Teaching at the PCD School

When I completed my Teacher Training at Bede College in Durham, I had no idea that I would return to Spalding - and teach at the same school where I had been taught as a child.

In 1977 I was appointed as a teacher at Spalding Parish Church Day School (PCDS in those days). This post had been created at the instigation of the Vicar, Canon Jakeman - who, together with the Head Teacher (Alan Brooker) and the Governors, had decided that the school would benefit from an additional teacher to teach music.

My interview was quite brief, and I don't know whether there were any other candidates or not - but I was appointed to start in September 1977. I hope that my experiences of school as a child helped me to realise the importance of empathy with the children, rather than just teaching at them - and making the subjects as interesting as possible!

These recollections are not in chronological order, and the photos do not connect with the text.

Many thanks to other staff members who have helped with these memories, especially Hilary and Carole.

Since leaving the school as a child in 1967, quite a lot of changes had taken place - including the building of a swimming pool on the west side of the school buildings. The pool had been paid for by donations - partly by the PTA, and Betty, my mum, had been involved with that project. (My Sister, Sue, was at the school at that time.)

By the time I started teaching in 1977 the pool had fallen into disrepair, following vandalism, and eventually the pool was filled in and became a 'garden' area for wildlife.

Alan Brooker

Alan Brooker was the Headmaster, and he was my 'mentor' for the first year. He actually rarely came in to the classroom, but he would glide around the school in brown suede shoes and glimpse through the glass in each classroom door to see what was going on.

In those days each child had a desk with a lid that lifted up. Each child then kept their books and belongings inside the desk. Mr Brooker was not keen on noise, and after having to teach a class one day, he decided that the noise created by the desk lids being closed was far too noisy - and so small rubber pads had to be fitted to reduce this noise.

For the first year I taught a group of less-able children in a small room near the original main entrance door (later to become the office). In the afternoons I taught music to the eight different classes throughout the school. For the rest of the afternoon sessions I took various classes for practical science. I remember almost setting fire to the Year 3 workroom between Mr Eggleton and Mrs Scott's classroom. I had brought in a small mechanic steam engine to demonstrate. Having filled the engine with water and prepared the burner with methylated spirit the engine was steaming away when some spilt meths caught alight on the formica-topped table. The whole surface was a flame - like brandy alight on a cake - but thankfully nothing was burnt, and no-one was injured!

Miss Rowntree and the violin lessons

Miss Rowntree used to come into school to teach children to play the violin. She had a very strange way of introducing them to hold the instrument correctly. She would give them an empty cornflake box, and make them hold the box under their chin. I found the sight of children with a cornflake box under their chin quite amusing.

The cello

For one assembly Miranda Sykes brought in her cello to play and demonstrate to the school. Following her demonstration the cello was placed at the front of the hall - on its edge. As the children left the hall someone caught the cello and knocked it over. The sound-post inside was knocked out, and the whole cello was unplayable. I don't know whether the damage was repairable, or whether she had to have a new cello.

'Modern music'

The hall was in the centre of the school, and to get to various classrooms the hall had to be used as a thoroughfare, which was not ideal. I remember that Claude Stubley (who had taught me as a child just ten years earlier) was not all that impressed to hear a class listening to music from Jesus Christ Superstar. This was a step too modern for him, and as he walked diagonally across the hall he would hold his head up straight and give a deliberate 'sniff' to show his disapproval.

The staff room

The staff room, which was at the corner of the corridor, near Mrs. tateson's classroom was just large enough to accommodate the staff (8 classroom teachers, plus myself). It had blue covered chairs around the edge - rather like a nursing home ... and a table in the centre. I remember Mr Eggleton leaning back on his chair, and Claude Stubley telling him off as if he was a child. I also remember Claude walking out of the staff room when the conversion was anything other than related to teaching.

At break time two children would boil up milk on an electric ring near the staffroom sink - to make coffee for Mr Brooker and the secretary - Mrs Benn - and then carry the cups of coffee to them. As far as I remember no-one got burnt or scolded!

All the teachers would take turns at playground duty - at break times. The only exception was Mrs Whittaker - who refused to be put on the rota saying that she was past all that ..

