Memories

John can be seen on the right of this picture at a prize giving ceremony in 1960.

We are proud of our time at JRS and have fond memories of the staff there at the time. I was a pupil from 1956 to 1960 and had only 1 year with Mr Rex as Geography Teacher before he moved on. In the second year I was lucky enough to go on the school trip to Switzerland, largely organised I believe by Mr Godfrey the Science Teacher, staying a few days in Trient and then Salvan as well as the whole class trip for a week to Barmoor near Hutton-le-Hole, all very enjoyable. The following year I returned to Salvan with the school trip once again. This turned out to be a particularly significant trip.

The journey to and from Salvan was much more difficult that it would be today. We had a very early start from York station by train to Kings Cross, a tube trip to Victoria station and then on to the Boat Train to Folkestone. Naturally the channel was rough so many of the party were seasick. After arriving in Calais we were straight on to our train to Basel and we would not arrive there until 4 am next day. After breakfast in the cafe there, they were open at that time, we were back on a train to Martigny and a coach to Salvan. The return journey was just the reverse but timing was different. The Channel Ferry was delayed as it was even rougher than the outward journey but the Boat Train had to wait for the ferry. Consequently we were late getting to Victoria. Even with a mad dash accross London we missed our connection at Kings Cross for York and our reserved coach also we lost some of the party along with a teacher as they took the wrong passage in the underground at Kings Cross and ended up in St Pancras station. An easy mistake to make even today. We were shepherded onto the next train for York to find seats where we could and four of us sat at a table. I was sat with three girls, two of whom I barely knew their names. As luck would have it the Father of one of those girls also joined that train. Realising the party was on board he sought out his daughter and having found her bought us all some food and drink which was much appreciated. That is how I became aware of Elaine Willis. Although we travelled on the same school bus every day, me from Osbaldwick and Elaine from Burnholme. Although I knew her name she was just another girl from the junior year.

One of the features of JRS at that time were the Friday evening and impromptu wet lunchtime dances organised mostly by the Music Teacher Jack Glasby. Following our meeting on the train I gradually spent more of these dances in the group which included Elaine and by the time I left the school to go to York Tech College we were, I suppose, an item. We are pleased to say we still are. Yes we have more than education to thank our time at JRS for. Under the leadership of Headmaster Arthur Duckworth it was a happy place to be for most students and Elaine and I were pleased when the fearsome, and friendly, Maths Teacher Mr Fredrick Oswald Smith accepted the invitation to our wedding in 1967. We are still thankful for the many mental arithmatic exercises he put us through including extended times tables!

Following my year at Engineering College I joined the Royal Air Force, trained as a photographer, specialised in Aerial Photography. Before I left the service I was able to supply aerial photographs of the School as it was when we were there and how it was at that time, maybe they still survive. On retiring from the military I joined the MOD Civil Service and worked making bespoke military maps from aerial photographs. Elaine went to the Commerce dept of York Technical College. She then worked at the Midland Bank, now HSBC, in Parliament Street, York until we married when she moved to the Cambridge Branch as we were living in St Ives, Cambridgeshire. She then moved on to the British Staff Office as PA to the Head Officer at RAF Alconbury, a USAF base. We had two three year spells in Germany after which Elaine decided to stay in our own home and provide stability for our two boys while I continued as a serviceman does moving around with spells near Ipswich, in Belize and two spells in Northern Ireland. I had previously had two years in Singapore while we were engaged. After raising our two boys, Elaine returned to work initially as a Civil Service Clerk before spending over twenty years as one of three Receptionists in the Planning Department of Huntingdonshire District Council where they were known to the regular customers as the Three Witches!

Yes, we have much to thank Joseph Rowntree Secondary Modern School, as it was known in our time there, for. A happy place to learn and to start a happy and successful life and spread into a happy retirement.

John & Elaine Webber

I attended Joseph Rowntree Secondary Modern School from 1965-1970 after leaving Ralph Butterfield Primary School in Haxby.

I have many happy memories of the school and in hindsight realise how lucky we were to have the opportunities given to us. I was in Severus (Green) and was the House Captain at one point.

I believe we were the first year to be taught a foreign language - French. For some reason I just took to it and it became my best subject. We were taught by Professor Eric Hawkins who was wonderful. He took us to the Language Lab at York University every week. We also did 2 exchange trips to Amiens and Dijon. The first was for 6 weeks when we were only 12 – quite an adventure in those days. It was certainly the best way to learn the language. In later years in my job as a Chartered Librarian I came across a number of language books he had written.

I also went on a skiing trip to Mustair – again think we were only about 12/13 and loved that too. We were allowed to take £5 with us but even that was quite a lot for our parents. We went on Geography trips to Staithes and Runswick Bay

I was always very shy at school and blushed easily so was surprised when I was chosen to be Head Girl. I had to read out the announcements on stage each morning at assembly and dreaded it. There used to be a big board in the entrance which listed the Head Boys and Girls so presume my name appeared at some point.

