In Retrospective

1907 - 1920

By T. G. Philip, M.A

IT was on the 12th day of August, 1907, that I was officially introduced to Stewarton School: my  predecessor, Mr Alexander L.Watt, had just retired after a long and honourable service of thirty-six years. And what a day that 12th of August was a perfect Lamnias flood! The followers of King Grouse did not make a start that morning~, I am sure: and the young people of Stewarton had a half holiday to watch the pelting rain through their own windows.

It was my privilege to he head of the school till 1920, and to see many changes in the buildings- all of them. I think for the better. Following an enlightened policy', the School Board of 1907 had already began to scrap the long nine-feet benches and refurnish at the rate of one room a  year. In this matter Stewarton School was superior to many schools of the day, and it was a treat to teach in it.

The Infant Department was during all my time in the competent hands of Miss Jessie Macfie, who will be kindly remembered by many old scholars. The beginners occupied a large room, now the science room. It was once proposed to divide this room with a glass partition. Happily this was never done, and the year  1911 saw a new range of buildings erected to provide for science, woodwork, cookery and laundry work. Some time before this an awkwardly shaped classroom was converted into a gymnasium at what seemed a very moderate cost, but we had not long entered into occupation of all that when the devastation of the War was upon us.

The War cut sadly across everything. It held up for years improvements in education and the social services; it took away from before our eyes many young lives, making sad gaps that could never be filled ; and it produced a changed world from which the virtues of mutual service and international co-operation appear, for the time at least, to have largely disappeared. One comforting incident was the presence with us for four years of the refugees from Belgium. They were an honour to their country, and with them some of us made lasting friendships.

But to return to the brighter side of things. I consider that one of the most beneficent changes made in my time was the introduction of the school medical service. In the old days classes were large. Children who had defective hearing or poor sight, or other more serious disorder, must have often felt discouraged through no fault of their own. Even a very sympathetic teacher seeing them several hours a day did not always discover where the trouble was. But the medical service changed all that. It advised the pupil in many cases to consult a doctor and it informed the teacher. We have become accustomed to it now, but I cannot refrain from recording that when it was instituted it seemed to us an inestimable boon.

From the first it was a county service, and it pointed the way to the taking over in 1919 of the whole matter of education by the County Education Authority.

Among the benefactors of the school were Mr. James Coats, of Paisley, who in my first year gave us the beginning of our school library; and Mr. and Mrs. Arthur, Lainshaw House, whose generosity helped to house the library and added substantially every year to the stock of books. The evening school of the years 1917 to 1920 was a very big affair for a town of the size of Stewarton, and the library was a valuable asset,

We have all been proud to watch the remarkable success of the school under the enthusiastic guidance of Mr. Waddell, supported by an able staff. To all my former colleagues, and to all my former pupils of whom I treasure many happy memories, I send my warmest good wishes. Prosperity to Stewarton and to Stewarton Higher Grade School!
The following names have been taken from the list compiled by Mr. T. G. Philip, M.A., for the Stewarton War Memorial Committee:—