Figure 1.-- This is a picture from my new school. In fact it iis the same class that I joined, but a cople years before I joined them. Here they are still in the Infants section. The unifirm though was the same. The boy last but one in the front row is wearing the exact uniform the juniors had to wear, minus the jumper (jumpers were always optional in warm weather anyway.)

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!!

My Main Primary

I spent almost all of my primary years at a single primary. All of my brothers attended the school with me.

My Old Uniform

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 at my old school. No one there said anything about it. Mum always did us up smartly and my old school was fairly relaxed about the uniform. There's a tale to tell about that.

Moving House

We moved house when I was in the 3rd year of the juniors (now called Year 5). So I moved to another primary school which had a strict uniform including shorts. 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. Our move meant going to school on the bus if I was to stay ar my old school. Mum didn't want me to go on my own. My eldest brother had left school by now, but the other two went to a senior school further along the same bus route which also had a junior school attached to it. So my mum wanted me to move to that school so I could travel to and from school on the bus with my brothers.

Changing Schools

The schoolyear was well underway when we moved. (I think it was November or December) and the headmaster of my school and the headmistress of the school mum wanted me to go to both said it was too late to change because the children would have formed their cliques and I would not fit in. My mum told them that was rubbish and I would fit in anywhere I went. In the end, they said to her: "OK, we'll let you move him.... and when you ring up after a while begging us to let him move back to his old school, we'll let you do that too." "Dont worry," said mum, "that won't hapen".

The Bus

So, off to my new school I went, on the bus with my brothers. I was supposed to come home on the bus with them too, but they finished later than me and usually I didn't wait. In fact, I sometimes spent the bus fare on sweets and walked all the way home.

New School

The new school was totally different from the one I was used to. It was a far newer building which you can see in the image here (figure 1). It was a one-story building with lots of glass windows. Schools built befote World War II were commonly multiple-story buildings construcyed with brick or stone. This new school was, however, far more old fashioned in its ways. Instead of writing with pencils or biros, we had to use fountain pens, filled up from a huge bottle of ink. Whereas at my old school the headmaster had got quite relaxed about what we wore, at the new school there was strict enforcement of uniform, something I hadn't really noticed at first.

The New Uniform

The uniform at my new school was blue jumper, blue/grey tie white shirt, grey shorts and grey long socks. And unlike my old school, it was enforced by the staff. As it happens, I can show you an old black and white photo of my class ..... long before I knew them (figure 1)! The boy last but one in the front row is wearing the exact uniform the juniors had to wear, minus the jumper (jumpers were always optional in warm weather anyway).

The Other Children

It was also a much smaller school. At my old school I was quite well known and popular, and sometimes played the piano in front of the whole school in assembly. At my new school of course, no-one knew me. What's worse..... nobody wanted to and certain kids decided to keep picking on me. This was led by a girl who sat on my table. I remembered her name was Lesley. She arranged for an older boy to trip me up outside the school one day and give me a kicking.

Long Trousers

That girl Lesley also swore a lot, whereas I'd never sworn in my life. She did lots of little things to make life difficult and get me in trouble one of which was to run up to the teacher one day, point at me and demand to know why I was wearing long trousers when al the boys had to wear shorts. The teacher called me over and said "Yes Jonathan, you've been here a while now and it's time you started to come in the correct uniform. She asked if I had short trousers and I said of course, so she said "Well could you wear them from now on, starting tomorrow." Apparently some of the other boys complained to the teacher that I was getting away with long trousers.

Mum

When I got home I told mum I had to wear shorts to school from now on. It was a very cold winter, there was ice about, and mum said that I woun't be wearing shorts tomorrow because of the weather. Which I don't quite understand as mum has sent me and my brothers to school in cold weather including snow plenty of times before. I told her I'd get in trouble, so she wrote a note. It said "I send Jonathan to school to learn how to read and write, not to be told how long his trousers should be." 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!! I handed num's note to the teacher who read it and didn't say anything. Now you may ask why mum was so insistent on this. That's a jolly good question!! And I am not rell sure. Perhaps she didn't like being told how to dress us, but I think that it was because the other three had now all gone up to seniors and of course, my oldest brother had by now cast off several pairs of longs as he outgrew them, so whereas previously the house was full of grey shorts, now presumably there were spare pairs of longs ali over the place too. And because they were there, it suddenly dawned on mum that it might make sense for me to wear them in the cold. My two oldest brothers had worn nothing but shorts till they left primary... in the picture on the swing for example, the other two brothers were in 3rd and 4th year juniors (what's now called year 5 and 6). I'd been through plenty of winters wearing nothing but shorts, and it wasn't an issue for me at all at that time.

My Nemesis

One day, the teacher was giving out some pieces of paper, and she'd put one too few on our desk. The always troublesome Lesley snatched mine off me and for the first time in my life, I swore at her. Her hand shot up and she said "Miss, Jonathan just swore!" "Did you Jonathan," the teacher asked. "Only once" I said (meaning of course, this girl swears all day, every day. I've just uttered a swear word for the very first time in my life".) "WELL ONCE IS ONCE TOO MUCH!" the teacher bellowed back. I think she left it at that. There was still corporal punishment in school, cane for the boys slipper for the girls, but I never experienced it. I think the teacher possibly knew what was ging on really, but had to be seen to be telling off someone who swore.

Back to My Old Scoool

Anyway.... I had to let mum know that I wasn't happy at the school. After a while, she realised it just wasn't working out and made that phone call which she'd told the headteachers would never happen. I didn't know she was going to. I was just in class one afternoon when the teacher said in front of everyone."Jonathan, I hear you're leaving us today." "Am I?" I replied. "Yes, you start back at your old school tomorrow". Other kids were asking me why and so I told them and then they were all saying "Oh, we don't want you t go, we like you really, we were only picking on you because you were new......." The next day I was back on familiar territory - one of the happiest days of my life!

Author: Jonathan

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