Mrs Whittaker

Mrs Whittaker taught just girls in the top class (then known as Year 4 - now Year 6). When she had one term off, I had to teach her class. I remember feeling very concerned that I would keep up the standard that she had set - and more concerned that I would allocate the points correctly - that she used to give out to mark each piece of work, together with the coloured 'stars'. Thankfully, when she returned, she seemed quite happy with the term's work!

Miss Brooks and the balls

One day outside my classroom window Miss Brooks was taking her class for PE. The children were throwing or bouncing balls on the playground, and when she asked them to stop, one or two of the boys carried on. Some of the boys in my class were distinctly amused when she shouted out in a very clear voice, 'Boys - hold your balls still!'

End of term productions

At the end of each year there was an end-of-term production. The first couple of years this involved the whole school. Each year-group would perform as part of the production - and I had the task of teaching all of the songs. I don't remember much about the first 'show' apart from the fact that I had to teach 'Daddy wouldn't buy me a bow-wow' and 'Grandfather's Clock' to Mrs Tateson's class. I think it must have been songs from various decades, as I remember teaching Mrs. Scott's class a Charleston song.

I remember being so nervous when the production day came around that I kept a bottle of wine in a desk in the workroom, and during the breaks I went for a bit more 'Dutch courage' ...

Over the years the end of year productions began to involve just year 4 children (now known as year 6).

• 1982 - music through the 20th century (included the Black & White Minstrels) and ended with the whole school singing the Abba song 'Thank you for the music'.

• 1987 My Fair Lady - Lynn

• 1988 It was only yesterday ? Lynn

• 1989 Whole school concert

• 1990 Carrots - Nick and Hilary

• 1991 The Factory Children - Nick and Hilary

• 1992 The Evacuees - Nick and Hilary

• 1993 Blast Off - Ann

• 1994 Ossie and the Thwartz - Ann

• 1995 Hackback - Ann

• 1996 Exodus the Musical - Ann

others that I can vaguely recall: [to be confirmed ....]

• East and West ?? - see photo below

• The Wizard of Oz

• Annie

• ? The Teletubbies

• ? Line dancing + Spice girls?

• Oliver

• The Pied Piper

• Blast Off again in 2002/3? - Ann

I also remember teaching a song to Carole's class that involved a clockwork doll ...

just to name a few. Others will come to mind ....

I remember that for one of the productions Lynn asked if anyone had a bakelite 1930s radio. One of her class brought one in, and it was used as a prop. After the show the radio was placed in Lynn's classroom, where it was knocked off onto the floor. It broke into several pieces, and I expect the owners were not best pleased.

For one of Lynn's performances she required bales of straw to be on the stage as props. I remember the secretary, Mrs Jones, being very unhappy to see this fire hazard on the stage for a public performance ...

The production 'Carrots' produced by Hilary Preston was a most memorable show, not least because of the very elaborate set - which included a considerable amount of scaffolding on the stage. The lead actor was taken ill during the performance, and sitting playing the piano for the show I was mesmerised when someone else continued the performance. Most of the audience were probably unaware of the problems backstage and the show went on seamlessly.

The Evacuees

In 1992 Hilary produced 'The Evacuees' as her final production before her retirement.

Staff changes

When cut-backs in the school budget began, I began to teach in Year 2 (now Y4). Thankfully for the first few years I did not have to teach PE or games! Mr Eggleton was keen to do this whilst I took his class for music...

Maths was taught from a set of books throughout the school - Alpha and Beta. The children worked through the Alpha book at their own pace, with the more able children moving on to the Beta book.

The school also had the SRA reading laboratory as part of the English syllabus. This was based very much on American words which were not used by most children - and I remember repeatedly having to explain to children what the word faucet meant - (tap). The scheme worked quite well to some extent, although it was very outdated - and slightly difficult to keep track of everyone's progress. It didn't help when answer cards went missing, or when the cards within the box got all mixed up ...

The timetable at that time was very structured - which suited me very well:

• Assembly in the hall from 9 to 9.20am

• Maths from 9.30 -10.30am

• Break 10.30 - 10.45am

• English 10.45 - 12noon

• Lunch 12noon - 1pm

• Afternoon lessons 1pm - 3.10pm

Lunchtime

The catering staff produced the most amazing hot lunches, and at lunchtime the staff would eat in the hall alongside the children. The staff table always included Alan Brooker, and he used to like a calm and peaceful environment. Whenever the noise level began to increase he would give one of us a glance - meaning, 'Get up and sort things out'. The children sat at hexagonal tables - which were extremely awkward to stack. Each half of the hexagon tables had just 3 legs ...

