Walking To School

don't come back you wont ever sleep again

Hi there
thanks for your comment can you explain what you mean? I'm interested
thanks

I went to Downshall School at the same time as I 57 this year too. Funnily enough my best freind of the time has lived in Perth Australia for over 20 years! I lived in Church Road, my parents only left that house for 42 years. They used to take my kids to Seven Kings park. Having just re-looked at your
message I see you left it 5 years ago! Will still send this post anyway !

Hi Linda, I went from Downshall to Ilford County High too. My maiden name was Joan Thurston.I had my first term at infants school in a small place in Swindon called Haydon Wick starting in Sept 1956, and we then moved to Norfolk Road in Seven Kings. My mother went to see the head-teacher at Downshall Infants, would have been early 1957, to explain that my sisters and I had come from a small rural school, but she wasn't interested, said we would just have t get on with it. I was bullied for a while because of my broad Wiltshire accent, but that eventually stopped. I was also blamed for an unpleasant incident in the classroom because it was assumed that as I was from the country I was 'dirty'. Most of the children in the class knew who had been to blame, but as I was shy and a newcomer I was blamed. I went home crying to my mother, who went up to see the teacher the next day and soon put her right! We probably had better manners than they did, and were more polite too. It was Easter, and although the teacher handed out Creme Eggs to everyone, including me, she told me I didn't deserve it, even though my mother had seen her by then. I did make a few friends, Geraldine Pavely was one who I eventually went up to Ilford County High with I recall a man giving out toffees through the rails of the school when I was in the infants, until someone found out and stopped it. We also used to have tins of 'swapsies', pretty beads, buttons, crystals etc that we treasured, swapping any with friends that we didn't want with some of theirs. The juniors wasn't a good school for girls when I first went there as it was old fashioned and did not encourage girls to pass the 11 plus. During the summer holiday after my first year the head teacher died, and although this was sad, benefitted the school as the boys and girls then merged which raised the standard of education for the girls. The merge finally happened halfway through the year. I had a teacher called Mrs Kettle (think), and I still have some embroidery I did in her class. The icing on the cake though was having Mr Freeman for the next two years, his subject was maths, and most of his class passed the 11 plus due to his brilliant teaching. We also had homework each night, the subject could be anything from geography,history to religion, and we had to write a page (schoolbook page, not A4) each morning from the notes we were expected to have made. Mum and dad had bought us a set of encyclopaedia which I found invaluable for this. We did maths every day, for at least an hour, and I was in my element, it was my subject too. Homework was from our textbooks, but I was always ahead as I did more than I needed to, I loved it. We had done logarythms by the time I left primary school. What Mr Freeman didn't teach much of was English, and I went to Ilford High barely knowing a noun from a verb, but I soon caught up. Needless to day I was in the top division of four for maths, and in the top 10 within that class. Sadly we moved to Brentwood after two years and I transferred to Brentwood County High, but I was never as happy there, although I did have some good friends. At Ilford for the first time in my life I had made many friends, and been voted Form Captain, I had been on a high. The head of maths at Ilford, my ,maths teacher, said she was losing one of her star pupils, which surprised me as I hadn't thought of myself as good at the subject, it was more luck that I loved it. There were some much better than me, getting 100% at each exam, I never did that. My husband took me to see Norfolk Road and Downshall last year when we had to go to Ilford, and the primary, although now an independent school, is much the same, the old Infants and Seniors building no longer exists, a wonderful new school has replaced it. The children, now predominantly Asian, were at playtime, and they looked a happy bunch running around. Once they had gone in I took some photos. Things move on, but there is still a school there, albeit different, but the old building was well past it's sell by date, and would have been expensive to heat and maintain I should imagine. If anyone would like any photos of how it is now e-mail me on my normal e-mail of joanbirchley@hotmail.com and I will be pleased to forward them to you. Kind Regards, Joan

I went to Downshall School in 1959 age 8; we moved from Enfield, Middx., and lived in Aldborough Road. I remember Miss Fox and I think the Headmaster was Mr Nutting - that must have been after the previous head teacher died. I think I remember Mr Freeman. I have a class photo taken in 1962 I think, with Miss Fox sitting in front, she must have been our class teacher. I also remember collecting 'swaps', shiny beads and glass, etc., - we did 'swap' them with each other. I also remember skipping games, taking turns to skip in the long rope, sometimes 2 ropes turned opposite ways. Also '2 balls', 2 tennis size balls played against a wall with actions to match the recited rhymes or songs "1, 2, 3 and upsy, 4,5,6 and upsy, 7,8,9 and upsy, 10 and upsy, B,C."