A group of "rebel" Merseyside parents took matters into their own hands after their sons were left "disappointed" heading to secondary school.
Back in 1973, a number of parents in Huyton rented Huyton Ratepayers’ Hall for their sons who had all passed the 11-plus exam – but were not offered places at any grammar schools in the Liverpool area. In September that year, the parents said Liverpool Catholic grammar schools had refused to accept their sons, instead offering them places at two comprehensive schools and a secondary school.
Originally one class of 18 boys, Huyton parents organised raffles and dances to buy books and equipment, also paying teachers to give the boys lessons in subjects including English, history, geography, maths and science. At the time, Huyton Education Committee backed the group of parents and in October 1973, the "new exclusive" private school opened, after the boys were kept home since the school term started.
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On October 5, 1973, the Liverpool ECHO reported how one parent claimed the boys had been "cheated out of their rights." At the time, Mr Brian McNance said: "We have decided that it is wrong to deprive our sons of an education, and so we are going to give them private lessons in their own school.
"They will be able to study almost every subject in the curriculum of ordinary schools." One images, courtesy of our archives, Mirrorpix, shows pupils in the classroom on their first day at new private school in the Ratepayers Hall on November 12, 1973.
But by December, the boys were forced to change classroom because of fuel shortage. In January 1974, the parents attended talks aimed at breaking the four-month deadlock in the situation.
Under normal circumstances, parents who failed to send their children to school are prosecuted by the education authority. But Councillor Jim Keight, chairman of Huyton education committee, promised that no such action would be taken in that case.
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He said: "We have given our support to the parents because their children have every right to go to a grammar school. The boys are very disappointed because many of their friends were awarded places after passing the exam."
Huyton MP and Labour leader Harold Wilson called on education secretary Margaret Thatcher to intervene and bring about a swift conclusion to the problem. But the matter was not resolved until April that year.
On April 16, 1974, the ECHO reported how parents in Huyton won a nine-month battle with education authorities over the schooling of their sons. At the time, councillor George Bundred, Education Committee chairman, said: "This problem had gone on for much too long and had to be sorted out quickly.
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"We cannot condone the action of keeping the boys away from school but I am sure the parents deserve sympathy." Eventually the boys were allocated places at Prescot grammar school, starting at the end of the Easter holidays.
Three other boys were placed at a Catholic grammar school earlier that year. The parents spokesman, Mr Brian McNance, said: "We are delighted, and the boys are thrilled to bits. It seems to us, though, that the solution could have been found nine months ago.
"The boys have suffered a lot, because they have been out of a school life for so long."
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