When we came to do exams, CSE’s had just been brought in so someone had the “good” idea we would take most subjects in both CSE and O Level. It meant a lot of exams but was glad in the end as Maths was never my strong point but I managed to get Grade 1 CSE which was classed as an O level equivalent.

Helen Cooper and myself, I believe, were the first 2 pupils to get O Level Grade 1 English Language – don’t know how.

I also have vivid memories of the smells- there were long glass windows and being so close to Rowntree's Chocolate factory got the smell of polo mints and melted chocolate. At times, depending on the wind, there was a rather unpleasant smell which I believe came from a local abattoir.

My only disappointment is that those of us who wanted to do A levels had to go elsewhere and I went to Mill Mount Girls Grammar School. I hated it as the method of teaching was totally different. I passed my A levels – just – and do believe had I been able to stay on at Joseph Rowntree I would have done better – sadly I think it was only the year after I left it became a Comprehensive. French had always been my best subject and hoped to do something with Languages but after all we did with Prof Hawkins we just recited verbs and had to know the language rules which wasn’t how we had learnt it.

Also some of the girls (not all) made you feel like second class citizens as you had only been to a Secondary Modern, they also asked how we managed to work with boys around!

Joseph Rowntree did me and my sister proud, I am so glad I went there – she became a Solicitor and a partner in a York firm and I became a Chartered Librarian and in my final 10 years at work Managed the Cheshire Schools Library Service covering 4 authorities. I wasn’t particularly academic (like my sister) and hated exams but it shows that with support if you try your best you can achieve what you want. This was something I tried to get across to pupils when I was a School Librarian at a large High School in Cheshire.

Mr Duckworth was the Head Teacher and looking back I think most of the teachers at the time were quite young and they were there to help you in any way they could.

Lesley Simons

Lesley is shown here on the left as they role play buying items from a shop in French.

Lesley can be seen here in her French lesson with French exchange students present.

I was a student at the school from 2009 to 2016. I am currently completing a PhD in biology at the University of Edinburgh, which has been my dream for a long time. This would not have been possible if not for my experiences at Joseph Rowntrees and the teachers I had that helped mould me into the person I am today. In particular the guidance of Sarah Billinge as my head of Sixth Form and biology teacher, the passion of Ollie Watkins and Peter Hanlon in psychology and history respectively, and the motivation from Craig Hornsby and Ray Hatter in maths were all key in developing my skills, interests and drive. They and many more associated with the school have taught me many academic and life lessons I still remember to this day. These positive influences and shoves in the right direction have all played a part in me achieving success in my dream job, and everyone at the school deserves to be remembered as such. What made my time at the school great was the people who worked there.

Bob Mason

We had a Chinese goose we named hissing sid. We had a cow, pig, sheep, chickens a goat and more geese. I started school in 1978, my first form teacher was Mr Allen 1ma. I remember the rsla block. All the teachers were good. Mr Mills was the Head Teacher. I remember the small group of us having extra English in a room above the cooking classes. My form numbers were 1ma, 2me, 3mm, 4mm, 5mj, Mrs John being my last form teacher.

I remember coming in to school one misty morning and our cow had got onto the sports field. Another day came in all the geese had been killed by a fox.

I Remember the change from school dinner tickets to it becoming more of a cafe style place. I saw some changes after I left because my own son went to Joseph Rowntree and he had some of the teachers I had.

I attended from 1979 to 1986 staying on in the 6th Form to do A levels before going university. The quality of teaching was excellent, I was fortunate to have a number of outstanding teachers who were able inspire me to develop an interest in a number of subjects, German, Biology, Chemistry, History, English Literature etc.

I went on to study German / International Business at university and I’ve been living in Germany for the last 30 years.

The School was also very encouraging when it came to developing musical talent, and I was encouraged to play the cello during my time there.

I look back at my time at Jo Ro with very fond memories, and I’m still in regular contact with old school friends.

All the best for your 80th Anniversary and thank you for providing me with an excellent education!

Mark Hall

I attended Joseph Rowntree from 1982-1987. I was in Temple house all the time I was there which was the blue house. My maiden name is Devanney, most of my cousins attended the school too, in fact most of my family came to this school, including my mum and grandma too.

I lost contact with most of my school friends so it would be lovely to have some sort of reunion to be able to get back in touch. My favourite lessons were Drama & Art hence why I'm now within those departments for most of my TA support. It certainly brings back nice memories being back here but I never ever dreamed I would be working here one day. I'm so glad I am able to help and support students to give them encouragement to try their best and be the best they can be which will help throughout their lives, just as I was taught many years ago at this very same school.

Thanks I can't wait for the celebration to commemorate the schools 80th Anniversary.