Dress Code

Alan Brooker had a very strict dress code - with the male teachers required to wear a shirt and tie, and the female staff dresses. Trousers were not considered suitable for ladies to wear - and when one teacher arrived in trousers, she was sent home to change ...

Raffle Prize

Mr Brooker had one or two very strange ideas when it came to new members of staff. At one of the school events - I can't recall whether it was after a school production, or a fete, I won a raffle prize. Looking back I don't think I have ever won a raffle in my life apart from this one occasion. When my name was announced, Mr Brooker piped up with something along the lines of, 'Oh, draw that one again as he is staff!' I remember going into the staff room in quite a bad mood over that. I never bought another raffle ticket ..

The school diso

When I joined the school in 1977 I was asked to organise a school disco at Christmas. I brought in a record player, and a home-made set of flashing coloured lights - on a piece of board covered in silver foil. Looking back this would never have passed an electrical test - but it worked, and no-one got electrocuted!

Staff Parties

Staff parties at the end of term became a fixture. I am sure that these had been held for many years before I joined the school, but once I had my first house, it became common to hold the parties there. I remember Alan Brooker telling long stories, whilst everyone else had plenty to drink. I am sure that if the neighbours had been watching, they would be quite amused to see one of the staff being almost carried out at the end of the evening - and pushed into a car.

Mrs Whittaker's Retirement Party

When Mrs Whittaker retired in 1980 the school held a party in the hall. I seem to remember we all had a great time - and many of us got quite drunk, and for some reason two bottles of wine were discovered the next morning inside the piano ....

Residential school trips to London, York and Boreatton Park were enjoyed by many children - and I guess they all learned a great deal from these experiences.

• Boreatton Park

When I first started teaching there was a tradition to take the top two classes (Year 4 at that time - now Y6)) to Boreatton Park in Shropshire. This involved a week taking part in outdoor pursuits, and was organised by Derek Eggleton - who expected me to go along as a helper. Surprisingly enough I actually quite enjoyed most of the activities, and it became an annual trip for me as a helper for a number of years. The activities included abseiling, canoeing, kayaking, the swamp, raft building, archery pony trekking and rifle shooting.

I have memories of quite a few incidents over the years, but two stick in my mind in particular. The first was pony trekking. We were told that the ponies were very placid, and that they would only saunter along in a line. One of the ponies near the front for some reason reared up, and the pony behind - with Lynn Chappell on - became stressed and bolted off. I remember seeing Lynn holding on for dear life with the pony disappearing into the woods. When she eventually returned later that day - I decided I would probably not risk the pony trekking again!

One day when I was with Hilary Preston, our groups were making rafts alongside the lake. The rafts had to be constructed from large blue plastic barrel, planks of wood and ropes. Each group had to work out how to construct the raft, then once finished, launch it into the water and all sit on it. Each group could then attach the other in an attempt to destroy or sink their raft.

Once the children were busy making their rafts, I used the video camera to capture some of their work. Unfortunately, standing near the edge of the water filming, I was unaware that a barrel being used by one of the other groups was rolling down the bank behind me. I didn't actually know anything about that until the barrel hit me on the back of the legs, and sent me full length into the lake, fully clothed and still holding the camera. Hilary saw the whole episode, and remembers how shocked I was. That was the end of the video - and the video camera.

Almost all of the children had a go at abseiling - either down a cliff or an abseil tower. The staff were also encouraged to have a go, and after several years of visiting Boreatton Park I was persuaded against my better judgement, to venture down the cliff forwards, rather than backwards.

The following year the instructors were told not to allow forward abseiling - as it had been discovered that it was possible for people to slip out of the harness. Now they told me ....

• Camp fire and abseiling:

• The Zip wire (death slide) and the Swamp:

• Archery and Quad bikes:

• Pony Trekking and Kayak Canooes:

• Raft Building and Canadian Canooes:

Year 3 children (now Y5) had the opportunity to spend 4 days in London. Carole Scott organised this trip each year, and once again I went along as a helper. Carole arranged the most amazing itinerary - which included visits to the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, walks along the Mall, Trafalgar Square, The Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. The trip also included a trip to the West End to see a stage show.

One year London was deemed too much of a risk due to the threats from the IRA, and so the trip was relocated to York - for a couple of years I think.

