Just driven past Tapton school on Darwin Lane in Crosspool, for the first time in many many years, and it was....well missing!!
At least I couldnt see it, you used to walk down a short few steps with a gate....both had vanished!! Once down thos steps you hit the science block and then the main concrete building which ran parallel to the car park. There was no gateway and not a building to be seen, just grass.

did they knock the whole place down? I didnt have time to stop and drive into the driveway and see what was at the other end. My old school.....where is it?

They knocked it down a built an awful looking faceless new one instead.

OH! I couldnt seen it from Darwin Lane, must be well set back then. Knocked it down......well it was a bit of a grothole I seem to recall, but not worthy of demolition I would have thought. Does none of the original buildings still stand? The huge Gym? The main block? The various extra buildings like the english and language block which looked new back in the early 80's?

I thought the new timber clad building (Gym?) looked quite cool personally.

Originally posted by goldenfleece
Does none of the original buildings still stand? The huge Gym? The main block? The various extra buildings like the english and language block which looked new back in the early 80's? [/B]
They're all gone - mobile classrooms and all. ;)

Hiya Goldenfleece,
Did you go to Tapton,if so what year did you leave?

I work there, so it must still be there but not as it was.

I started work at the new school, 3 years ago. They built the new one on the old carpark and playing fields and when they opened the new one knocked down the old building. It was all done on PFI scheme and is due to be handed back to the council after 25 years, if it is still standing (which will suprise me).

Originally posted by t020
They knocked it down a built an awful looking faceless new one instead.

Yeah, like the old one was much better?!? My old form room was an ancient portakabin...!

I'm with Tony,

Both King Teds and Tapton were dumps with no architectural importance whatsoever and in a terrible state of repair.

The Buildings look much smarter and probably are far more economical and practical.

Tapton is just miserable because they still feel inferior to King Edwards ;)

I was at Tapton 75 to 77 then moved to king Edwards as they had a better 6th form (supposedly)!!

I cant recall too many names but my form teacher was mrs Falshawe who I think did English but not certain. I remember the deputy head, big fat man......now what was the name of the headmaster in the 70s? Remember the geography teacher Kirkman, totally mad John Cleese lookalike!!! There was a mad chemistry teacher called mr Pidd, who looked like a real mad scientist.

Our form room was a portakabin in the last year, near the car park, prior to that in the top building room 302 I remember.

Hiya
I was at Tapton in 73 to 77,so you must have been in my year!The headmaster was called Mr North,used to haunt the place.He used to frighten me to death because he used to sneak up on you.There were also Mr Pratt,Mr Hook,Mr Metcalfe,Mr Mathews(mad man)Mrs Simpson(I was in her form in the sewing room)Miss Seymour,Miss Taylor...I can remember most of them!!

I was at tapton 1998 to 2003! anyone else?

Originally posted by goldenfleece
There was a mad chemistry teacher called mr Pidd, who looked like a real mad scientist.

Mr Pidd retired at the end of last year, and he was/is still the mad scientist. We would tell him it was now banned and he would be 'i have used it for years how can it be banned' Phospyhorous being his fave.

He is still around till Xmas though helping his replacement settle in, so if anyone want to come back and see him again/have a look around the new school, i am sure they would oblige.

Well I'm reading/writing this from the 6th form area of said faceless building. Trying to apply for uni open days. They're all on the same days! Anyway, I hope it's still here, because I would like to think that the chair I'm sitting in (nice and squishy armchair) is real. Nice plasma screen computers too. And we have a 6th form balcony! Not that bad a building- it may be characterless but at my old school, Newfield, the toilets used to leak. We have a BALCONY here. See the difference?




PS - oen of my friends from High Storrs once described this building as 'an upside down milk carton'.

hey aside from mr Pidd any teachers from the mid 70's still there? I DO remember Mr North the head now...and yes he was a VULTURE....liked to swoop down on you from a great height and was very fond of using the old corporal punishment slipper!!

thank god they knocked it down, i stood and laughed as they tore it down (im not mad), i just hated going to school there and i have no fond memories at all i learnt nothing and it was a complete waste of my time xx thank you for allowing me to share that lol

anyone remember a young pretty little thing called julie walton and the gang from around 1971 1975

wot about mr vickers,that man could not leave the cane alone..
mr holland,mr mantle-sports teachers who always said-your not good enough..
everyday coming home with brusies on your legs from the blind kids braille machines...
654/754 school bus..

