The Story of Stepps

Schools

When the development of Stepps began to gather momentum during the late 1870s and early 1880s there was no school in the village. Most children had to walk to the school at Millerston, while those from the farms near the Lenzie Road went to Auchinloch School and those from Hornshill and Gateside went to Chryston. The school at Millerston stood on the northern edge of Hogganfleld Loch, about 100 yards east of the present park entrance. The master there was the much-loved William Wallace Thomson (generally referred to as "W.W.") who had previously taught at the canal-side school at Riddrie. W.W.Thomson, a man of considerable academic achievement, especially in the classics and mathematics, was highly regarded for his ability to instil in pupils a respect for truth, as well as for learning. He was also much respected in Stepps for the imaginative way in which he organised "Band of Hope" meetings for the children, in the Union Hall on Friday evenings. Many of the outstanding achievers from Stepps (and these were numerous) derived their inspiration from "W.W." in the first instance. It was nevertheless an inconvenience for Stepps pupils to "walk the weary mile" to Hogganfield, especially during the winter months.

Primary School

On 12th June 1888 a memorial was presented to Cadder School Board, signed by thirty-nine ratepayers in Stepps, requesting that suitable school accommodation be provided in the village. On 8th August the Board decided to accede to this request, and soon afterwards secured the use of the Union Hall for the purpose. During the early years at the "Wee School", as it was known, the teachers were Miss Stenhouse and Miss Watson. Later on Miss Abel seems to have replaced the latter. Lizzie Stenhouse, a member of a well-known local family, was said to be quite untrained when she was first appointed (reputedly at the age of 19). However, she quickly proved herself to be a "born teacher" and later on attended a teaching course to develop her skills. In March 1898 the Committee of Cadder School Board met with a committee of the Trustees of the Union Hall, when it was agreed that the School Board would pay an annual rent of £18 to the Trustees, for use of the Hall as a school at that time; the Board also paying for the cleaning of the hall, and for any damage done by the children.

In November 1900 it was reported to Cadder School Board that a site had been acquired for a new school at Stepps. It was said to be 200 yards east of the "Wee School" in the Union Hall, on Major Sprot's ground. The feu duty there was £20 per acre. In January 1901 the School Board decided that a school to accommodate 250 pupils should be built. One of the members - a Mr Rodger - thought that this would be an over-provision:

I move that a school be built to accommodate not more than 200. I think every generation should pay its own school rates. It is a false policy to go in for such a large school, which will not be occupied, while labour is so costly.

Fortunately, this short-sighted view did not prevail, and the 250-pupil school found favour with the Board, though by the narrow margin of five votes to four. A Mr David Sturrock was appointed as architect. Building work was supervised by Mr Marshall, the School Board's Master of Work. Much of the work was carried out by local tradesmen, including Robert Mitchell of Chryston, mason; Robert Kemp & Sons of Bishopbriggs, joiners; Jas Caldwell & Sons of Kirkintilloch, slaters; J. & A. Williamson of Kirkintilloch, plasterers, Robert Smith of Kirkintilloch, painter; and G.M.Stirling of Muirhead, plumber. The heating engineers were Cormack & Sons of Glasgow.

The formal opening of the new Stepps School took place on the evening of Tuesday 19th August 1902. The ceremonial was performed by Lieut-Colonel Sprot of Garnkirk, described as "Lord of the Manor". The Rev. J.B.A.Watt, Chairman of Cadder School Board, presided. The many invited guests included the Rev. Thomas D. Stewart of Stepps Established Church, the Rev. William Davidson of Chryston Parish Church, the Rev. Andrew Shepherd of Chryston U.F. Church, W.W.Thomson of Millerston School, and G.H.M.McIsaac of London (formerly Headmaster of Chryston School). The Rev. J.B.A.Watt presented Lieut-Colonel Sprot with a silver key "as a memento of the occasion, the gift of the School Board and the tradesmen". The Kirkintilloch Herald estimated the cost of the school at "somewhere about £3000, being at the rate of £15 per scholar" and provided the following footnote:

To mark the auspicious occasion Chryston Brass Band visited the neighbourhood, and discoursed a programme of music at the top of the Station Road.

