We were very sad to learn this week of the passing of Miss Reid, Bromley High’s Headmistress between 1971 and 1983. Miss Reid ushered in a period of change to the School. As an alumna commented:
‘… changes came quickly. Away went the school hat, the indoor and outdoor shoes, in came ‘pupil power’ in the form of pupil representation on School Council, the trendy school magazine… changes were for the better: more frequent exchanges of views, greater liberalism.’
Miss Reid was also pivotal in coordinating the move of Bromley High School to our current site in Blackbrook Lane, with the Senior School moving first in 1981, eventually followed by Juniors. Prior to the move to Blackbrook Lane, she oversaw a substantial renovation in the original school grounds and her determination ensured that the original terra-cotta slabs bearing the name ‘Bromley High School for Girls’ set in the brickwork of the original site moved with the School. As Miss Reid herself described: ‘…set into the fabric of the new school, a part of 1883 still … with us a hundred and more years on.’
Miss Reid was educated at Talbot Heath School, Bournemouth, which she followed with a Modern Languages degree at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. After some time spent working as a Hospital Almoner, she went to South Africa in 1950 on a 3yr teaching contract before returning to complete her PGCE. She followed this with times teaching at Benenden School and St. Felix School Southwold, before becoming Headmistress of King Edward’s Grammar School for Girls in Birmingham, followed by her arrival at Bromley High School.
We are indebted to Miss Reid and all that she did for our School, and we pass on our sincere condolences to her family and friends.
Her family has advised that if anyone would like to make a donation Miss Reid had chosen the St Vincent De Paul Society which supports the homeless in the Parish of The Church of Our Lady and All Saints in Stourbridge. Donations can be sent to Wombourne
Funeral Services, Smestow House, 124 Bridgnorth Road, Wombourne, WV5 8AY.