MAKERS of a Channel Four TV documentary on the history of education hope Ramsbottom people will help them make the grade.

They want to talk to anyone who was a pupil of Sir Rhodes Boyson when he taught at the town's Peel Brow Secondary Modern School in the late 1950s and early 60s.

And they are anxious to talk to parents whose children attended the school during that particular period.

The three-part series, charting the history of education since 1870, is scheduled to be screened on Channel Four this autumn.

One of the programmes will feature secondary modern schools and at the same time focus on the career of Sir Rhodes Boyson.

David Leafe of Twenty Twenty Television, which is involved in the documentary, said: "As a case study of secondary moderns, we're taking a look at Sir Rhodes Boyson when he was a teacher in Ramsbottom.

"He writes in his autobiography that when he got to this school, how rough it was and how he was able to overcome the nightmare and get control."

Mr Leafe added: "The book also talks about one particular form, 2A, and how bright and keen the pupils were.

"Sir Rhodes was sad the kids at Ramsbottom couldn't do external exams and he left in protest."

Apart from wishing to hear from pupils who were taught by Sir Rhodes, now a Conservative MP, children's parents are also urged to come forward.

"This was after the war and the introduction of the eleven-plus. We want to find out if parents had a sense of failure if their children didn't pass."

Ex-pupils are asked to telephone Mr Leafe with their memories of Sir Rhodes Boyson on 0171 284 2020.

Alternatively, they can write to him at Twenty Twenty Television, 20 Kentish Town Road, London NW1 9NX.

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