in 1954 and negotiations with Oxford University about course validation began. The new buildings opened in 1959, while preparations were also made for a new three-year training course.


The chapel at Harcourt Hill under construction


In 1960 Bletchley Park’s lease ran out and a site at Wheatley was identified for a new, larger college to be built. It opened five years later, and was renamed the Lady Spencer-Churchill College of Education after Winston Churchill’s widow.  

The Lady Spencer-Churchill College of Education, Wheatley, by Frank Boothman, 1965

An ongoing issue was the relationship of the two colleges with Oxford University. The University agreed in 1966 that students from Lady Spencer-Churchill College and Westminster College could study for an Oxford University BEd. However Westminster’s request to function as an Oxford college and to have its students read for Oxford BAs was turned down. The relationship worsened during the 1970s, with an attempt on Oxford University’s part to sever links with educational colleges defeated in 1973 but eventually carried through two years later.

By then the Lady Spencer-Churchill College had moved to having its degrees validated by the Council for National Academic Awards and was considering amalgamation with Oxford Polytechnic. The merger was completed in 1976. Westminster also moved to validation by the CNAA in 1977.

In 1990 Oxford University considered a renewed link with Westminster, and this went ahead in 1992, when degrees were again validated by the University. However tensions remained over Westminster’s links to the Open University, which validated its BA degrees, and in 1999 the College decided to go ahead with a merger with Oxford Brookes University.

Today the School of Education at Oxford Brookes is one of the largest in the country and trains teachers from early years to post-compulsory education as well as offering professional development and academic programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

More information


Friday 27 November 2015

Church Street

Oxford Brookes University started life in the Taylor Institution in 1865, and the Headington campus was formally opened in 1963. But from 1894 to 1959 the heart of the institution was a modest building in St Ebbe’s.


The Oxford City Technical School moved to new premises on the site of the old Bluecoat School for Boys in Church Street in 1894. The new building was designed by Harry Wilkinson Moore, the architect behind the covered bridge over Logic Lane and many North Oxford houses. He also designed two houses on Pullens Lane which were later part of Oxford Brookes: The Vines and Cotuit Hall

Church Street, St Ebbe's by John Henry Brookes, 1954

The Church Street building did not meet the school’s needs for long. Just five years after the move, the Department of Science and Art declared the site inadequate and threatened to pull its funding.

As the school continued to grow more and more premises were found and borrowed all over the city to accommodate classes. Hopes that a new college would be built on Cowley Road were dashed by the outbreak of war in 1939, although a reduced scheme went ahead, and by the 1940s an inspection report listed nineteen separate teaching locations.

By then the Church Street building had seriously deteriorated. Reginald Grimshaw, who was appointed as head of the School of Art after the war, remembers being allocated a desk: "Naturally, as the last to come I had the bit where there was an uncontrollable drip from the skylight above during wet weather and a bucket beside my chair was essential."

Barbara Cleary attended the Oxford School of Technology, Art and Commerce in Church Street from 1949 to 1951. She also went on to work for the school on its Cowley Road site, and would occasionally provide cover in Church Street. She remembers the cold in those buildings gave her chilblains: "It was not good for typing on typewriters then – so many people remarked on my swollen hands, so embarrassing!”

Hilary Stenning was a student at the School of Art during those years, and has fond memories of St Ebbe's:
“The art school then down in St Ebbe’s was wonderful. Terrific character the whole of that St Ebbe’s area. Still quite slummy I suppose one would say, and very run down. But the building itself was a great gloomy-looking brick building and you went in through an archway, and I remember the caretaker there who ran a little shop for students to buy paper and pencils and things, into a courtyard, and rather a jumble of buildings.”

By the time she left the school in 1954 the foundation stone for the Headington buildings had been laid and Cheney School had moved out of Church Street to Cheney Lane.


Cheney School moves out of Church Street

The School of Art was the last department to move out, in 1959. Despite the building's poor state of repair, there was real affection for the place and great sadness at leaving it behind.

Patrick Jeffs, who started studying at the School of Art in 1958, remembers the Church Street premises fondly:
“St Ebbe’s was a really old decrepit building, which we loved. Bits were dropping off. I remember in the lithography room, for instance, that you could see the water ooze up between the wooden blocks when you walked across the room... The student common room was another decrepit old building, and it was all so lovely to us because you felt so free and you didn’t feel like you were going to spoil anything.” 
By contrast the new, state-of-the-art studios in Headington felt intimidating until students had made their mark.

This last move spelt the end of the Church Street building. Redevelopment of St Ebbe’s had already started, and it was earmarked for demolition, alongside much of the neighbourhood. The Westgate Centre stands in its place, with Pennyfarthing Place the street’s only remnant.

Reginald Grimshaw, the head of the School of Art, wrote a moving piece for the local press to mark the end of an era: 
“Let them take care as they go about knocking down the School of Art. Already there are signs that the old building resents being condemned. … After all, the old lady has bred some noble progeny and had some cause to feel slighted…. They all grew up and left, and it seems fitting that the Art School should be the last to go and, having gone, that nothing should remain. … They were a complete cross-section, doctors and nurses, housewives and office workers, undergraduates and dons, for it is difficult to go far in Oxford without meeting someone who was at Church Street at some time. … They will take away more than rubble when they knock down the old Art School.”

John Henry Brookes too, despite his efforts over the decades to relocate the college to better premises, was sentimental about Church Street, and gave it a heart-felt eulogy"An insignificant building in an insignificant street, it has made a noble contribution to Oxford life and its passing will evoke grateful recollections of ‘the old Tech’.”