Mr Andrew Hunter, formerly Headmaster of Cadder School, was "promoted to the charge of the new school" and the Misses Stenhouse and Abel were brought along from the "Wee School" to act as his assistants. Accommodation, in the first instance, was limited to 204 pupils, in three large classrooms.

The population of Stepps, including the number of school-age children, continued to grow apace. In May 1909 it was decided to raise the status of the school from "Third Class" to "Second Class", in line with the schools at Auchinairn and Gartcosh, where similar numbers of pupils attended. Mr Hunter's annual salary was at the same time increased (to £155). By this time pupil accommodation at the school was totally inadequate to meet the demands placed upon it. Engraving on School Gable

By September 1909 there were 242 children on the roll, even though the official number of places was still 204. In November the School Board decided to build a five-room extension, increasing the number of places to 504 (i.e. 300 extra pupils in five classrooms, each with accommodation for 60), later modified to 484 places (with one of the classrooms reduced in size, to accommodate only 40). The extension was officially opened on 28th January 1911, when the cost was said to be £4,400, including a schoolmaster's house, adjacent to the school.

Soon after the extension was opened, a new School Board was elected, whose members seem to have had a different set of priorities for Cadder Parish. In August they caused great consternation locally by deciding to discontinue the "Supplementary Class" at Stepps School, which had hitherto enabled pupils who had completed their primary education to remain at Stepps until the minimum school leaving age of 14, if they so wished. Henceforth, it seemed, pupils would be expected to walk to Chryston School. The terms of the debate which followed reveals much about the social attitudes of the period. Mr Williams, a member of a parents' deputation which met with the Cadder School Board on 28th August, made the following points:

If these classes were not resumed the bulk of the children at Stepps would undoubtedly go to Glasgow, and the grants hitherto earned by Cadder Board in respect of these pupils would be lost to them ... With regard to the general attitude of the parents of Stepps, in the event of the Board's decision being adhered to, he was authorised to say that under no circumstances would their children go to Chryston. This was absolutely out of the question. The Stepps people, as a rule, were fairly well off, and the question of a pound or two in railway fares or school fees in Glasgow would not break them. Rather than run the risks attending the long walk to Chryston in inclement weather, and the possibility of doctors' bills, they preferred to send their children to Glasgow.

Some of the members of the new School Board appear to have taken the view that it was precisely because the parents of Stepps were well-off that they should not be given special consideration in the matter of "Supplementary Classes". The Board member who had proposed their discontinuance at Stepps responded to Mr Williams in the following terms:

It has been stated that the inhabitants of Stepps were of better class - better tinancially than in other parts of the parish. He thought that what he did was perfectly just and fair to the parish as a whole, and if he had to do the same again that day he would do so with perfect pleasure and equanimity.

On 13th October 1911 the Board agreed to restart the Supplementary Class and to provide practical instruction for its members once a week at Chryston Higher Grade School. In June 1914 the Board again passed a resolution "that all Supplementary Classes other than those in the Higher Grade Schools be discontinued at the end of the current session", but this decision was rescinded at the beginning of the new term. Attendance at the weekly woodwork class for boys in Chryston School was so poor that eventually, in February 1915, the Board decided that "the boys in the Supplementary Class need not attend at Chryston for woodwork until further notice". In 1923 the Supplementary Class became known as the "Advanced Division", with the boys once again sent to Chryston for "benchwork".

Class Group

Stepps School seems to have achieved a consistently high educational standard over the years. At the opening of the school extension in February 1911 reference was made to the good record of the school, as evidenced by HMI reports. This was due, it was said, to the ability shown by Mr Hunter and his assistants, to the earnestness of the pupils in their work, and to the co-operation of the parents. In November 1929 the Kirkintilloch Herald drew attention to an official report which spoke favourably of Stepps School at that time. The senior division classes were said to be in excellent order, teaching was described as "most thorough", and the pupils' intelligence, favourably commented on, was credited to the influence and example shown by the teachers. The junior and infant classes were said to be in a perfectly satisfactory state, with excellent general tone and discipline. Undoubtedly, the quality of the teaching staff had much to do with the high standards achieved at Stepps School. One of the best loved of all the Stepps teachers was Miss Elizabeth Horn, who retired from her post of Infant Mistress in 1951. A moving tribute was published in the columns of the Kirkintilloch Herald:

For forty years this gallant little lady has walked the lonely road from Auchinloch to Stepps and back every school day, through weather that would daunt all but the stoutest heart. The deep affection in which Miss Horn is held was very evident from the fact that her former pupils travelled and sent goodwill messages from many parts of Scotland and tangible tokens of this regard were the handsome pieces of furniture presented to her.

