Reference
BTC
Title
Bedford Training College, its successors and associated schools.
Date free text
1855-1994
Production date
From: 1855 To: 1994
Creator
Admin/biog history
Bedford Kindergarten Company Limited was formed in 1881 with the aim of running a Kindergarten school to feed into the Harpur Trust schools. By the end of the year a school had been formed, however the need for the training of Kindergarten teachers had also been recognised and the following year, 1882, the Bedford Training College opened. The schools expanded and became two schools The Crescent and Froebel House schools each with a Kindergarten, Transistion and Preparatory department within them. Students from the Training College carried out their teaching practice at the schools. By 1950 the financial situation was unsustainable and the Training College became part of the local education authority system and the schools were closed. In 1976 and 1982 there were further changes with the Training College joining with the College of Physical Education and Mander College and then becoming part of De Montford University. In 1994 the Bedford campus of De Montford University left the De Montford brand and joined with Luton University to form the University of Bedfordshire.
Archival history
The collection relating to the Bedford Training College and the schools was created and maintained by one of the university staff, Richard Smart, who in 1982 produced a detailed accession list. On the reorganisation of the University Richard Smart left. In 2008 the room in which the material was kept was cleared and the material thrown out. It was rescued by the Polhill campus library who contacted the Record Office. In 2009 the archives were transferred to Bedfordshire & Luton Archives Service, artifacts were transferred to Bedford Museum and the book stock was left for the library to dispose of. In the period between 2007-2009 the material had fallen into complete disarray making selection difficult. It is believed that most of the important archives have been deposited with the record office and can be traced back to Mr Smart's original list, which is now catalogued as CRV72/BTC.
Reference
The material was used as the basis for Richard Smart's book on the history of the Bedford Training College and the Physical Education College.
Level of description
fonds
- On Others' Shoulders
Notes :