Between 1918 and 1920 nearly 200 Catholic schools were absorbed into the state system under very favourable conditions for the church, allowing the continuation of its form of Christian upbringing. However, no allowance was made in the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 for the establishment of new Catholic schools. Until 1920 the Catholic children in Bonnybridge had attended the schools in the area with little or no comment. However, in that year some of the Roman Catholics there asked if it would be possible for them to have their own building. In 1922 Stirling County Education Authority refused this request on the grounds of cost and stated that the Act of 1918 did not require the Education Authority to set up separate Roman Catholic schools. It seems that the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church decided to make it a test case and in 1923 wrote to the Scottish Education Department and to the Stirlingshire Education Committee asking for a separate school in the Bonnybridge area. Not surprisingly, the request was again turned down and it was pointed out that there was plenty of accommodation in the existing schools.
The Scottish Education Department was asked to compel Stirling to build the school, but although they were sympathetic, the Department had no power in law to do so. It wrote to the Church stating that its hands were tied, and it could only really act if there was a school there. Stirling County Education Authority reconsidered the request and rejected it again in February 1924.
As it happened, plans were already in hand for a new Catholic church in High Bonnybridge and so, given the statement from the Department, it was decided to build a school alongside of it. Early in 1925 the Trustees for the Roman Catholic parents acquired the site to the south of the chapel and built a school. The school was built of concrete blocks – then a new material – and roughcast. Composite linings were placed on the interior walls and electric lighting and central heating were installed. There were eight classrooms, a head teacher’s room, staff rooms and cloakrooms. On 12 August 1925 St Joseph’s Church, next to the nearly completed school, was blessed by Bishop Graham. Despite the building work not being quite finished, the school was officially opened a week later at the start of the new school term. It had room for 380 pupils and was staffed by a headmaster and four teachers. The unfinished work was on the toilets and the lack of them led to a small fine at the Sheriff Court. The next step was an inspection by the Scottish Education Department which produced a good report. On 18 November 1926 the Scottish Education Department gave its consent to the transfer of the school within the state system in accordance with Section 18 (sub-section 7) of the Education Act of 1918 which said that, with the consent of the Scottish Education Department, a voluntary school may be transferred to the Local Education Authority. The Stirling County officials countered that the use of the word “may” did not amount to a compulsion to do so. The school trustees then took an action against the County in the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The Lord Ordinary, Lord Murray, finally decided in April 1928 that the Trustees of Bonnybridge St. Joseph’s were at liberty to offer their school for transfer and if they did so the County was compelled to accept because the Scottish Education Department had consented to the transfer. The County appealed against the decision and the appeal was heard in the Inner House of the Court of Session which decided by a majority of three to one that the County need not accept the transfer.
The matter now became one of national importance as, if left unchallenged, it might mean that the secondary schools that were beginning to be introduced with the extension of the school-leaving age, would not include any solely for Catholics. The Catholic Church urged the matter to be taken to the House of Lords, the Supreme Civil Court of the United Kingdom. Support came from all over Scotland. On 16 December 1929, the House of Lords, by a majority of four to one, upheld the case that the clause “may be transferred’ in the context of the whole section, meant that when it was offered for transfer, the Authority had no option but to accept it, providing the Scottish Education Department agreed to the transfer. So on 13 March 1930, Stirling County Council accepted the transfer of St. Joseph’s and all the financial responsibilities involved. The formal transfer was backdated to 28 December 1926.
By the end of the 1960s it was clear that the school buildings at Broomhill, Castlecary, Greenhill and St Joseph’s were in need of replacement. In February 1972 the Education committee of the Stirling County Council brought forward a plan for two new schools side by side – one for Catholic and one for Protestant children. The idea was that the two schools would share an assembly hall, dining room and perhaps a general purposes room as well as the playground. The new complex was to cost £300,000 and work was intended to start early in 1975. The Catholic parents opposed the plan.
It was 1988 before building work began at St Joseph’s School. Land was acquired to the east of the existing building and after much alteration to the contours the school was built there. Once completed, in 1989, the old buildings were demolished and their site was used as part of the playground.
The school was further extended in 2014 and the front playground became a staff car park. Archaeological work in advance showed that the Roman levels associated with the Antonine Wall would not be affected by the work.
| YEAR ARRIVED | HEADTEACHER | YEAR LEFT | No. PUPILS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925 | Daniel Foley | 1933 | 245 |
| 1933 | John Power | 1950 | |
| 1950 | Patrick Doherty | 1953 | |
| 1953 | John K Flynn | 1961 | |
| 1961 | Thomas Healey | 1974 | |
| 1974 | Mrs Cecilia Gray | ||
| ?1981 | Mrs Bell | ||
| Mrs Clark | |||
| 2012 | Mrs Aileen Brady (nee McFeat) | Present |
Sites and Monuments Record
| ST JOSEPH’S ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL Broomhill Road, High Bonnybridge | SMR 1705 |
Falkirk Local History Society 