Impington Village College

Impington Village College

Address		New Road, Impington, Cambridgeshire, CB4 9LX
Telephone		01223 200400/fax 01223 200419
Head (Warden)		vacant
Pupil numbers		1347
Type		Secondary +6th (Ages 11 - 18)
Control		County

There is a College Home Page. Details from the County Council website.

All Histon & Impington's schools are all run by the County Council, and their web site County Council Education has other information, eg about special needs, other schools etc.

The Village College Concept

After the First World War concern began to be felt in England about the standard of literacy of country children. Were they fitted to take their place in a world which increasingly used science and technology in its manufacturing? In 1927 the Hadow report suggested that secondary schools should be built in the larger villages for the education of the older children.

Henry Morris was Education Secretary for Cambridge during the period 1922 -1954, and it was his genius which allowed him to expand the idea of rural secondary schools into the idea of Community Colleges. The building would house the secondary school during the day and then provide educational, cultural, and leisure opportunities for adults during the evening.

'Every town and every village must have its educational buildings,' wrote Henry Morris. 'Education touches every citizen. We have a conception of a new institution for the countryside, an institution that will touch every side of the life of the inhabitants of the district in which it is placed.' ...'A standard may be set and a great tradition may be begun.' ... 'If the Village College is a true and workable conception, the institution will, with various modifications, speed over rural England; and in course of time a new series of worthy public buildings will stand side by side with the parish churches of the countryside.'

Henry Morris took care to see that the buildings of the new colleges were designed by excellent and innovative architects. Impington Village College was designed by Walter Gropius (Founder of the Bauhaus School of Architecture) and his partner Maxwell Fry. The land for the new college was given to Cambridgeshire Education Committee with generosity and philanthropism by the Chivers family in memory of John Chivers.

The Village Colleges were a revolutionary and expansive concept which has proved a brilliant success and been blessed by many for the opportunities it has given them.  A monument commemorating the work of Henry Morris was erected at Shire Hall, Cambridge.  The border wording is 'Education is a continuous progress extending through childhood, youth and the whole of adult life'.

More details on the early history and concepts.