I began my school life at Overton Road School, I enjoyed going but I found at Break time that I was attacked by the other children as I came from the new houses and—without reason—this was the dividing line between the end of Overton Road and the end of The Portwey. There were about three fields in between which was a kind of no man’s land. I remember the teachers were very kind and did their best to protect me, but it was an impossible situation; especially as the rest of the children I knew went to St. Barnabas school. After a time coming home bruised and battered and with clothes dirty or torn my mother decided that she would make a stand, and she kept me at home unless I could go with the other children to St. Barnabas, the school inspector came and she was threatened with prosecution, but she remained adamant and in the end I went to the first class at St. Barnabas.
My sister Jessie was given the responsibility of protecting me and as she was, or appeared to me at that time, considerably older so I obeyed implicitly all instructions given by her.
The teacher of the first class was Mrs. Brown, who I remember as an ample motherly figure who treated all the children kindly. The class was a mixed class and quite large. Discipline was rigidly enforced. Seats were allocated, as were clothes pegs in the cloakroom. The first thing we learnt was the way in which you went into the assembly and then to the classroom. Being left at the main gate, as mothers were not allowed into the playground, I was escorted by Jessie to the building, where she showed me where to meet her, and she told me not to move from there. All the new entrants were marshalled together and then the rule began.
The playground was divided across the middle by iron railings, the part nearest to the school was for the infants and downstairs classes and the other playground was for the juniors and the classes that were upstairs, known as standard H upwards. There was a senior class, but that was all girls and I never really understood why they were that much older and still at the school, they were in the charge of Miss Breeze, a very remote and distant person. St, Barnabas school catered for children up to the age of “Scholarship”, that is 11+, Those that passed the scholarship examination went on to one of the four grammar schools for boys or girls. Education after 11 was single sex and co-education was unknown in the area. The near misses in the exam went to an intermediate school where some were promoted to grammar schools and the others remained. The remainder went to the “Board” schools. The system established a hierarchy among the children themselves who up to 11+ had all been equal.
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