I had the honour to be appointed Headmaster of Breckenbrough in 1971. In my judgement it was at that time a school that was in the words of the estate agent profession, 'ripe for development'. This is not to say it was functioning below par. That is not so. In fact within the discipline, it had a deservedly high reputation. However, it was clear there was much to be done and it presented a challenge which I was pleased, very nervously, to take on.

It became clear when I took up my appointment that the first step in the development ofthe school must be modernisation and replacement. It was also clear that this would be expensive. The first step was to replace the existing sewerage system. This was done by replacing our own treatment works with modern pumps to convey our waste into the public system.

Shortly after this, the boilers were updated, so that our hot water and central heating no longer had a mind of its own, but worked in a spirit of co-operation.

Once we were warm and could bathe regularly, thought were turned to the accomodation for teaching. Four classrooms were built opposite the chemistry/physics and biology laboratories. This enabled us to move most of the education work out of the main house, although we had to retain the mathematics and music teaching in this part. Very recently (1985) we divided the table-tennis room, which had been built with the new classrooms. This gave us two more classrooms and we now have our mathematics teaching included in the education block.

Hand in hand with the major changes mentioned above, considerable work was done in other directions. Refurnishing of bedrooms and carpeting of bedrooms, corridors and stairs, refurnishing of leisure areas and particularly the removal of a wall in what had been the house dining room, when the house was in private ownership, enabled us to turn that room into a snooker room with a full-size table given to us by the local Army Cadet Force.

In 1984, the inadequate bathing and washing facilities were modernised, although this meant the sacrifice of a dormitory. Present development is the creation of a library in what has hitherto been the music room, the alteration of the old mathematics room to make a new and bigger staff room, and the change of the present staff room into a music room. These changes are now in progress.

In 1980 a house was built for the Headmaster, and we, as the fortunate first occupants, moved from the flat in the school in October of that year. This move enabled us to bring the flat into use for the boys. It was decided that the area should become a self-contained flat for the senior boys. Cubicles were installed in the flat in the Autumn of 1983, with the intention of giving the seniors a little more privacy. Each boy now has his own wardrobe, desk (with a personal desk light), chest of drawers, bookcase, chair and bed.

An early move in 1971 was to regionalise our intake. Previously the school had admitted pupils on a national basis, but the demand from northern counties was such that we became a 'northern' school. It is possible now, that with the combination of the recession and the 1981 Education Act, we may have to modify our views. At present we have pupils from most northern counties.

The policy of the school is aligned to working with disturbed boys with possible neurotic complications. We do find it difficult to cope with those suffering delinquent or violent symptoms. These can be managed in small numbers, but a further effect of the recession and, I think, particularly the 1981 Act, is that we are referred many more of those not entirely suited to our policy. Perhaps we shall have to re-think this also. I hope not.

As inflation increased and it became obvious that the economy was moving towards instability, it was felt that staff should be encouraged to purchase their own house locally. This led to a general move-out which I feel was not a bad change as there is a great danger in my view that teachers can become insular when in residential work. It seems not to have affected the team-work in the school. Families are encouraged to share in the life of the school as much as possible. The three main events where this sharing is most noticeable are Sports Day, the Carol Service and the Christmas Dinner.

A prime consideration in school is co-operation and contact with the local community. With this in mind the boys are encouraged to take part in activities outside the school. There is contact with the participation in Youth clubs, cadet forces, bell-ringing groups, chuch choir, evening institute classes and other activities.

Over the past twelve years, the gardens have been developed very extensively. Our gardener Bill Oyston began this work and laid much of the foundation of the present vegetable gardens. Since he left, Egan Prudhom has continued to work with enthusiasm and vigour, with his assistant Peter McGovern. We now produce almost all our own vegetables.

There are practical development plans for the future. These include the updating of the sports hall area, with the addition of a table-tennis room; the building of a workshop to improve the maintenance facilities and to enable us to teach woodwork and metalwork; extensive improvement of staff accommodation, probably necessitating the building of a new block specifically for this purpose.

We shall continue to attempt to uphold the reputation we have in local authorities but particularly to continue our work for the boys entrusted to our care.