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Bannockburn Nursery School
See story Memories of a Young Girl Growing Up in Plumstead ...' I attended Bannockburn Road Primary School, and was much of a loner there, as the other children didn't bother to talk to me, and I remember that no-one wanted to play with me. One day,
when I had been there for about a year or so, one of the teachers
[Mrs West ] noticed that l used to play on my own, practising
running or jumping or just playing with toys. When she asked
why I was not playing with the others, I told her I had always
played on my own as no one wanted to play with me, and they
called me a dunce. This led to her questioning the whole class
and I got the blame from them for not mixing, as well as the
other boys in the class calling me a tell-tale-tit. After a
while I tried to join in the games with the other kids but I
just got pushed away, which led to them to hit me quite frequently Extract from story; 'Memories of When We Were Young' by Harry Lane, formerly Roger Herbert. '.... I think I started going to school when I was five years old. I never attended a nursery in those days as many parents [mums] did not have jobs and, unlike today, it was the man of the house who was the bread-winner and the wives stayed at home with the children. I think I started school late in 1949, after my birthday, which was in October, or maybe it was in the new year of 1950. Unlike some of the other children at the time I was quite illiterate and couldn't add 2 + 2 together, let alone read. I attended Bannockburn Road Primary School and was much of a loner there, as the other children didn't bother to talk to me, and I remember that no-one wanted to play with me. One day, when I had been there for about a year or so, one of the teachers [Mrs West ] noticed that l used to play on my own, practicing running or jumping or just playing with toys. When she asked why I was not playing with the others, I told her I had always played on my own as no one wanted to play with me, and they called me a dunce. This led to her questioning the whole class and I got the blame from them for not mixing, as well as the other boys in the class calling me a tell-tale-tit. After a while I tried to join in the games with the other kids but I just got pushed away, which led to them to hit me quite frequently. We used a galvanised tin bath in those days, which had to be filled with hot water from the kettle. We took our bath in the Scullery (kitchen] or in the living room, on view to everyone, and the bruises on my small body were very noticeable. When my mother noticed these bruises I told her I had fallen over. After a while the bruising got worse and my parents went to the school to find out the truth, which, unfortunately for me, led me to get beaten up even more! I remember the bullies well, one of the worst bullies lived at the bottom of Barth Road, where as, I lived in the top half of the road. My parents eventually moved me to Conway Road School.....' |
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