The various presentations were made at a social evening, held in St Andrew's Church Hall on Wednesday 12th September 1951. "Infant room exploits" of bygone years were recalled, and among the musical performers during the evening was Ella Bulloch, the Stepps music teacher and pianist.

In November 1957 work began on a comprehensive rebuilding of the school, to include a three-classroom extension and extensive work on the old building. The project incorporated a new school hall and a public library. Work was completed in time for a re-opening on 2nd September 1960. Staff made themselves available on the evening of 6th September to describe the improvements to visiting members of the public. There was a further extension, in the form of classroom "huts", in 1974. These were intended to be temporary, but have remained in use down to the present time. Nowadays (Session 1995-96), Stepps Primary School has a roll of 335 pupils, well within the official school capacity of 374. The aggregate teaching staff is 14.7, including part-time teachers. An active Parent/Teacher Association has raised substantial funds for the school, enabling the Head Teacher to buy computers, television sets, video and other class equipment - a far cry from the early years, when it was reported (in 1916) that "owing to the increase in the price of stationery, the Board agreed to direct the Headmasters to use slates as far as possible in the schools and to economise in the use of stationery".

Classes for local Catholic children were originally provided in an old "school house" in Garnkirk village. As mentioned earlier, classes were first held at Cardowan in 1880, when St Joseph's Church was converted to a school, at appropriate times of the week, by drawing over a curtain to screen off the sanctuary. The average attendance during the first year was over one hundred, even though facilities were poor and there was a lack of school materials. In spite of the obvious handicaps much was achieved in this school, with dedicated teachers and parents who put a high value on their children's education. Pupils here contributed to a local 91.78% pass in reading, writing and arithmetic, which was referred to in a government inspectors' report of 1889. Despite the good results, parents were still keen to have a purpose-built school for their pupils, and this was achieved in the year 1901. Church and school continued to work closely together. During the General Strike of 1926, some of the teaching staff from St Joseph's organised a soup kitchen for the children in the Union Hall at Stepps. Children came each day at noon to be fed, bringing their own soup bowls.

In 1933 a new St Joseph's School was built at Elmira Road, Muirhead, and pupils who had hitherto attended at Cardowan were transferred there. St Joseph's (Cardowan) was then closed.

In 1947, the new Catholic Parish of St Barbara's was established at Muirhead, and the school there was given that name. Then on 9th January 1950 the former St Joseph's School was re-opened, by Councillor D.Pollock Smith, to serve children living in the Cardowan/Stepps area once again. In 1982 the Church sold an area of land at Cardowan to Strathclyde Regional Council, on condition that it would be used for a new Catholic school (and not for housing). In due course the new St Joseph's School was opened, by Councillor Andrew Ferguson, JP, on 21 st May 1985. This building finally superseded the old school of 1901, which was then purchased by the Diocese of Motherwell to serve as a "parish centre" or community centre.

Situated on Cardowan Road, opposite St Joseph's Church, the new school is designed as a single-stream primary school, with accommodation for 229 pupils. There are seven classrooms, a library, an audio-visual room, a hall, activity areas and separated staff areas; also a medical suite for visiting health staff and a fully-equipped kitchen. Father Flack is a frequent and welcome visitor. He regularly celebrates Mass for the school, to help the children to express, develop and deepen the faith that has been explored in the R.E. programme. The school is twinned with another St Joseph's School at Mindanao, in the Phillipines, which is run by the Columban Fathers for education of the poor. Financial aid is sent over by the children of St Joseph's, Cardowan.

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