Once the threat from the IRA had subsided the London trip resumed, and when I took over the organisation from Carole, we let 'London Explorers' sort out the itinerary. This arrangement worked quite well, and we travelled to London by train. I remember one occasion when the train was pulling into King's Cross one of the children was sick all over the table between us. She had just drunk a full bottle of squash, and now it was all over the table - just as we were all getting up to leave the train. Thankfully the table had a small metal ridge around the edge so that it didn't go all over the seats. There was really nothing much we could do - so in the end we left it, and told one of the train staff what had happened!

• Assembling at school and St Paul's Cathedral & at the Science Museum:

• At the science museum and The Tower of London:

• Entertainment at the hotel & a walk from Buckingham Palace to Downing Street:

• Evening sights in London & London Zoo:

I am sure that all the children who took part in these trips have fond memories of those times, and I am sure that they all took a lot from their experiences.

It is a great shame that trips of this kind are no longer so viable today.

Tulip time

For the first few years at the school, the field was used for coach and car parking. Mr Eggleton used to organise the parking, and the staff had stalls selling plants and other produce. This was quite a good fundraising event for the school.

The school also held annual fetes, where each class would take responsibility for a stall - usually the staff helped by children. The fetes were held to raise money for the school, and were extremely well attended. During the week leading up to the fete, the children would devise their own money-making games - and some were extremely popular.

Plants

It was suggested that to make the classrooms look more attractive we should all put plants on the shelves. Colin Booth organised this and gave us all different pots with plants growing in. Whilst some flourished, the ones in my classroom never really came to much, and when I took the pots down they were generally just full of slush. I don't think that anyone could accuse me of having green fingers ...

The Caretaker and the Head

Les Thornhill was the caretaker, and he and the Headteacher - Mr Brooker - would have afternoon meetings in the office. Once when I knocked on the door I found the two of them - with a bottle of whisky on the table - having a drink with the two-bar electric fire on, and the room full of cigar smoke ... Les took great pride in polishing the hall floor, and every holiday and half-term he would clean and polish the floor so that it shone like new.

When time came for more staff cuts, Mr Brooker volunteered to take early retirement in 1983. For the next 3 years or so Mr Eggleton was Acting Head - and after one assembly I remember one of my class remarking, 'He doesn't look as though he is acting, does he ?' ...

A new Head Teacher

Our new Head was to be David Clements, and with his arrival in 1986 came quite a few changes. Up until this time, most staff had taught the same age group and stayed in the same classrooms for many years. David decided that it would be good for staff to have a change, and gradually changes began to be made, together with the appointment of several new staff members.

Decorating

At one time teachers were encouraged to paint some of the walls in their classroom as funds to do maintenance work were so limited - so some of us spent part of a half-term in school painting the walls of our classrooms.

Much later on, Mr Clements arranged for professional decorators to completely redecorate all of the classrooms - but Lynn Chappell decided she didn't like the new colour, and went in one weekend and painted it again. I remember David Clements instructed her to paint it again - back to its correct colour.

Missing Pages

One of my pet hates was to find missing pages in reading books. In the early days we still used sets of books for people to read as a class. I remember some very old copies of David Copperfield - with dark blue hardback covers, I think. Having given out the books around the class we began to read until, one after another, hands would go up complaining that pages were missing. In the end I gave up and the set of books found their way into Carole's cupboard ...

Spots or a rash?

One day during a lesson one of the girls in my class clambered up onto her desk and pulled up her dress shrieking that she had spots. I hastily rushed to fetch a female member of staff, who came along and examined the rash. She had indeed got lots of spots, so the secretary phoned her mum who fetched her from school. When she returned we had to explain that it was probably not the best thing to pull your dress up in front of the whole class ...

Music courses

Nicola Pettit and I were asked to attend a music course at the Sam Newsome music centre, in Boston. One part of the day was spent with us sitting in a circle tapping sticks to a rhythm - and then passing the sticks on both ways around the circle. I am not sure, even to this day, what the purpose of this 'game' was, but I remember sticks from all directions coming towards me, and not being able to pass them on quickly enough. I don't think we actually gained very much new knowledge that day!

