Late 50s Grammar Schools

[Puffin4 10]

I also remember the arrival of that PE teacher, either from college or national service. He was also a sadist of the first water.

 

My first form master, Peter Spinks is the one I will always remember as Mr Nice Guy. He started at NEGS at the same time as me and was my form master on more than one occasion. He also taught maths but, in my case, not very effectively. Perhaps he should have not spared the rod so much.

[manaman 10]

I was at NEGS from 56-58... I only wish we'd known then that the sadistic 'Loobys' real name was Sensicle Harrison Boule, boy! could we have had some fun!

 

I was at NEGS from 52 to 57, I think that Senc. started at the same time as me. As Puffin4 has stated he was always known as Senc.

[DUFFEMS 56]

I also remember the arrival of that PE teacher, either from college or national service. He was also a sadist of the first water.

 

My first form master, Peter Spinks is the one I will always remember as Mr Nice Guy. He started at NEGS at the same time as me and was my form master on more than one occasion. He also taught maths but, in my case, not very effectively. Perhaps he should have not spared the rod so much.

 

Mr.Spinks was in the position of Deputy Head when I was at Brincliffe Grammar which closed in 1965 as I left.

Have you seen the information about Nether Edge/Brincliffe which was written by Mr.Spinks?

 

Duffems

[manaman 10]

How did you not all know? I was there from 50 to 56, during which time Senc. arrived and everyone was aware of his strange forename. I think he was South African and I also think his speciallity was maths, although he never taught me.

 

Senc. is not South African, he is a Sheffielder, born and bred at Gleadless.

He was a classmate of my brother, and both are on a photograph of Gleadless School Infants in Pauline Shearstone's book, "OLD GLEADLESS, Just a little country village".

 

His speciality was maths. He never taught me nor was he ever my form master.

[Pseudonym 10]

I was at NEGS from 52 to 57, I think that Senc. started at the same time as me. As Puffin4 has stated he was always known as Senc.

I believe you both but we weren't aware of that fact... although I suppose the nickname 'Looby' was sufficiently derogatory for the time, especially if you cast your mind back to Andy-Pandy and his little friend! <g>

 

The only regrets that I have about our conduct during that period was the way that we treated poor old 'Claude' Raines (sp?). At ABGS the geography classroom was tucked away at the top of the building, well out of the way and did we ever take advantage of that fact!

 

We used to light fires in desks at the back of the room and wait for the rising smoke to be noticed... and then watch Claude flying around trying to put them out, as fast as he managed to do this, we'd light another. I remember on one occasion, when lock-knives were all the rage, someone threw one at the rollerboard whilst Claude was drawing a map on it, the knife stuck quivering between the fingers of his outstretched hand, amazingly he calmly removed it, folded it up, put it in his pocket and continued drawing on the board.

 

His problems were many & varied... Mice were put in his desk drawer, one of which bit his finger and left him sat there sucking blood from the bite, whilst trying to restore order. At other times we'd hide small transistor radios in the light fittings amongst other places and generally torment the life out of the poor guy!

 

All this could well be the reason why I scored 12% in the geography GCE trials!

[manaman 10]

 

I do seem to recall that he was known to have a market stall, something that we found remarkable for a 'master' to operate at that time...

 

Yes he took maths and hardly a lesson went by without one of us being slippered for either a real or imaginary offence, it didn't seem to matter which... As I say, he was a sadistic son of a.... And not the only master there who could be fairly described as such either!

 

A clue... "If you can, do... If you can't, teach... If you can't teach, become a P.E. instructor!"

 

I guess that being of doubtful parentage was a prerequisite to enable teachers to control a class at that time, the only 'nice guys' that I remember were 'Freddie' Potts & 'Claude' Raines... Both of whose classes invariably ran riot! I suppose, looking back, that we were mainly evil little so-and-so's given half a chance!

 

I think that you've amply demonstrated with your posts,the apparent steep decline in standards, from a well respected and well run grammar school with ill equipped buildings and facilities, when transferred to new "state of the art" premises. I wonder if it had anything to do with disipline, or lack of?

 

Finally, if you want to know about the parentage and family of the teacher that you are so dismissive of; and the family business you belittle. I suggest that you obtain a copy of the book that I mentioned in my previous post, and read the section on Seagrave Nurseries.

[Pseudonym 10]

Manaman... I questioned the parentage as an alternative to using a mild obscenity... As for belittling a family and a family business, I'm afraid you've lost me there, I wasn't aware that I'd done so...

