CCHS

It was with great anticipation and a mixture of excitement and nervousness that I approached my first day at CCHS.

 

The reasons for this were numerous, but mainly due to the fact that my primary school education had been very poor.   Most of my early schooling was during the war years (WWII).  As a family we had moved to the village of Ardleigh in the summer of 1939.  We were away on a quickly arranged family holiday when my father was ‘called up’ early and our holiday was cut short.  Just over a year later I started school, but it was only for two weeks.  I well remember it took just a short while for the infants’ teacher to realise I could read, add up and do what I called ‘joined up writing’.  As a family, my parents had decided to move around the UK to spend time near my father, but within one term and three different schools, my father was posted abroad – destination unknown.  We then came back to Essex but could not go back home - our house was let on a year-long lease – so we went to live with my Grandmother in mid-Essex.  It was about 13 months later that we returned to Ardleigh and I went back to my initial village school.  I had very few friends in the village and could empathise with my mother’s saying that you had to live in a village for 20 years before you could be considered a native.

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I believe the most educational time came when from the age of 5 my mother insisted that, along with the rest of the family, I was to write letters to my father, wherever he was serving in the Army.  I say educational, because my father wrote extremely interesting letters from all over Africa and the Middle East, describing what he had seen, experienced, the people he had met and the drawings he included (all as far as censorship allowed).  At the beginning of my last year at primary school, seven of us were told we would be sitting the 11 plus examination.  Although still away from home, but back in the UK, my father insisted I be given extra work to do in preparation.  I cheerfully accepted the good natured teasing from my brother and mother over the mistakes I made – but I did learn. 

 

In all my primary schooling I only met one teacher that I really liked and respected –Mrs Green – and she only taught me for one term before she retired.

 

No one else from my small village school passed the 11 plus, so on that first day I was alone in my new school uniform (including that ‘hat’) for my introduction to a school with some 600 or so pupils – none of whom I knew.  According to instructions I caught the double decker bus from Dedham and found myself a seat towards the front of the lower deck.  Two stops further on I noticed an older girl in CCHS uniform enter the bus.  I had seen her about the village but I had never had occasion to speak to her.  Her name was Gwen Garnham.  The next thing I knew – she was beside me – inviting me to go to the upper deck with her - she told me she was ‘bus prefect’.   On the top deck she introduced me to Libby, one of the more senior girls at Grey Friars, Gwen herself was at North Hill.  Libby was to take me into school and show me where to go.  So I experienced my first two kindnesses of the day.

 

At the mid morning break on that first day, as I strolled around by myself I saw a wide group of nine girls, arms linked, coming towards me.  An auburn haired girl in the middle called out to me “What are you looking so miserable about?  Come and join us” – and they made room for me in the middle of their row, making me very welcome.  Angela Stuart was the initial caller and Joan Crane, Jennifer Banham, Janet Bond, Cynthia Brown and Brenda Botham were (I believe) among the others.  They were all friends from the same primary school, North Street in Colchester – and they were to become my friends for a good while thereafter – more kindnesses not forgotten.

 

Over the next couple of years we met – often out of school.  As I lived in an unmodernised house without a telephone, they went out of their way to include me in outings, holiday time outdoor gatherings and, of course, birthday parties.  Someone would write a letter, or a couple of them would cycle over to my home (11 miles return) in order to include me.  Knowing my interest in soccer Joan Cane and her elder sister, Doreen (also a CCHS pupil) introduced me to Layer Road matches and the “Green ‘Un” newspaper.  There was also a kind ‘sleep over’ with Joan.

 

It was two out- of-school activities (piano-playing and the Girl Guides) which introduced me to three other CCHS pupils, all new to the area, namely Anne Bayley and her sister Judith and Elizabeth Barton  (B).  In my Upper IV year I met them all, though Anne an Elizabeth were already at North Hill.  My out of school early evening music lessons often meant I travelled home on the same bus as our Guide Captain and Lieutenant and would walk the ¼ mile home with them from the bus stop.  It was they who persuaded me to go for the proficiency badge of Musician.  The tester was to be that ex-teacher from my primary school that I referred to earlier.  Having finalised the badge testing well enough – Mrs Green was more interested in my school progress and asked to see my school reports – even though I had only seen her occasionally over the past 2 – 3 years.  A very kind interest.  It was shortly after this that a stranger arrived at one of our Guide meetings – this was my first encounter with Anne Bayley who immediately joined our Company.  Already far more advanced than any of us - she was a First Class Guide on her way to becoming a Queen’s Guide – just wanting one more proficiency badge.  Anne helped us finalise our entry into a Divisional model making competition and joined us at Annual Camp.  Judith also joined our Guide Company.  One morning Anne strolled into our tent with a wake-up call, greeting me in French – to which I was able to reply likewise.  At the fascinated request of the village girls for more of the same, Anne made it easy for me by asking me other simple questions.  Our two patrols shared the cooking details that day.  Anne invited two of us – Guides – to a party at her home in the village where she ably demonstrated her ability to organise an event and included a novel way of introducing four of us from the village to her own classmates from CCHS without any awkwardness on our parts.

 

I think it was because of my Musician’s badge that Anne asked me if I would help her with her final proficiency badge.  She wanted to go for the Hostess badge by putting on a party.  Much preferring outdoor activities I reluctantly agreed and was allocated the writing of invitations, helping to prepare the hired room and the refreshments while Anne concentrated on the programme of events.  During the party I played the piano where music was needed and did my share of introducing one of the games.  The Divisional Commissioner granted us both our proficiency badges and a little while later Anne gained her Queen’s Guide Award.

 

Elizabeth B was also a Girl Guide and spent her time between the Lawford Company and ours in Ardleigh.  I remember one occasion when Anne, Elizabeth and I formed part of a First Aid Competition team together.  Elizabeth was our Standard Bearer when we needed one.  Anne’s kindnessesses to me and our Guide Company helped to develop me, so my return kindness was that help with the Hostess badge.  It was good to have two older friends as well.

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I mentioned staff, and those I particularly remember at Grey Friars were Miss King who taught us mathematics with (for me) new subjects of algebra and geometry. (I have reported earlier on Miss King’s kindnesses to me – Newsletter Autumn 2016).  Miss Flatman was our first year form mistress and Miss Blunt and Miss Killick both taught us English, one year each.  I remember a kind incident with Miss Blunt early in my Lower IV year.  She had given us a dictation and on my paper a word was missing.  She had a quiet word with me – “had I not heard what she had said?”  I replied that yes I had heard perfectly well.  That was the first time I experienced a problem that was to recur after every long summer holiday.  Towards the end of six weeks spelling would often desert me!  What I should have said was that I knew the word wasn’t ‘shore’ but I couldn’t remember how to spell what she had said.  The missing word was ‘sure’.  Miss Blunt did not reprimand me and was pleased that I recognised the spelling when she told me. 

 

Miss Killick was also our form mistress.  She wrote the script and got our form to put on a couple of presentations of ‘The Pied Piper’.  Shirley Frost was the Pied Piper as she could play the recorder.  There was also great glee when we found out Miss Killick was engaged to be married – the girls guessing ‘his’ name until someone settled on ‘Bill’.

 

At the end of the year Miss Killick left the school and we had organised a wedding gift for her from the form.  It was my privilege as Form Captain that term (more kindnesses of my classmates) to present her with it.  What she said she would

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