'Modern' teaching

In the 1980s staff were expected to attend various courses. Some of these were at Horncastle, and I remember that we were encouraged to make the classrooms more open-plan, and more accessible to children. As a result I took the door of the store cupboard in my classroom and set out things that the children might need on the lower shelves - paper, pencils etc. To make room I needed to dispose of some of the old piles of books that were lining the shelves. The first set to go was a very old set of Catechism books. You can imagine the look of horror on my face - and the look of disbelief on Carole Scott's face - when she came to ask me for them. I had to explain that they had gone! This led me to offer Carole all the other old sets of books in my cupboard. I would send a runner with one copy - to ask is she wanted them. The runner would come back and say, ' Yes please, she would like them'. And so began a ritual of clearing my old sets of books out - all to Carole's store cupboard. I bet she never actually used any of them..

Lynn decided to take the advice from the course to the extreme. She hung drapes, and put trellis and bamboo screens all around the room, so that no-one could actually be seen. That arrangement was soon abandoned - and most of us eventually went back to having children 'face the front'.

Swimming Course and First Aid

Jane and I attended a swimming course at the Meres Leisure Centre in Grantham. For one part of the course we had to show how to resuscitate someone who was unconscious on the side of the pool. Having paired up with Jane, I first was the resuscitator, and then we had to swap. Feigning unconsciousness we were supposed to act lifeless - which I did. Unfortunately Jane forgot this, and let go of my head which smacked down onto the concrete. That hurt a lot - but she could not stop laughing! Later that day we had dummies to practice how to administer compressions. Trust me to choose one where - when I pressed the chest hard, as instructed - the dummy made a loud squawking noise - which brought the entire group to a halt with laughter ...

Staff Relaxation

One Inset training day was devoted to reducing stress. I can remember that we all had to sit around with closed eyes imagining that we were going up or down in a lift - and picturing the colours of the rainbow. The idea of this was to remove stress and relax everyone. It probably worked to some extent at that moment in time - but back in the classroom the following day there was little chance of implementing that technique ...

Over the years we attended many courses and Inset days - and whilst one of two were somewhat useful, I have to confess that I don't really remember learning a great deal from most of them!

150th Anniversary

In 1995 the school celebrated its 150th anniversary. Staff and children all dressed in Victorian costumes, and the school lessons resembled those held in 1845 - and at lunchtime the entire school walked to the St Nicolas Hall where everyone ate lunch. [Or was it the South Holland Centre?]

Sports at the castle playing field

On occasions our school would take part in sports events together with other schools. As staff we were expected to supervise some of the games - but generally speaking the children knew more about the rules than I did, so where possible I left the supervision to staff from other schools ...

Pottery

When Jane came to the school she revived the pottery classes, and the kiln was reconnected. One weekend she forgot to take the small plug out of the air-hole, and the kiln almost exploded. Needless to say the clay pots inside were nothing but ash when the kiln eventually cooled down.

Infant department

To begin with, when the infant department moved to the Clay Lake site in 1982 the two departments remained somewhat independent of each other. Later on a larger joint staff room would be built in place of the old kitchen area.

When it was almost time for Mrs Holmes to retire as Head of the Infant Department, I had the task of teaching the infant children a song. In order to keep this a secret, we had to take the children behind the hedge, at the bottom of the field - so that she was not aware of what was happening. It must have been very strange to anyone watching us, as it all looked extremely furtive.

The Buddha

When Hazel James arrived as a teacher, she organised for each class to have one week studying a particular religion. She arranged for boxes containing valuable artifacts to be delivered to the school.

When it was time for my class to study Buddhism, we set up a table as a shrine. The most sacred item - the Buddha had pride of place. The table was set up at the back of the classroom near the fire door. The cleaners at the time were not all that careful - but did the best they could considering the limited time they had. the cleaning normally involved a quick vacuum around, a wipe of the tables, and that was about it.

The following morning I arrived to find the Buddha in about 6 pieces .... When I saw the cleaner she said something along the lines of, 'Sorry me duck, I knocked your doll off the table with my vacuum hose.. I'll try to get you another ...' I wasn't very popular with Hazel after that incident.

PE and Games

Due to my dislike of PE and Games as a child, I made no secret of the fact that I didn't really know much about teaching football - and in fact I would avoid taking my class out for football any more than absolutely necessary. However, when it came to summer I used to make up for the lack of games - as I quite enjoyed rounders and cricket. Once organised, these games would almost run without too much interference - just the occasional encouragement needed, or disagreement to resolve. I was not the only member of staff who would sit on a chair in the sun - near the far end of the field, whist the children happily played cricket or rounders - a much more enjoyable activity!

