Figure 1.--This is the school report which was presented to the Superintendent of Schools when I arrived in America. This and a personal interview was used for my class placement in September 1940.

My brother and I attended the Franklin House School. It was a small private Day Prep School. A prep or preparatory school in England is a kind of private primary school preparing children for public schools, private secondaty schools. At the time both prep schools and public schools were almost all single gender schools. The school has quite small classes, The 'Number in Class' stated was the number in my set. I was in Form 3 Set A. There were about 20 boys in the class. We were grouped into sets. I was in the top set, and there were only five in that echelon. So as for spelling, I was fourth out of five in the set, so only fair. Overall I was probably 4th out of 20, but because we were in sets the teacher compared me with the standard of the other five, not the other twenty. This is how my daughter explained it to me. She teaches in a private prep school and says it is similar to present day practice. I think it means I should try a bit harder. If I was fourth out of Twenty, I might make no effort to improve. Clever psycology! There was one girl in the school for our last term. She had a brother there, and her school had closed due to the War. I think it was in Broadstairs, Kent. There were many private schools there. It was supposed to be a very healthy place for children. A few started up after the war. I think there are only only two prep schools and two secondaray schools now. After France fell, the second stage of the Battle of Britain was fought there. It is the area of Britain closest to France and the Luftwaffe was attempting to gain air superority over the invasion beaches by smashing RAF air fields. Scools were closed there, especially if they were close to the coast. Often they vwere converted into military facilities. I seemed to be absent quite a few times. One occasion was measles which stopped me seeing Fantasia. The 'Late' occurrence upset me. I had never been late before. Hitler cause it. We had an air raid in the night and over-slept. This is the school report which was presented to the Superintendent of Schools when I arrived in America. This and a personal interview was used for my class placement in September 1940.

Our Prep School

My brother and I attended the Franklin House School. It was a small private Day Prep School. A prep or preparatory school in England is a kind of private primary school preparing children for public schools, private secondaty schools. Many were boarding schools, but our parents decided on a day school. Money may have been a factor. At the time both prep schools and public schools were almost all single gender schools. We wore a fairly standard uniform at the time. The school has quite small classes, The 'Number in Class' stated was the number in my set. I was in Form 3 Set A. There were about 20 boys in the class. We were grouped into sets. I was in the top set, and there were only five in that echelon. So as for spelling, I was fourth out of five in the set, so only fair. Overall I was probably 4th out of 20, but because we were in sets the teacher compared me with the standard of the other five, not the other twenty. This is how my daughter explained it to me. She teaches in a private prep school and says it is similar to present day practice. I think it means I should try a bit harder. If I was 4th out of 20 boys, I might make no effort to improve. Clever psycology!

The Uniform

At Franklin house we wore short trousered grey suits. In the winter we had grey flannel shirts. We hated the new ones as the material was very itchy. We had black blazers with red piping. Our caps were made to go with the blazers. They were black with a red button and logo. In the summer term we wore white Aertex shirts. They always looked a bit scruffy as we had to wear ties with them. The soft collars were always a bit skewed. Our official uniform socks had two red striped and a criss-cross black pattern between them. Mother knit mine, as did many other so there was a variation. While in America mum sent along my cap which she had apparently forgotten to pack.

A New Girl

There was one girl in the school for our last term. She had a brother there, and her school had closed due to the War. I think it was in Broadstairs, Kent. This was unusual, but as we were at War, allouances were apparently made. If I recall correctly, she contunued to wear the uniform of her old school. The solitary girl, who was only there for one term was largely ignored. I remember at play time she used to stand in solitary state talking to the teacher supervising break. She was in a lower form to mine so I am not sure what rapport she had with the boys. She was probably a little bewildered.

Kent

There were many private schools there. It was supposed to be a very healthy place for children. A few started up after the war. I think there are only only two prep schools and two secondaray schools now. After France fell, the second stage of the Battle of Britain was fought there. It is the area of Britain closest to France and the Luftwaffe was attempting to gain air superority over the invasion beaches by smashing RAF air fields. Scools were closed there, especially if they were close to the coast. Often they vwere converted into military facilities.

My Report Card

Looking at my report card, I seemed to be absent quite a few times. One occasion was measles which stopped me seeing Fantasia. The 'Late' occurrence upset me. I had never been late before. I had a good excuse! Hitler cause it. We had an air raid in the night and over-slept. This is the school report which was presented to the Superintendent of Schools when I arrived in America. This and a personal interview was used for my class placement in September 1940.