..............................

Originally posted by joestrummer
wot about mr vickers,that man could not leave the cane alone..
mr holland,mr mantle-sports teachers who always said-your not good enough..
everyday coming home with brusies on your legs from the blind kids braille machines...
654/754 school bus..

The braille machines still hurt just as much if you get caught with one.

The P.E. staff (male wise) have become much more interesting over the last year or so. ;) :thumbsup:

Originally posted by fuzzy
The braille machines still hurt just as much if you get caught with one.

The P.E. staff (male wise) have become much more interesting over the last year or so. ;) :thumbsup:

is mr mallinson still there? I remember him screaming his head off at us to be quiet, as there were exams going on! :loopy:

What about mrs walmsley? she was always a bit of alright! :thumbsup:

Both left at the end of last school yr.

Mr Mallinson went to the new sixth form college in Sheffield, and Ms Walmsley moved away to another school elsewhere in the country.

well actually:) i spent one year in that old building(year 7) before it was knocked down:) it was AMAZING! anyways the reason WHY it was knocked down was that king edwards(kes) had problems with the stucture, well you see..the building was collapsing and had only a mere few years before it WILL colapse so that is why kes has built a new one(and so has tapton) i think taptons school was the same as well...anyway that was wayyy back and i'm now in year 11(the year of GCSE'S AND MOCK exams):(

hey em16uk! i'm still going to kes here! and i think...KES IS FAR MORE SUPERIOR TO TAPTON! a) it has 2 schools one on darwin lane and one on glossop road,whilst tapton(is made from the same stucture as kes) only had one! so this means that kes was a FAR MORE spread out school and it will not be as cramped as tapton soo...to all taptoners...HAHA!

my two kids go to tapton, one of them always seems to be in trouble,he sticks up for another pupil and gets excluded,he voices an opinion and gets excluded, is this the answer to school problems, exclude them,never mind giving them a hearing,the teacher must be right, exclude them,...........any one else gone through this ?

Depoix

I cannot see how a pupil can be excluded just for sticking up for friend or just for voicing an opinion.

It would be interesting t see the pupil's track record and hear what the full facts are.

Schools or their headmaster's cannot just exclude pupils without just cause or they wouldn't be in a job for long.

Is it another case of blame the school not the pupil for his/her unacceptable behaviour?

If you can prove any unfairness then complain to the local education authority and get it sorted.

Be sure you have all your facts of the case before you do and not only from the pupil.

Originally posted by PopT
Depoix

I cannot see how a pupil can be excluded just for sticking up for friend or just for voicing an opinion.

It would be interesting t see the pupil's track record and hear what the full facts are.

Schools or their headmaster's cannot just exclude pupils without just cause or they wouldn't be in a job for long.

Is it another case of blame the school not the pupil for his/her unacceptable behaviour?

If you can prove any unfairness then complain to the local education authority and get it sorted.

Be sure you have all your facts of the case before you do and not only from the pupil. thats already been done,awaiting the out come as i type

up the blue bottles! down with the greenflies! or was it the other way round?
hi all, I'im a newbie on here its a great forum !
I went to Tapton in the sixties when it was new, I lived on William Street and back then Tapton seemed very clean an modern.
I'm sure mr North was there in the late sixties, and mrs simpson? there was the geography teacher who played continuous pocket billiards as he rambled on. and a great English teacher she was so good but of course we didnt appreciate her at the time.
what was the point of the endless logrithyms we had to do? Ive never needed to do a logrithym in my whole life! did any of you go down to the shops at lunch and buy yoghurt when it was new? and 5 fags with your dinner money? then have to walk home, aahh happy days...

hey i was at tapton 1983 to 1987 i hated it at the time but looking back i have some fond memorys , smoking fags in the bike sheds , running through the woods after first break to wagg it , break danceing in the assembly hall !! erm dont know if i sould admit that one !!!!
any way my name is neil bruce "brucie to my friends" any one remember me ????

tapton ex-pupil here.
1972-1979[yes 6th form, and better than king teds!]
ask me ask me ask me ask me ask me ask me anything about it.

