The Kennedy Connection - and the school's final days

The Kennedy connection and the school's final days

It is possible Copthorne closed as a secondary modern in 1972 due to the raising of the school leaving age in the following academic year, for after its closure the site then became part of President Kennedy in order to house the comprehensive’s first year intake.  It finally closed for good in 1981  after which it was demolished.   

President Kennedy opened in 1966 and perhaps Copthorne might have closed then had it not been decided two years earlier the school leaving age would be raised.  The prospective raising of the school leaving age may have led to it being decided that Copthorne should remain open to provide the capacity Kennedy would lack when the leaving age was raised  - or it could even have been possible that plans to make Copthorne a comprehensive were still being considered.

That Copthorne functioned for a further fifteen years after Kennedy opened I have always assumed was due to Kennedy not having the capacity to cope with Copthorne’s closure until then.  I was surprised to learn then that when Copthorne did finally close Kennedy still lacked the capacity to cope with the extra numbers as in the summer term of 1981 an arson attack destroyed much of the school!  A series of porta-cabins, therefore, had to be erected to cope with the extra numbers the closure of  Copthorne caused.

I was informed of the ‘81 arson attack (there was also another equally devastating attack in ‘83) by Richard Clark who attended Copthorne from ‘78 to ‘79.  Richard has a surprisingly clear memory of his time at Copthorne and what follows is his description of Copthorne when he attended.

The teachers in '78/'79 were: 

Senior House Head - Mr Crossley

House Head - Miss Reece used to teach in Room 1

Mr Cavill taught French in Room 2

Mr Boothman taught Mathematics in Room 3

Mr Thorne taught Music in Room 5.

Mrs Brookes taught I.S. in Room 6, and was replaced with Miss Thomas when she went on maternity leave.

Mr Morgan taught Science in Room 10.

Gordon Payne was the head of I.S. and ran games lessons (Currently the headmaster of President Kennedy School)

Mr Heggie taught woodwork

Mr Alcock taught art

Mr Laventure taught games with Gordon Payne.

Mr Monaghan taught RE

The only lesson I had in the hostel block besides handicraft and art was drama - the small hall was quite popular for drama lessons as it kept the main hall free.  However I do know that the classroom to the left of the main entrance was used for teaching Integrated Studies, which was a combination of English, History and Geography. The teacher who used that classroom the most, who was also head of Integrated Studies was Gordon Payne. 

PE lessons were always at President Kennedy - a bus took us up there every Wednesday, where we made use of Kennedy's gym and sports hall.  We also had games lessons, which were always out in the field, which was usually rugby or cross country running (quote from Mr Laventure - the other games teacher "You've got to run all the way to the Shepherd & Shepherdess and back, but unfortunately they're not open today so you can't pop in for a pint!"

Room 1 was for general use, Room 2 was a language room (mainly French), Room 3 was for Mathematics, Room 4 was for general, Room 5 was for music, Rooms 6-8 were for general use, and Rooms 9-10 were laboratories. The other two rooms between the main hall and the dining hall were called HC1 and HC2 which were both equipped for home economics.

We went on two school trips during our time at Copthorne:

Avoncroft Museum, a great day around old houses, windmills etc but was surprised that we had to wear our uniforms that day! I wore a green cap on our bus journey only to have it confiscated for two weeks!

Coombe Abbey, this time we could dress casually, highlights of the day were finding a mallard duck's nest in the woods, David Goulden finding a rabbit skull, and all of the boys in our form going missing!

From Facebook

In March 2014 Copthorne was discussed on a Facebook page dedicated to President Kennedy School.  Seemingly many pupils attending the school whilst it was part of President Kennedy thought the Hostel Block was haunted - especially the Art Room!

Posted on the Facebook page was the photograph shown below.  Taken in 1973 (?) -  President Kennedy's 1st year cricket team - taken on  Copthorne's playing field.  No names are known.

Final Days

After Copthorne's final closure it inevitably fell in to a sad state of repair as the following article in the Coventry Evening Telegraph on the 17th December 1982 makes clear.

The article also makes clear the old school was yet still standing seventeen months after it had finnally closed.  The actual date of its demolition I've not yet discovered but presumably it must have been some time in 1983.

Paul Buttle

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