On Thursday 2nd September 1954 probably at about 08.45 a.m. life as I knew it would never be the same again! I was seven years and some five months old and starting my first day at Wallingford Boys School. Up until then my education had all been rather “genteel” first of all at Miss Preston’s School in Castle Street, and then at the Girl’s School in Goldsmith’s Lane near to the Kine Croft. I was now in a school with boys from seven to fifteen years old.

At the time I had no idea of how my association with my new School would develop over the next fifty four years! Although in the “Big scheme of things” I was at the Boys School for a relatively short time, my four years there from the age of seven until eleven were without doubt some of the most impressionable of my early life.

My first teacher in class VI (in those days you started in class VI and finished in class 1) was a “supply teacher” called Miss Stay. She was quite young and pretty, and probably as shy and nervous as her young class, it was her first day to. There were thirty of us in the class.

Where to start with the memories?!! The School bell rang every morning pulled from a bell rope in the hall either by a teacher or a senior boy. Many of the boys arrived before the bell started at about ten minutes to nine. The playground  ( with the same “shed and bike shed”) was a frenzy of activity, with boy of all ages running around, playing football, shouting, fighting, and generally enjoying themselves. At nine o’clock the bell would stop ringing, a teacher would appear, blow a whistle, everyone would line up according to their classes and march into their classrooms for “roll call” woe betide any late comers!

You have to remember in those days the actual school building was much smaller. It only comprised of the Hall (now the open art area) and six classrooms, staffroom, headmasters study and that was about it. There were however a woodwork room, a kitchen and dining room, an outside lavatory  block (which always froze solid in cold weather) and a large garden for the senior boys to work in.

Every morning there was an assembly in the hall taken by the headmaster Mr.Dean, the boys would file in, again according to their classes youngest at the front and oldest at the back. Prayers perhaps a hymn and any notices or disciplinary matters that needed to be attended to. The school was divided into three “Houses” (I don’t remember how people were allocated to a particular house) Doyley (yellow) Crispin (blue) and Wigod (Red) all of these names of people in Wallingford’s rich history! Every week “House Points” were awarded for good works or deeds to individuals, classes, or groups. On the Monday of the following week the points would be added up and the house shields were placed on a wall in the Hall in order of merit. The houses also competed against each other in sport, football, cross country, athletics and swimming, competition was always very fierce for the Cups on offer. Another popular sporting event was the annual football match between the senior boys and the staff, I only remember one occasion when the boys won.

Individual class sport was always very popular. I fondly remember Mr. Tremayne marching the whole class into the Kine Croft for football. He would invite one of the class (always one of the better players) to captain one team, and he would captain the other. Team selection would be like this: the “boy captain” would be allowed to select the first six players his choice, and then the remainder of the class would selected on a turn about basis thus giving the boys team six extra  players! Mr. Tremayne would have to play his heart out for his team to keep up! Some times there might have been cattle grazing on the Kine croft a few days beforehand, imagine the possibilities for slight accidents!

One of the high lights of the year would be the School Outing. I recall a wonderful trip to London which included some of the Museums and the Zoo, and another one to Stonehenge (in those days you could walk up to and touch the stones) and Southampton Docks- wonderful days.

The senior boys were always going out on trips and visits. Rugby and Cricket matches in Oxford, educational visits to places like the Morris Cowley  Motor Works and Harwell A.E.R.E. in 1956 they watched some of the World Ploughing Match in Shillingford.

Quite often there would be film shows, one of these was a film called the “Melbourne Olympics 1956” I will never forget it, Judy Grinham (backstroke swimmer) and Chris Brasher (3,000 metres steeplechase) bringing back gold medals for Great Britain.

How many people have had the privilege of seeing Her  Majesty  Queen  Elizabeth 2nd in Wallingford? Probably not a lot!! But the Teachers and Boys at the Boys school had that honour on 2nd November 1956 when they marched up to the  Market  place  to greet her Majesty when she visited the Town to celebrate Wallingford’s Royal  Charter granted in 1155 A.D.

With all this activity going on I wonder if we had any time to do any work! Boys were leaving  school at fifteen and many of them going straight into apprenticeships or full time work, some into further education. My time at the school came to an end on 2nd April 1958 and I moved to a school in Abingdon. It was in September of the same year that the school reopened as a County Primary Boys School. All of the boys over twelve years of age moved up to the new secondary modern school in St Georges Road named after Judge Blackstone.

It would be twenty years before I would return to St Johns County Primary School. In that time a lot of change had taken place,  the garden, old lavatory block and kitchen had all gone, a new infant area, kitchen, and hall had been built. The old shed and bike shed were still standing! St Johns had also become Co-educational.

On 5th September 1978 my daughter Claire started her first day at school in Mrs Ford’s class, there was a new Head Teacher Mr Jerry Quinn with Mrs Mildred Sanders as Deputy Head and two hundred and forty three children on the roll. On the day I don’t know who was more nervous Claire or her mother!

It wasn’t long before my dear wife Ros was getting in on the act as a Supply Teacher on 23rd  January 1979. For Ros  this was beginning of  a long and treasured career at St Johns. Although  retired she still continues to do supply work and believe it or not even as I am writing this she is teaching at school today 17th September 2008.

For a number of  years  I have been proud to be a School Governor and was Chairman in the 1990’s. Ros and I are both extremely pleased and grateful that our two Grandchildren

Charlotte aged seven in year three, and Hannah aged five in the Foundation Class are both enjoying their education at St Johns. We hope to be connected with the School for many years to come, and look forward to the Centenary in 2010.