The 1950s marked a decade of recovery, growth, and change for Botley School. The immediate post-war years, with their challenges and hardships, were gradually giving way to a renewed sense of optimism and progress.
In 1950, a significant change occurred in the school's appearance: the introduction of a school uniform. On 13 January 1950, an announcement was made that with the end of clothes rationing, a school uniform would be introduced, although no single item was to be compulsory. The uniform consisted of a black cap for boys, a black beret for girls, a black, red, and silver striped tie, and a badge featuring the St George Cross with a Tudor Rose in the centre. The estimated cost was 7 shillings for the cap/beret and badge and 4 shillings and 6 pence for the tie. By May 1950, the uniform was fully adopted. The badges were made by Thomas Factories of Birmingham, the caps and ties by Messrs Shepherd & Woodward of Oxford, and the berets by Messrs Elliston & Cavell's, also of Oxford.
Along with the uniform, the school also adopted a motto: "God First, then Man, serve all you can," or in Latin, "Cui servire est regnare" ("Whose Service is perfect freedom").
Mr. Harber, a patriotic man, meticulously documented important royal events in the school logbook. Entries from 6 and 8 February 1952, proclaimed in large, bold letters, "THE KING IS DEAD" and "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN," respectively. The Union Jack was flown at half-mast upon the King's death and then raised to full mast six hours after the proclamation of the new monarch.
The Queen's coronation in 1953 was a major event for the school. Children decorated the school and stage with red, white, and blue. A replica of the stagecoach and horses was constructed by senior and junior students and displayed in a shop window on Elms Parade. Each junior child received a coronation beaker from Berkshire County Council. After the event, the children were taken to see the colour film "Elizabeth is Queen" at the Oxford cinemas, and classes 3A and 3B even went on a trip to London to see the Coronation route.
George Harber retired on 6 April 1955, after 17 years as headmaster. He was replaced by Mr. Glyn Davies, who would later become the headmaster of Matthew Arnold School when it opened in 1958. Despite the passage of time, discipline remained strict, with corporal punishment, including caning, still used.
The school was organised into four houses or teams: Angles (yellow), Saxons (blue), Jutes (red), and Danes (green), which competed in sports and other activities. (Originally there were only two teams, Angles and Saxons.)
School visits, though less frequent than in later years, were a highlight. Whole-school trips took place in the summer to places like the Wye Valley or the south coast, requiring a convoy of seven or eight coaches. Senior students even had the opportunity to go abroad. One former pupil, Mr. Duester, recalled his first trip abroad to Switzerland at the age of 14, which involved traveling by ship to France and then by coach to Switzerland. On 1 November 1956, a group of teachers took some children to Abingdon to see Queen Elizabeth II, and most of the children waved flags.
Miss King, who joined the school in January 1956, remembered the school as being extremely overcrowded, with 850 people on-site before Matthew Arnold School was built. Seniors occupied the main building, and classrooms were squeezed into every available space, including the entrance area, outside the headmaster's study, in the hall, on the stage, in the canteen, in changing huts, and even in the bike sheds. Miss Woodward taught in one of the bike sheds and recalled rainwater dripping down her neck. Playtimes had to be staggered, and even the quad was used as a classroom in good weather. One room was designated for woodwork (for boys), and another for domestic science (for girls).
P.G. Lane, a teacher at the school, painted a large mural, which can still be seen today at the top of the stairs from the Forest School door. This mural was created to celebrate the school's 20th anniversary in 1958. Mr. Lane later went on to work with Mr. Davies at Matthew Arnold School and eventually became a professional artist.
Following a school inspection, it was determined that a new secondary modern school was needed to alleviate the severe overcrowding. The new school would be built on Cumnor Hill. Botley School would then become a primary school.
In July 1958, Mr. Davies left with the senior students to become the head of the new Matthew Arnold School. In September 1958, Mr. Willoughby began his tenure as the first headmaster of Botley Primary School, now serving children aged 5-11. The school day was from 8:50 to 12:00 in the morning and 1:30 to 3:45 in the afternoon (with infants finishing at 3:30). The number of pupils at Botley was now reduced to 428.
Former pupil, Mrs. Shaw, remembered Mr. Willoughby as a strict disciplinarian, while Mrs. Moody knew him as an excellent musician who led the upper school in singing. Jean Hope found him approachable.