Figure 1.-- Here I am with two of my brothers. We are all at our primary together. We are playing on our back garden swing set. Mum always dressed us smartky in the official uniform, although later I was allowed to wear long trousers when it got cold. Note the family cat.

Except for a few months, I spent all my primary years in one school. I was there for both Infants and Juniors. It was the same primary my brothers all attended. For a few years we were all there together. The school had a basic uniform. My school was fairly relaxed about the uniform, but mum usually dressed us up smartly. I liked the school and was very happy there. This is more than I can say for the primary to which mum moved me. I had a really hard time there, mostly with the other children. Yjere was one girl there who really gave me a hard time. . I was really glad when she moved me back.

My Primary

I recall my primary school years very well. Except for a few months, I spent all my primary years in one school. I was there for both Infants and Juniors. It was the same primary my brothers all attended. For a few years we were all there together. The school had a basic uniform. We wore maroony sweaters, maroon and grey striped ties, white or grey shirts, grey shorts, and gey kneesocks. Footwear was optional, but we couldn't wear trainers. Some of us had caps. We wore dark grey duffle coats duing the Winter. My school was fairly relaxed about the uniform, but mum usually dressed us up smartly. There was a relaxed atmosphere at the school which suited me just find. I liked the school and was very happy there.

My brothers

It was the same primary my brothers all attended. For a few years we were all there together. Only one year with my older brother before he went off to secondary school. , but longer with the other two, We were all very happy there.

The uniform

Our school had a uniform, the one we're wearing, in the swing photograph (figure 1). We had maroon sweaters and a a maroon anf grey sweater. We wore grey and white shirts with grey shorts and grey kneesocks. We also had dark grey duffle coats. There was even a cap, although not too many boys wore them. I had one. As as I moved up through the school the headmaster experimented with relaxing the rules. He was ahead of his time in that respect! An interesting thing happens actually when uniform rules get relaxed, and I've been intending to mention this to you. Usually, the kids that have come up through the school, used to the uniform, just keep wearing it. It's the younger ones coming up behind them that start abandoning it because their mums realise they don't have to go and buy it if they don't want to. You would be AMAZED how often this resulted in the strange spectacle of the older boys coming and going to school in shorts, while younger boys, sometimes their own brothers, are wearing long trousers. I have seen this so many times! There is another possible explanation too and it's this: infant departments and junior departments sometimes have different headteachers, and sometimes the infant head allows longs, the junior head doesn't. There is a school not far from where I live like this, where shorts are compulsory until Year 6 in the juniors (except now in winter), but they're not compulsory in the infants. So you see all these kids going down the road with the little'uns in longs and the older boys in shorts.

P.E. in Infants School

One thing I'm surprised no-one seems to have commented on was PE in state infant schools. From the 60s until the late 90s, the norm was for PE to be done in underwear. I will NEVER forget the first day we were told to strip to our vest and pants for PE and the shock that went round the room. We must have only been about 6, but it was still a shock I can tell you!! People were removing their jumpers and shirts and then stopping, and the teacher (an Indian lady) was making us take our shorts off. She said we could only keep them on if we weren't wearing pants, and one boy said he wasn't. She looked down the front of his shorts, slapped him round the face and told him to take them off. He was wearing red pants, which were ahead of fashion at the time. Boys only wore white and we all thought he was wearing girls pants (in fact he had a trendy mum who as I say was ahead of the rest of us in fashion nous.) In the summer we did PE in our pants outside in the playground, and this same stupid teacher one day made us get changed BEFORE playtime as we were having PE straight after play. We got undressed and then she told us to go out to play (we had a door which opened onto the playground). None of us moved. There was a playground full of kids out there and she expected us to go out among them in our underwear!!! She was shouting andmoving children towards the door, but then went off to get the headmistress and by the time she returned, playtime was over and we went out. That day is as vivid in my mind as the day it happened. I can only think that as she came from India, she just didn't realise that English kids did not regard underwear and something to be seen in in public. I'm still amazed now though at how horrified I was because it was second year infants, so I'd have only been 6 I think.

Temporary Primary

I was at another primary school for a few months in what was then called the 3rd year, but which is now called Year 5. I actually visited my old primary school a few times a couple of years ago to have a browse throught what remains of the school records of that time and I found entries in the school role for the exact date I left and the exact date I returned, but I've gone and forgotten them again now. It was something like December to March that I was at a temporary primary school. English schools at the time had just started experimenting with relaxing uniform rules and I started wearing long trousers at about 8 years of age. There's a tale to tell about that. Then I moved to another primary school which had a strict uniform including shorts. However, it was January and my mum refused to send me to school in shorts. Some of the other boys complained to the teacher that I was getting away with long trousers and she sent a letter home telling my mum I had to wear shorts. My mum wrote back saying she sent me to school to learn how to read and write, not to be told how long my trousers should be; the interesting thing is, I was fed up being different and just wanted to dress the same as everyone else, especially as I was getting picked on because I was new there. I'd have MUCH rather worn the shorts just to be the same as everyone else!!

Back to My Primary

So I was back to my primary for the rest of the 3rd year and the whole of the 4th year. I've assumed that because mum refused to send me in shorts because it was winter, even though that was compulsory at the other school, that I'd stopped wearing them by then, but I don't know... it may well be that when the weather warmed up I did wear them again, it was such a non-issue that I wouldn't really remember. I'd have worn whatever mum put out for me to wear. I hadn't even realised I was the only boy in longs at the other school till someone complained to the class teacher and she told me off, and as I think I mentioned, I would have preferred to have just been wearing what everyone else was wearing!)

Author: Jonathan

Created: 8:58 PM 9/18/2005
Last updated: 10:07 PM 9/18/2005