Following the reorganisation of schools under the Education Act 1944, the Foundling Hospital began to provide education under the name of Thomas Coram Schools, supported by a grant from Hertfordshire County Council. After the Children Act 1948 placed an obligation on local authorities to provide child welfare services, the emphasis in child care in Britain began to shift from residential institutions to foster care, with children living in local homes and attending local schools. In 1951 the Berkhamsted building became a secondary modern school, under the name "Ashlyns School". For a time some children under the care of the charity continued to live in the school, but once they moved out after 1954, their dormitories on the first floor became class rooms. In 1955, after protracted negotiations, the Ashlyns School and the Foundling Hospital estate (including staff houses in Coram Close) were sold to Hertfordshire County Council for the sum of £225,000. In the 1960s, Ashlyns became a comprehensive school.