I worked there from 1988-1993 when Mr.Speed was the head and I found it a very friendly school and I have fond memories of it. My daughter went on to university from there and it has served this family very well. I am grateful to the present staff for all their efforts and the school can hold its head high with exam results.

Wow. Some of those teacher names sound familiar. Especially Mr Pidd...

I was there 1992-1997, and grew to quite like it really. My nephew goes there now. I keep saying to myself i'm going to go and have a look at the new place, which i've not seen yet, even though I work quite close ...

Mr Pidd was my chemistry teacher back in the 70's. I got the cane off him :( There used to be a large black curtain separating the sink area between his classroom and the biology classroom in the upper school complex. Mate of mine thought it would be funny to jump me from behind, sending us both crashing through the curtain and landing at his feet!! My hand hurt like hell for the rest of the day :mad:

I went to the open day they held just before the old school was demolished and the first person I met as I walked into reception was Mr Pidd himself! We had a good chat and this incident came up in conversation. Needless to say he didn't remember it :suspect:

i was there 1976 to 1980.
The teachers I remember were Mr Pidd
(saw him on hols in Mablethorpe once)
Miss Vickers,spooky languages teacher,
Mr jackson,fab geography teacher,
Mrs Cook,- Music -always had a flask of soup.
Mr Hook,legendary cruelty,
Mr Stokes,evil and mad as a hatter,....
The super evil Mrs Nimmo,sewing,..very scary woman,
Mr Speed,..looked like Lawrence of Arabia...
Mr Bettison, (VWE 194L --how sad is that!)Mr matthewman,Dr Jolly -My mate fancied these teachers!
Mrs Hall - very strict (languages) but good teacher
Mrs Dingle,Mr Yates (Frank),Mrs Macdonald,Mr Aspinall,Mr Curtis,Mr Harris (art) Mr Rocket (useless - maths)..........and many more no doubt I'll think of once I've finished this!

The new school is no way as schooly as the old one, it feels too like a hospital for my liking all straight corridors and classrooms, wheras the old one had many exciting door ways, paths to hide on and vending machines. GRRR

The super evil Mrs Nimmo,sewing,..very scary woman,
!

I'm sorry to have to admit this, but.....
I have never been as frightened of a human being in all my life.
As soon as she entered the room, it was like a scene from Nightmare on Elm Street.
One of the funniest moments I remember from Tapton was when she told the class during needlework that she wouldn't be there for the next lesson & the lad who I was sat next to rather foolishly whispered 'good'. She heard & it was just utter carnage. Hilarious now & quite frankly hilarious at the time, but didn't dare laugh.

went to tapton school the first day it opened,the old on i mean and we came from the old springfield school near the city

Suzyoo - I lived on William Street and went to Tapton in the sixties.
Do we know each other?

BillyWhiz

anyone remember a young pretty little thing called julie walton and the gang from around 1971 1975
:rolleyes: i vaguely remember her does hazel turner john garnett sally fisher ring any bells?:rolleyes:

'They' knocked it down and replaced it with the eysore that is there now. How it will last 25 years is anybody's guess. If you think it looks awful on the outside, try working inside it everyday. Dull, oppressive, airless, impersonal, crowded, poor quality finish etc etc. What a waste of a good opportunity to produce something for everyone to be proud of and a good replacement for the old Tapton.

I was there from '77-83 and remember a TD class with Mr May.
An unfortunate black lad came in late and Mr May's comment was "where have you been sambo?" God he'd have been sacked on the spot these days!

Cyril May was probably the most frightening deputy head ever to exist...unless you were in his Tech Drawing class and were relatively good at it! I had a great respect for him - shame the goalposts have moved so much nowadays and characters like ol' Mr May are not allowed to exist anymore :mad:

(Tapton School 1973-1978)

edit: damn smileys again - 19 seventy EIGHT

Hi everyone, I was at Tapton from 72-79 at the same time as quite a few people who've posted on this thread.

I remember being terrified of May, too. Often he was delayed by his deputy head duties and so it was Mr Vickers who stood in at the beginning of TD "the best margin and block you've ever done in your lives, lads". Vickers was frightening enough but I remember praying that May would not only be late but never turn up - he always did of course.

