This page comprises a few anecdotes of school-days.
In the 60s most desks were 'individual' with separate chairs - but a few classrooms (Mr Kendall's) had original desks. These were 'doubles' to take pairs of pupils side-by-side. The frame for the desk, as I recall, comprised two I-section metal beams bent into a 'U' shape and which were located vertically at either end of the pair of wooden desks. The desks themselves were mounted on one limb of the 'U' and a fixed wooden bench seat with a vertical back mounted on the other limb. Entering and leaving the apparatus could be rather awkward - you had to slide-in as the seats didn't tilt.
Desk-tops sloped down slightly from a level strip at the top which had a hole towards the right to hold an inkpot. Lifting the hinged top revealed the owner's fluff-covered personal possessions.
Colin Poyton ('59-'65)
In the 40s, pens comprised (as I remember) a soft, wooden, dowel holder into which the steel nibs would clip - seems they just slid in at one end. We would have to continuously dip them into the ink, of course. There were inkwells (porcelain or black Bakelite) that fit into a little hole on each desk and could be pulled out very easily and they would be filled from a larger jug with a long, narrow spout. I believe everything was provided by the school at that time and the inkwells were filled by a student ('ink monitor'). We used to love to do odd jobs for the teacher if we liked that particular teacher. (Same with cleaning the blackboard).
Over here (Florida) the student/parent has to provide just about everything....pens, pencils, paper, erasers, etc.
Kathleen Goshawk ('41-'45)
During the 1965 summer holidays a party of boys went on a coach trip to Beaufort Luxemburg. The route was Ostend, Bruges, Dinant, Trier and past the aerial masts of Radio Luxemburg (at Marnach) to Beaufort.
For the 1966 summer holidays Jones, Webb and Wilcox escorted a party of boys on a coach trip to the Hotel Rossli
at Alpnachstad near Lucerne, Switzerland. One exercursion was on the rack-and-pinion railway (the steepest in the world) up Mount Pilatus.
This trip was particularly memorable because the coach, supplied by 'Gateways of Chester', whilst abroad,
suffered a puncture. The driver must have been 'local' because he was able to negotiate with police in their own language.
John Clayton ('62-'67)
Classes from the second year were divided into either 'academic' or 'commercial' streams. If you were good at mathematics you were graded as 'academic'. The 'commercial' stream concentrated on 'accounts', 'law', 'short-hand typing' and 'english'.
Only the 'academic' girls were allowed on foreign trips. My elder sister, Anne, went on the trip (ski) to Lucerne in about '60.
Linda Beavan ('59-'64)
When it was foggy (which it often was during the '50/'60s) girls who travelled from Elstree would be allowed to embark early on their bus journey home. Ironically, by the time the bus had climbed to the top of Brockley Hill, the fog would usually have cleared!
Linda Beavan
At afternoon recess a long table was laid-out in the playground with cream buns
and long iced cakes, they were sold for a few (old) pence each.
Sheila Monincx ('45-'50)
The quadrangle was crossed by a couple of paved paths - each providing side-door access to a half of the main hall.
Adjacent to the lower (boys') path stood a 'Stephenson screen' (a white, slatted wooden structure on legs)
which housed a wet and dry-bulb hygrometer, max/min thermometer, aneroid barometer and a sunshine recorder comprising a 4 inch diameter
glass sphere above a pale strip of fabric onto which a trace was burned. But I don't recall seeing a soul using
any of the apparatus during the period '59 to '65.
Malcolm Hall, Head Boy '64/'65 (lived in Pickett Croft), was the only pupil deemed responsible enough to
attend to the 'filtration' apparatus located in the store room that linked the two science labs.
It vented/sampled from above the lower playground and was used for monitoring levels of air-pollution.
This equipment appeared to require frequent attention by Malcolm - a rather onerous commitment.
Colin Poyton ('59-'65)