Hazel also attempted to motivate the staff to be more involved when teaching PE and games. One or two of us were not very sports minded, and would still prefer to stand - sit on a chair - with a coat on giving instructions, rather than joining in. Hazel, quite rightly, tried to change all that. Now we would have to get changed, and join in the jogging, warm ups and the games themselves. I remember that Hazel then went on to suffer a broken hip whilst out jogging with her class. I remarked that it was much safer to keep your coat on, and sit on a chair...

I had great sympathy (thinking back to my school days as a child) with those who really did not like sports - and I always persuaded them to just do their best when faced with an activity they obviously disliked.

Sports Day

Sports Day was quite an event - organised by Mr Eggleton in a military fashion. All the red and black chairs would be set out along the playground for parents to sit on, and all the children would bring out their own chairs and sit in 'houses'. The week or two prior to a sports day, each class would allocate children to various races - egg and spoon, sack, bean bag, sprint and relay. Usually there would be races to select the best runners, then the rest would be in one of the less athletic races - for example the sack or egg and spoon.

The school PA system was set up with speakers each end, and a blackboard was used to write up the points. The more experienced staff had the job of keeping track of the points, and at the end the winning team won a cup.

The flood

One sports day the water had been turned off for maintenance. Before going out for the sports day, someone had turned on a tap in Miss Brooks' room, and when the water came back on, the whole classroom was flooded. As it was sports day, no-one had actually been inside the building for almost two hours.. The entire classroom was about 2 inches deep in water!

Nicola's reception class

One afternoon I had to look after Nicolas Pettit's reception class while she was absent. She had left me full instructions, and a list of the work that the children were to complete. I have not taught such young children before, and found the whole experience quite a nightmare. The drawings, and all the other work which they were asked to do seemed to be completed in five minutes, and when it was story time the children got right around my feet - even pulling at my shoelaces .... Thankfully I was not asked again ....

Swimming

One of my tasks was to teach swimming to children. I would take groups of children on a coach to Spalding pool, and whilst the children got changed in the school area changing rooms - with the help of parents, I used the public changing room. I used to leave my clothes in an unlocked locker - which turned out to be a very unwise decision! At the end of the session I found that someone had taken all of my clothes - and going to reception I was told that this had happened a couple of times recently whist the fair was in town .... [I expect that they were very disappointed if they were expecting anything of quality..]

Armed with a towel from lost property, a pair of shorts and and old jumper I got dressed as best I could - and one of the staff lent me a pair of trainers - about 3 sizes too big. You can imagine the amusement in the staff room following that incident. From that day forward I always paid to use a locker. Later on, Mr Clements very kindly arranged for me to be reimbursed for the cost of the lost clothes.

The apple

Just before one playtime, an apple rolled under my desk. Holding the apple up I asked who had dropped an apple - and despite several times of asking, no-one replied. During break time I ate the apple ... When it came to lunch time, one of the children came up and told me they had lost their apple. Guess who it was - only our new Head Teacher's daughter!

Computers

When computers were first introduced to schools Mr Brooker asked me to construct 4 wooden trolleys - each to hold a computer, screen and keyboard.

Colin Booth and I were dispatched to collect the first computer from the old Pinchbeck School in Knight Street, together with all its cables and accessories. We also had to endure a course on how to connect the wires, and how to plug it in and switch it on!

Back at school we set the BBC computer up, complete with its cables and the cassette player. This was used to load up programmes - long before floppy discs and CDs had been invented. The cassette tape would whir away, making beeping noises - and then at the end a message would usually appear saying that the programme had not loaded - please try again.

When eventually a programme had been loaded, they were extremely basic, and I remember one 'diet' programme where children had to add items to see what made a healthy diet. Someone found that 2000 bananas constituted a healthy diet for that day ....

Thankfully computer technology has progressed somewhat from those days!