Who remembers Mr Kirkman (who threw real bull's eyes from the butchers at peoples faces on his first day as a punishment, drove the minibus full of us kids into the sea on a Geog field trip, and dropped my pack of cigs into my pint claiming to put an end to two bad habits at the same time)?

I am a teacher now and Mr Kirkman has always been one of my role models - although I toned down some of his tactics!

And Mrs Korklin (who we weren't allowed to look down on, even though she was very small!)?

Tim (Tapton 1972 - 1979)

I was also at Tapton for the above time Timmie C so you must have been in my year! Who remembers:
Miss Stead - drop dead gorgeous but only there for one year cos she got married and moved?
Mrs Korklin - had boys and girls line up on opposite sides of the room for registration?
Mrs Hall - taught me the meaning of the word Fuehrer?!
Mr Grant - with his 'friend' the cane which would come out on the most serious occasions?
Mr Kirkman? Yes, I was on THAT minibus when it drove into the sea at Sandsend, and still have a photo of it! He also used to throw chalk at the kids - who promptly threw it back. Throwing the board wiper was it a bit harsh though!
Miss Kerr - I used to drool over her too! And I still got an "A" at A-level!
Mr Bettison - struggled to keep order but would bend over backwards to help you.
Mr Bradshaw - still lives part of the time in Crosspool. I seem to remember him dancing on a chair with his trousers rolled up saying "Ich heisse Trudi Bradshaw"?!!
Mr Shaw - who ran off to Australia I think with another teacher?
Mr Yates - the great practical joker. Fired an air rifle in the lab and wired us all upto the Van der Graaf generator so we all got a shock!!
Oh I could go on.....
However, lets not think the old Tapton building was any good. The "New" Building was designed by some eedjiot who thought you could separate classrooms by just a curtain and the sound wouldn't come through to interfere. Doh!

I was also at Tapton for the above time Timmie C so you must have been in my year! Mr Bradshaw - still lives part of the time in Crosspool. I seem to remember him dancing on a chair with his trousers rolled up saying "Ich heisse Trudi Bradshaw"?!!

Yes I remember that now you mention it Nige! Love to see Bradshaw again.

Mr Shaw - who ran off to Australia I think with another teacher?

If I remember right - ran off to Australia, met ex pupil on a beach and ended up getting married to her!

Mr Yates - the great practical joker. Fired an air rifle in the lab and wired us all upto the Van der Graaf generator so we all got a shock!!

Yes and how about the time he accidentally set fire to the box of matches in his pocket, looked at the flames coming out of his trousers and saying "Amazing"!

Oh how I wish I'd seen that last one! Frank Yates was one of the great characters in the 70s. David Bradshaw is retired now. I saw him a few weeks ago. He's keeping well.

Going back to the buildings, do people remember the "language lab" in the New Building? Lots of tape recorders and headphones. Seemed to be always breaking down. Don't know if modern teaching includes attempting such hi-tech methods. If so, I hope it works a bit more often!

I went to Tapton from '64 to '69.
The head was Sam North. His deputy was Cyril May.
Ted (Hand me that cane!) Vickers was TD.
Cyril May was married to miss ??? an english teacher.
O'Keefe was head of sports dept and loved to inflict a size 13 slipper on your ass if you misbehaved.
The best teacher by far was Mr Doughty - he was an all round genius. He ran the Ham Radio club held in Ted Vickers' classroom.
I remember being taught all about the Catholic religion in RE by a little Jewish teacher. I once questioned her about Noah's Ark, asking her the validity of the sory when it came to 1 pair of each species being loaded into the Ark. My premise was that once released, the lions and other carnivores would simply eat the other species and we would have no animals left after a month - I was branded a heathen! A title I wear with honour!!

School meals were good and lots of it.

Does anyone remember Mr Pidd? strange little man!!

Anybody out there from this era?

BillyWhiz

hi, I went to tapton 65-70 and it seems to me the teachers there lasted for ever, Mr Pidd, I never did get on in science, couldn't take him seriously. Mrs Korklin, God she was vicious, used to hit you with sissors or the iron (whatever she could lay her hands on). Mr Stokes was my fave, very strict but a brill teacher, but he used to stand at the bottom of the stairs and look up all the girls skirts, minis in those days waistbands turned over and over till we were practically wearing belts. I remember most of the others, North, Vickers, O'Keefe etc. Anyway I loved school (oh dear, should I have said that) and the dinners were good especially Fridays.... cheese pie.... yumyum. Thanks for the memories.

