A haven for Bristol children lost in the system
In the yellowed cutting from the depths of the Post archives, Max talks about the unswerving patience of Catherine Grace – the founder of the Westbury Park residential school for disabled children.
Whether it was the patience shown on a daily basis as she taught the severely disabled youngsters, or the stoical patience she demonstrated during decades of fundraising that saw her build up the school she had started in a single room into an impressive six-and-a-half acre site.
Today, more than three decades after her death, the presence of the indomitable founder is still very much alive at the school – she is referred to regularly by St Christopher's staff in hushed reverence as "Miss Grace".
She smiles down from a portrait in the lobby, and a new foundation set up at the school to raise funds has been named in her honour.
The Catherine Grace Foundation has been primarily set up to raise the estimated £625,000 needed to renovate Westbury Lodge, a former dormitory building, which is to be refurbished as four self-contained living areas, specially designed to accommodate the most severely disabled students.
"These are youngsters who have such severe and complex disabilities that any form of social contact or interaction is extremely distressing," explains Sam Kirby, the school's fundraising manager, as she opens the door on the glory-faded Victorian villa. "Currently, we're having to turn these children away. But with this facility we could care for them with a team of familiar staff in surroundings that would feel just like home to them.
"Then, as their confidence grows, we can aim to further integrate them slowly into school life."
St Christopher's has always been at the forefront of new thinking in terms of caring for disabled children.
Back when Max Barnes visited, more than 60 years ago, he noted: "Miss Grace and her 17 teachers are teaching 110 handicapped youngsters. Children whose mental and physical handicaps are so grave that education authorities decided that the task of teaching them together was out of the question."
The politically-correct lexicon surrounding disabilities may have changed since Max's day, but so has the intensity of care at the school – St Christopher's now has a remarkable ratio of 300 staff to 50 children. However the plight of the students, but for the saving grace of the school, would remain the same.
"When parents send their children here, they've reached the end of the line in the education system," Sam says. "We have youngsters from around the country, but many of their parents had to take their individual education authorities to tribunal in order to get them to cover the cost of sending them here for this kind of specialist care and education."
While education authorities fund individual pupils' education and accommodation, all other expense – including the school's continued development – relies on the generosity of charitable donors.
"We started on this site in the late Forties, with just a single house," explains retired teacher Helen Murray, who began working for Miss Grace in 1960. "But one by one, Miss Grace managed to acquire neighbouring properties, either through fundraising or by direct donation of the property, and so now we occupy almost the whole of Westbury Park – our site now stretches for six-and-a-half acres."
Helen retired in 2003, but her love for the place continues to draw her back – she now volunteers at the school on a weekly basis.
"It's that sort of place," she smiles. "When people leave, they do so with a thread still attached to their back."
The school houses pupils from the age of five to 19, with most remaining in school for 52 weeks of the year.
"This becomes their home," Helen says. "We specialise in caring for students with severe autism, so they tend to find the routine of the school and the familiar surroundings a great comfort.
"It's one of the features of autism that youngsters can become severely distressed when taken out of their comfort zone. So often parents decide it's better for the child to stay in the school, even through the holidays and sometimes over Christmas.
"We have apartments here so that parents can come and spend time with their children. We encourage them to do so whenever they want."
The school bases its education philosophy on the ideas of 19th-century German philosopher and educationalist Rudolf Steiner – it aims to give a holistic approach to the youngsters' education, which concentrates as much on the personal growth of the individual child, as well as academic achievements.
Sam says for pupils of the level of disability as those at St Christopher's, it's a method of education that works particularly well. "Everything is calm," she explains. "We base a lot of our classes on the slow shift of the seasons, and we pay close attention to all the key Christian festivals, as well as those of other religions when we have a resident pupil from another faith."
So what would happen if St Christopher's wasn't here? Sam smiles and shrugs her shoulders a little at the question.
"Well, there are a few other similar schools dotted around the country, but very few indeed," she says. "The fact is, if we weren't here, most of our pupils would be left in the family home, with little hope of being accepted into the mainstream education system."
Indeed, this is how things were before St Christopher's was founded in 1945.
Miss Grace had experience as a teacher at Colston Girls' School and had worked as a medical secretary at Stoke Park Hospital. It was here she first came into contact with children 'in need of special care', and was inspired to provide an education for such children, who were seen at the time as being 'non-educable'.
"She was a remarkable woman," Helen says. "She was always quietly determined, and she had great faith that things would work out well.
"I remember a time in the Sixties, when we had virtually no money left in the bank, and we desperately needed to expand.
"Miss Grace said to me that she was confident that if we just waited patiently, somebody would come forward to help.
"Sure enough, the people of Bristol did show great philanthropy. Most of the houses that now make up the school were donated to us through the Sixties and Seventies.
"The remarkable thing is that Miss Grace had the faith to believe that would happen, and the patience to wait for it to transpire. She was a woman who proved the true quality of patience time and time again."
● For more information about the Catherine Grace Foundation, or for details of how you can help, call Sam Kirby on 0117 973 6875.
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