A day out in Boston

One day-trip that Hazel and I organised was to take our children to Boston - to see the Guildhall, Boston Stump and the docks. Our plans were slightly scuppered when the coach was not allowed into the docks for security reasons. We then found that we had a bit of spare time to fill. As it was a nice day we went into the park to eat our lunch, and to allow the children to play on the playground items. One of the attractions was a roundabout - the kind which only moves round when pushed. One of our rather naughty boys with ginger hair got hold of the roundabout and began pushing it. Everyone else then joined in until it was spinning quite fast. At that point the boy fell over, and - laying on the ground - everyone else carried on running right over him as if he was a mat! Hazel and I couldn't help smiling and we left him for a minute or two before rescuing him ....

The Arkwright Mill

Hilary Preston and I took our classes to see the Arkwright Mill and museum - as part of our history project. I don't remember that much about that visit - apart from the fact that I think Hilary and I found the museum and the water mill more interesting than the children did!

Flag Fen

Hazel organised a trip for our classes to visit Flag Fen near Peterborough. We set off on what should have been a journey of less than an hour. The coach driver insisted he knew how to get to Flag Fen, but after about 90 minutes we still had not arrived - and seemed miles away from our destination. We had to go all the way back to Peterborough before finding the correct route. When we eventually arrived - about 2 hours late, we had missed our slot for the tour, so we had to eat our lunches and then make the best of the time we had left.

National Curriculum

When the National Curriculum was introduced in all schools, things began to change. Tick-boxes for all children began to be introduced to keep a check on what they knew. As time went by this became something of a never-ending job, and on occasions more time was spent ticking boxes than anything else.

With the constraints of the National Curriculum, together with a very prescribed timetable, I decided it was soon going to be time for me to retire from teaching.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time teaching in the classroom, but was less motivated by so much paperwork. Whilst I realised the importance of assessments and record keeping, for me this all seemed to be overshadowing the actual teaching. I began to feel that I could not cope with all the detailed lesson planning - with its aims, objectives and outcomes, - assessments and tick-boxes on top of the usual marking and preparation. I found that I was working far too late into the evenings - and still not completing everything that needed to be done.

After almost 25 years I left the school in December 2001 and since then I have spent more time enjoying my hobbies of organ building, the church choir, and the concerts at The Burtey Fen Collection.

I worked with Ann in Year 6 for the last years at the school, and I know that we both found some of the challenges quite taxing at times. Often when things did not go quite so well as we had hoped, I would remark, 'Never mind, we can only do our best!' That phrase began to be used more and more frequently - and, looking back, I like to think - and hope - that as a staff we all 'did our best' ...

Whilst I was teaching between 1977 and 2002 many changes took place - and here are just a few:-

• The new Infant Department built

• One additional classroom built for the Infant Department

• Old wooden desks replaced with tables

• Wooden chairs replaced with plastic

• BBC computers introduced then scrapped and replaced with new

• The name of the school extended to SPCEDS (Spalding Parish Church of England Day School

• Classroom curtains replaced with blinds

• New (very heavy) folding staging provided (now removed)

• Kitchen area removed and made into a new staff room

• Carpets provided throughout the school (on top of the old Marley tiles)

• New lighting in all classrooms - with sensors

• New Maths schemes

• New English schemes

• The National Curriculum introduced

• The office moved to be near the entrance doors

• A new link corridor on one side of the hall

• The old greenhouse demolished

• and of course - lots of changes in staffing. At the time when I left in 2002 I was the longest serving member of staff - the only member of staff that was still in the school from 1977, when I joined.

Since I left at the end of 2001, a lot more changes have taken place - and in recent years the school has been altered beyond recognition - with six new classrooms, a new assembly hall, new staff room, together with several new offices and a brand new reception area.

In recent years I have been welcomed into the school each week, as a volunteer, to help with singing - and I have thoroughly enjoyed taking Monday morning full-school 'Choral Worship' - to me just plain old 'hymn practice' ... Unfortunately this came to an abrupt end in March 2020 with the outbreak of the Coronavirus - and the National Lockdown.

Mr William Granville 1845 - ?

Mr Charles Holloway ? - 1875

Mr Arthur Moss 1875 - 1890

Mr E. T Waring 1890 - 1894

Mr E. H. Andrew 1894 - 1933

Mr S. E Andrew 1933 - 1969

Mr Alan Brooker 1969 - 1983

Mr Derrick Eggleton 1983 - 1986 (Acting Head)

Mr David Clements 1986 - 2008

Mr Glyn Rushden 2009 - 2018

Mrs Diane Mulley 2018 - 2019 (Acting Head)

Mrs Diane Mulley 2019 -