Typical day 1907-1937

"We used to be there about 9 o'clock in the morning and used to be there until 4. We used to have about an hour for lunch. I don't think there were school dinners in those days. the children who used to come from the villages used to come on the bus and bring a packed lunch with them. We used to have a break mid-morning and we could buy a third of a pint of milk for about a halfpenny I think. We used to have 'Horlicks' tablets as well for the children to get the vitamins I presume. Apart from that we used to go out and play.
We had cookery lessons with a Miss Dowdine, but we had to go up to Wolverton school for that. I made a casserole one day and burnt that.! Apart from doing the cooking, we had 'housewifery' and I was put on scrubbing some room out and forgot all about my dinner didn't I? and said" shall I throw it away?" but she nearly went bezerk.! "Don't you dare do that!" We made bread, I made good bread.
We had a blackboard and easel in those days and everything was written on that. We had big globes of the world and desks that lifted up, which I think were much nicer for learning than the tables they use today.We had 'scratchy pens', (pens with nibs) and an inkwell in the desk. The teacher sat at a desk in front of the class and if you wanted to ask anything you had to put your hand up.
For P.E we used to tuck our clothes in our knickers and wear black plimsolls. We wore a different coloured band for different teams and we had sports down at the sports ground at the Ancell Trust."
(May Frisby - Pupil in 1928)

"We held assembly in the hall taken by Mr Wright (the Headmaster). I taught the 5-7 year olds, reading, numbers, spelling, writing, handicraft or nature study, knitting and painting. We used to read poetry to the children and Enid Blyton's 'Sunny Stories' were a favourite.
Children went home for lunch, the village children used to bring a packed lunch.
We had the alphabet around the classroom walls and used to make 'reading ladders' to help the children learn difficult words. Once they had learned the words, they loved reading. I could bring anything in to put on the walls that would help the children with their learning."
(Mabel Smith - Teacher 1930-1932)

_{May Frisby as a child}