 

On your other point, when discipline was applied, you couldn't wish for better-behaved pupils, so yes it was most certainly necessary... a salutary lesson for today I think?

 

BTW... I remember that we had someone just like you impress me as being, in our class, he didn't bring an apple for the teacher every day as far as I know, but he was treated by the rest of us as though he had!

[manaman 10]

I also remember the arrival of that PE teacher, either from college or national service. He was also a sadist of the first water.

 

My first form master, Peter Spinks is the one I will always remember as Mr Nice Guy. He started at NEGS at the same time as me and was my form master on more than one occasion. He also taught maths but, in my case, not very effectively. Perhaps he should have not spared the rod so much.

 

The P.E. teacher started the same time as me. He came straight from Loughborough College, which was and still is a physical training and specialised sports university.

 

Peter Spinks never taught me nor was he ever my form master, but in any ad hoc dealings with him, I would agree he was a Mr. Nice Guy.

 

The most effective maths teacher that I had at NEGS was Laurie Arden. He took over from George Wilkinson when George was appointed headmaster. Laurie was a hard taskmaster, but at the same time was able to explain in relatively simple terms the intricasies of the maths in hand, and then give positive encouragement to our problem solving.

[manaman 10]

Manaman... I

 

BTW... I remember that we had someone just like you impress me as being, in our class, he didn't bring an apple for the teacher every day as far as I know, but he was treated by the rest of us as though he had!

 

If you mean that that lad didn't follow the sheep in lighting fires in desks and throwing knives at teachers etc. during lessons, then yes he would have been like me and MOST OF MY CLASSMATES. We did have our moments in both Claude Raines' and Freddie Potts' classes, but nothing like the above.

 

The lad may have thought it was a privilege to have a grammar school education in order to aspire to, and achieve a better quality of life when reaching adulhood. Especially if his siblings or neighbourhood friends hadn't been lucky enough to have had the same opportunity. It could certainly concentrate the mind.

 

In hindsight, do you consider that you gained from a grammar school education, or do you think you deprived somebody else from having the opportunity.

[Pseudonym 10]

...In hindsight, do you consider that you gained from a grammar school education, or do you think you deprived somebody else from having the opportunity.

With hindsight I consider that my being able to take advantage of a grammar school education meant considerably more to my parents than it did to me at the time...

 

However, it taught me a great deal... though not much about geography and chemistry, unsurprisingly!

 

Len Buchan for example, was an excellent teacher of english, both literature and language and was even able to make The Bard (not Beedle the bard) sound interesting... A great achievement in my estimation.

 

It was him what learnt me how to write proper, innit!

[Puffin4 10]

Senc. is not South African, he is a Sheffielder, born and bred at Gleadless.

He was a classmate of my brother, and both are on a photograph of Gleadless School Infants in Pauline Shearstone's book, "OLD GLEADLESS, Just a little country village".

 

His speciality was maths. He never taught me nor was he ever my form master.

 

Hi Manaman,

 

Thank you for exploding that myth for me. I don't know where I got hold of it but I can now delete it from my memory banks. The only other bit of gen I have on him is my memory of an entry in the births column of The Star " To Jean (?) and Senc. a son, Sensicle". Can you explode that one too? After all, it is 52 years since I left NEGS and 50 since I left Sheffield.

 

I remember when Vince arrived, he wore a blazer with a Loughborough crest on the pocket; I think it was more his demeanour which put me in mind of the sadistic PTI's that I met a few years later when I joined the RAF.

 

Mike

[Fareast 10]

I think it 's a measure of the respect / fear that we had of our teachers at NEGS that, even after more than 50 years, I can still remember as a 1st. Year, seeing the door to our classroom open and Len Buchan 's 5 fat, white fingers, curling round the door, signalling his entrance into the classroom.. A shudder of fear went through most of us at the thought of the ordeals, learning and possible punishments to come, during the next40 minutes.However, as somone has said, he was a very effective teacher, and was never physically brutal. Our ' wonderful ' , overpaid, educational bureaucrats have never learned the simple lesson that

if you take away the authority and fear of the teacher, the vacuum will be filled by bullies-------and hence the almost total mess that education is in today. Still.......if the sheep-like British Public don 't mind wasting billions of pounds on what passes for education today, so be it ......! Perhaps you don 't need education to watch Big Brother......etc.... ?