Always part of the picture

Last term, pupils who attended the Head’s 40 Years of Co-Education assembly were given the chance in their Tutor groups to revisit the story of co-education. 

Their responses revealed a genuine interest in the story, and we will soon be sharing what surprised them most and the questions they’d like to ask the pioneers. 

Realising that school life today is so different from life at school in 1986, many pupils assumed that there wasn’t a female presence at Christ College until girls joined. The reality is more different than is often obvious. 

As we continue to celebrate #40YearsofCoEd, our January post takes us all the way back to the school photograph taken in 1896. It feels far more relaxed than you’d expect for an image of its time. Rows of boys are stacked precariously in front of School House and two dogs sit comfortably on their owners’ laps. What really stands out though, is who else is in the picture.

Alongside Revd R H Chambers (Headmaster 1895-1921) are his wife, and two of their children. Also seated amongst the Masters are three other women, none of whom were members of the all-male teaching staff. Their names and roles have been lost to time, but their presence is a powerful reminder that women have always been part of the Christ College story. 

When the first full-time female teacher was appointed in 1987, it’s easy to assume she entered an entirely male environment. In reality, two of her colleagues were female part-time teachers who in turn had been preceded by other female part-time teachers, the first of whom was appointed in 1963.

That history stretches back even further. As well as legions of female domestic staff, some of whom were second or third generation stalwarts of the school, House Matrons were an important presence. From the opening of School House in 1864, Housemasters were responsible for the boys in their care and were supported in their role by ‘House Matrons’ who played a crucial role in daily life, whether as the wives of married Housemasters or as staff supporting bachelor Housemasters. Add the essential roles of the Sanatorium sisters, administrative staff and other support staff, and it becomes more obvious that women were part of the school community long before they appeared in teaching roles.

This wider community is hinted at in later house photographs but it is captured for the first time in the featured 1896 image. The photograph is fascinatingly unique because it shows a version of Christ College life that isn’t represented in later school photographs. For more than 70 years after it was taken, school photographs reverted to an exclusively male line-up.

Though the 1971 and 1972 school photographs include girls from the Convent who were taking some lessons at Christ College and Sanatorium sisters are included from 1982, a female teacher doesn't make an appearance until 1987. 

As we celebrate 40 years of co-education, it reminds us that a female presence amongst the school staff didn’t appear overnight: it was always part of the picture, even if not always in the photographs.