For more information, follow the links in the text or explore the anniversary timeline
More testimonies can also be found in Bryan Brown's biography of John Henry Brookes


Friday 20 November 2015

A look back at Brookes Live

Last week we opened our doors for a special evening showcasing our research and multi-talented staff and students. Here's a taste of how Brookes Live unfolded...





















 











You can also browse the 'Strike a Pose' gallery on Flickr



Thursday 5 November 2015

Brookes Live

On Friday 13 November Brookes Live will see the John Henry Brookes Building taken over by interactive exhibits and live entertainment for a very special public event. As we put the final touches to our plans, here is a preview of what to expect on the night.


On arrival pick up a hot toddy before heading into the John Henry Brookes Building, where Artie, the humanoid robot, will be waiting in the foyer. Choose a prop and pose for our professional photographer, and make sure you look at the Van der Graaf generator and catch a courtroom demonstration before heading to the other floors.

Downstairs in the Forum meet the Oxford Brookes Racing team with their latest car, find out about microscopic photography, watch Brookes TV in action or grab some headphones to dance in our silent disco. Then head to Union Square to a wonderland of science and magic where Lewis Carroll’s characters will come to life, and get inspired to read and write your own story.

Look at the Bamboo Bike and stop for a spot of rowing on your way to the Abercrombie Building, where you can join in a Live Draw or take part in a research project into the effect of rhythmic beats on motor co-ordination.


Back in the John Henry Brookes Building, go up to level 2 to borrow a live ‘book’ and learn about witchcraft, wizardry or werewolves. Look at a selection of treasures from the Library’s Special Collections, and step into the John Henry Brookes Lecture Theatre to hear mini-lectures on subjects including nursing, business, publishing and wildlife conservation.

Level 2 will also host a series of health workshops, where you can learn to save lives, find out about heart and lung health, learn how to communicate with people with dementia, and try on a suit and glasses simulating mobility and visual issues.



Go up another floor for more hands-on discovery: write poetry about work-life balance, design your dream city and help build a fractal sculpture. You can also try on Traak!, an augmented reality device, and have a go at activities developed for prospective students.

There will also be live music and performances throughout the evening, ranging from acoustic guitar and synth music to poetry and hip hop, in Union Bar, Union Hall and Abercrombie.


Food and refreshments will be available from regular campus outlets, with takeaway fish and chips at the Deli, a barbecue in the Central Courtyard, and crêpe and sweet treat pop-up stands.

Make sure you share your photos and thoughts throughout the evening by using #BrookesLive


Join us on Friday 13 November from 4pm to 8pm at the John Henry Brookes Building on our Headington Campus. The event is free and open to everyone.

Thursday 29 October 2015

150 flowers

Planting bulbs to mark our anniversary 


Yesterday Oxford Brookes staff and students met on our Headington Hill site to mark 150 years with 150 flowers. The team of volunteers, armed with spades, set to work planting in the grassed area outside the Richard Hamilton building and quickly passed the 150 bulb target.


The sustainability team organised the event in order to make a lasting contribution to the campus as part of our anniversary celebrations. All three of Brookes' campuses have Green Flag status, last awarded in July this year. This recognises them as being among the best green spaces in the country.   


The Headington Hill site has been part of Brookes since 1993. Listen to Professor Sir Clive Booth, then Vice Chancellor, explain how the acquisition came about. 


The bulbs will come out in the spring, as our anniversary celebrations draw to a close.

Thursday 22 October 2015

Student newspapers

From The Westminsterian, launched at Westminster College in 1891, to the students’ union’s O.B.Scene in the 1990s, we have selected examples from a century of student newspapers for you to browse on our anniversary timeline.

An early issue of The Westminsterian from 1892 features instruments built by students in the college’s dedicated workshop to be used as teaching aids, while the Lent 1939 issue contains several poignant pieces of fiction by students responding to the political situation on the eve of war.



Despite the more sombre tone of these stories, humour remains a common thread through the decades. A 1962 issue of Minimum featuring a quiz ('Are you a good student?') and a gossip column answers comments about the length of the publication with the quip that ‘two sheets is the Minimum at the moment’. The first issue of Vortex, in 1965, leads on a controversial union election and suggests that problems may have stemmed from the surprise of having any candidates at all.



Publications also tackle a huge range of topics. In December 1966 Politec leads on the question of social divisions within the Polytechnic under the provocative headline ‘Is College this twisted?’ and reviews the recently opened Oxford Museum of Modern Art. Two years later an issue of Newspack printed in orange ink reports on plans to redecorate the common room and discusses the question of student apathy.



Political issues come to the forefront in Poke in a 1971 issue, including the case against joining the Common Market, arm sales to South Africa, and the inflationary effect of decimalisation. In 1972 Breed presents expansion plans for the Headington campus with a report on a public meeting about the development. 



The Last Edition, in a 1974 issue, includes a competition to win a second-hand bicycle alongside concerns about the drop-out rate in the hotel management department and an exclusive interview with Spike Milligan. In 1984 The TLE calls for students to support a staff strike over pay, asking that they stay away or join the picket line. The employment prospects of graduates are also discussed, alongside a humorous take on how to adjust to ‘retirement’ from student life.




The TLE continues to be published after the Polytechnic becomes Oxford Brookes University, but in 1999 it is replaced by O.B.Scene, the first issue of which marks a new academic year with advice for students on personal safety and health alongside restaurant and cultural reviews.


Explore more of our history on our interactive timeline.