Sarah Leaf

As part of the school 80th anniversary, my mother (age 80 years) would like to share some memories. She has written a poem based on her nickname at the time of ‘Gabby‘ Dewhirst (and apparently frequently received 100 lines ‘I must not talk in class’)

Her name at the time was Valerie Dewhirst (now Valerie Ross) and she was a pupil from September 1953 through to Easter 1957 in the A Form. She left age 15 to go to York Tech College to learn short hand typing.

The photos are from the Joseph Rowntree school holiday in 1955 to Barmoor House in Hutton le Hole, North Yorkshire.

The photo in her school uniform was the school blouse and skirt which she made in Miss Turner’s needlework class in her 2nd year (apparently she made an apron in the first year).

She tells the story when she managed to smash all the crockery in the staff room when she was on staff teas duty in her 3rd year. She also left the matches near the hobs and nearly started a fire in the cookery room as Miss Wagott (cookery teacher) shouted what was the smell of burning….!

I think she was somewhat of a pupil!

Jill Ross (daughter)

I wonder how many people remember the dental clinic which was in the school?

I worked as a dental nurse for 8 years in this clinic for the north riding of Yorkshire as it was then from 1959 . We had a waiting room and a surgery. We treated children from Joseph Rowntree and also brought in children from several primary schools for treatment including general anaesthetic sessions. Mr Duckworth was Headmaster and the school secretary was Mrs Southgate.

Wendy Birch

I was a pupil from 1959-1963 and was a member of the football and cricket teams as well as playing in the school brass band and orchestra. In my final year I performed in the Pirates of Penzance. I have been in contact with Mr David Firminger who was sports teacher at the time, he lives in Kent and in his late eighties. I am still performing on my trombone and raised over £25,000 for St Leonard's hospice in York, busking and teaching. I would love to visit the school and maybe meet some former school friends. Many thanks,

Ken Stamp

Michael Henry from the original prospectus

I attended JRS in the 60’s, I and Philip Pulleyn were the first to gain the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award through JRS. We were presented with the award at Buckingham Palace in 1970 and had to shake the left hand of the Duke as he had damaged his right playing polo. I have attached three images of that event, a press cutting, me and Philip Pulleyn in Trafalgar Square and me, Henry Bird ( rural science teacher ) coordinator of the D of E at JRS, and Philip Pulleyn outside the gates of Buckingham Palace.

Stephen Outhwaite

I joined the MFL department as a French teacher in September 1984, along with five other NQT’s across the school. Gerald Mills was the Headteacher at that time, and my lovely Head of Department was Richard Blagg. I spent five happy years there and have many great memories, not only of the pupils I taught but particularly of the amazing staff who were so supportive. We worked hard but we had a lot of laughs too. There were some larger than life characters there at the time and there was great camaraderie among the staff.

I left in July 1989 to move to Waddesdon School in Buckinghamshire where in time I became Head of MFL and stayed for the rest of my teaching career. It too was a lovely school to work in but my best memories are of JoRo and the wonderful people I met there.

Judith Allen

Dear JoRo pupils and staff,

I find it hard to believe that our wonderful old school is celebrating its 80th birthday but the calendar does not lie.

I first set foot there in 1957 and, to be honest, I was pretty shy and scared stiff. I needn’t have worried though, many of my peers started at the same time and after a few days it felt like home and I started making new friends in my class and beyond.

The Headmaster at that time was Mr Duckworth and he was a really nice chap who made us all feel welcome although it has to be said that some of the teachers were very scary. Who could forget ‘Ossie’ Smith, maths teacher extraordinaire and an uncannily good shot with a piece of chalk. I never forgot my times tables though, thanks to him, although algebra did (and still does) elude me totally. Charles ‘Chas’ Godfrey had a fearsome and well deserved reputation and if your homework wasn’t on his desk on time you would inevitably be looking at a sore hand for the rest of the day.

Despite, or maybe because, we did learn and although I have forgotten many names such luminaries as Jack Glasby (fairly recently deceased) our music teacher, Mr Thornhill in Art, whose encouragement led me into a life of Graphic Design (more correctly titled, in those days, as Commercial Art) John More who took us for Woodwork and our Metalwork Teacher whose name escapes me but was affectionately called ‘Centrepop’ and Tom Appleby, from whom I learned many of my draughting skills.

I became a prefect somewhere along the line but have no recollection of it save a photograph which I have attached. Centre stage is Mr Duckworth and extreme left middle row is the feared figure of ‘Chas’ Godfrey. I cannot remember the lady on the right nor can I recall many of those present, Geoff Roberts and Ian Johnson spring to mind and, I think, Gillian Marshall but I shan’t tell you where I am. I’ll leave it to see if anyone remembers.

With all good wishes,

John Barrass

Report abuse