Talk:Scarisbrick Hall

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I was a pupil at the school 1975 to 1980. The headmaster at the time was Charles Oxley. At the time it was a mixed gender boarding school with day pupils also attending. The school had a strong Evangelical Christian ethos which was expressed in a strict regime - for example all boarders were required to attend a church of their denomination every Sunday. Boarders were not permitted to enter the dormitory wings allocated to the opposite gender. Corporal punishment - up to six stokes of the cane or slipper on the buttocks or a ruler on the hand - was frequent. During my time there, in the interests of equality, it was announced that these punishments would be applied to either gender, but I never heard of females actually being caned or slippered. As far as I can tell from the old-students newsletter distributed by the former deputy head, a surprisingly high proportion of former students went on to ordination or positions of leadership in their respective denominational churches. This may be because the Christians were the ones most likely to remain in contact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.8.190.54 (talk) 17:51, 10 January 2012 (UTC)

Recollections from a former pupil at Scarisbrick Hall School
I was a pupil at Scarisbrick Hall School, from Jan 1967 until Jul 1970. The headmaster at that time was Charles Alexander Oxley; other staff included David Kimber, Robert Opie and Kenneth Walker (apologies to those whose names I cannot recall, your efforts are not forgotten!) The school was located at Scarisbrick Hall, between Southport and Ormskirk in Lancashire.

The school was initially boys-only but it was during this period that the school began to experiment with including girls into the sixth form - the first ones being transfers from the affiliated Tower College in Liverpool where Charles Oxley was also the headmaster. I have no first-hand recollection of corporal punishment being applied as per another contribution on this topic but Mr Oxley was known to carry a small sandbag in the corner of his gown, which he could administer in an apposite manner when required.

The school's academic record during my time was thought to be disappointing, with few pupils achieving high academic success; however, the school did provide a more rounded education in terms of preparation for real life - one example being the Fire Cadet Corps run in conjunction with the fire brigade in Southport. Mr Oxley also encouraged some of the boarders to use their Saturdays for driving lessons, and allowed us to use his own car for practice. To be fair, I should add that some 20 years later the school figured very highly in The Times Educational Supplement rankings for academic prowess.

One other recollection from that time: Mr Oxley was driving his wife's car through the Mersey Tunnel when it ran out of fuel. He was observed refilling it from a can in the boot, and the ensuing prosecution caused some amusement to his pupils. Douglasson (talk) 17:22, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

Sir Thomas Scarisbrick, 1st Baronet
Some mix up here Sir Thomas Scarisbrick, 1st Baronet lived a century later than implied. -- Clem Rutter (talk) 14:04, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

Furniture
A link here to an 1823 piece File:Judges' Lodgings 2014 GLAM 1798 Carlton House Table 2626.JPG now in Lancaster. (p15 A history of the Gillows of Lancaster Mary E Burkitt, ISBN 0 90228 47 1, 1984) -- Clem Rutter (talk) 14:04, 15 October 2014 (UTC)