For those that don't already know it, take a look at this for some familiar faces!

http://www.citysnapper.org/tapton/picteach79.html

Regards
NigelT

Sorry wrong post DOH

I attended Tapton School from 72 to 76.
Some of the teachers were great:
Physics - Mr Yates (made science very interesting)
Chemistry - Mr Pidd (pulled a face while shaking test tubes with his thumb placed firmly on the end... the boys would all start giggling)
French - Mrs Farrman (remember the Tesco incident)
Maths - Mrs Dingle
Drama - Mr Lamb
Art - Mr Harris (needed to see an orthodontist)
Metalwork - Mr Metcalfe
French - Mrs Metcalfe
Maths - Mr Fay
P.E. - Mr Sadler and Mr Gnatt
Mr Godbehere (don't remember what he taught, maths?)
Biology - Mr Rigby
Geograpy - Miss Welch
Some of 'em were not so great:
English - Mr Aspinal (useless, didn't teach me a damn thing)
TD - Mr Vickers (nasty temper, caned many boys. I might have had a career in technical drawing if this sadist hadn't put me off it)
Woodwork - Mr Hook (also had a short fuse and liked to swat boys across their heads if they made a mistake)
Geography - Mr Kirkman (good sense of humour, would have benefited from some kind of anger-management therapy)
Mr and Mrs May (she retired around 74 I think)
Mr North (headmaster)
Home Economics - Mrs Korklin (thankfully I was able to totally avoid her)
Caretaker - Mr Potter (lived in that nice little bungalow behind the TD classroom, could usually be seen carrying a bucket of sand to cleanup puke)

Drewlath
Yes, John Godbehere taught maths. I was there 72-79.
Frank Yates was bril. He told us all about the practical jokes they used to play in the army, wired us all up to a vandergraaf generator and fired an air rifle across the lab. No doubt the health and safety taliban these days would ban everything like that!
We had Mr Clarke, later Sue Kerr Dave Kirkman and Dave Jackson for Geography. The latter three were good to excellent, but we did have trouble concentrating on Geography when Miss Kerr was stood in front of you! :love:
In fact, didn't Miss Welch teach history? She got married in the time we were there but I can't remember her married name.
We also had Barbara Hall for German. She was strict but she taught it well and I was able to remember it years later when I got a German girlfriend!
We also had Gwyneth Hadley and Mr Barnard for English but I don't recall learning much useful from them. I learned far more about English grammar from our German lessons!
Cheers
N

Drewlath
In fact, didn't Miss Welch teach history? She got married in the time we were there but I can't remember her married name.
I learned far more about English grammar from our German lessons!
N

NigelT
Miss Welch was my 2nd year form teacher (2W). You're right she did get married. Didn't she become Mrs Bellamy?

I too learned more English grammar from taking French, infact I got better marks in French than English!

If anyone who reads this thread was at Tapton School, between 1973-78, we are holding an school reunion upstairs in the bankers draft Sheffield from 8pm this saturday 25th October 2008.

Be great to see anyone who remembers me or knew of me, as I am sure that there maybe someone there who knows you. We are getting quite a number together who are comng along now, it was going to be about 12 of us but now looking at 20-25 and maybe more.

So if your wanting to catch up from people you may not have seen for 30 years then be in the Bankers Draft upstairs from 8pm this Saturday.

Cheers

went to tapton school the first day it opened,the old on i mean and we came from the old springfield school near the city

I also went to Tapton the first day it opened (from Crookes Endowed)

hey aside from mr Pidd any teachers from the mid 70's still there? I DO remember Mr North the head now...and yes he was a VULTURE....liked to swoop down on you from a great height and was very fond of using the old corporal punishment slipper!!

Perhaps his years as a Japanese Prisoner of War might have affected him.

For those that don't already know it, take a look at this for some familiar faces!

http://www.citysnapper.org/tapton/picteach79.html

Regards
NigelT
Did that bloke with the beard present Open University programmes ?