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I attended Dean Grange Prep School in the mid 1980's. It was a small school owned and run by the Headmaster. About a quarter of the pupils were boarders. Some were from forces families, others from various parts of southern England. There were also boarders from Nigeria and Asia. There were boarders from about 4 or 5 up to 14. Usually pupils would leave and go to a senior school after the school year when they turned 13 but when I was there there were a few older children. Their parents must have had an arrangement with the school for them to stay but I think the Headmaster may have been trying to extend the school to include a senior section. They wore the smae uniform as us but were allowed brown trousers on special occasions. Some boys over 11 also had trousers but they were not worn often as the school insisted on shorts for everyone even in the winter except on special occasions. Some teachers were good, some were very strict. We had very small classes with usually only about 10 in each. I was very unhappy at the school but had to stay for the year once my parents had agreed to pay. Some children stayed there for a long time but most moved on to Kimbolton Castle or one of the other nearby schools if their parents could afford it. The school was closed soon afetr I left.
I attended Dean Grange Prep School in the mid 1980's. It was a small school owned and run by the Headmaster.
About a quarter of the pupils were boarders. Some were from forces families, others from various parts of southern England. There were also boarders from Nigeria and Asia. There were boarders from about 4 or 5 up to 14. Usually pupils would leave and go to a senior school after the school year when they turned 13 but when I was there there were a few older children. Their parents must have had an arrangement with the school for them to stay but I think the Headmaster may have been trying to extend the school to include a senior section.
At my prep school we boys all wore the same uniform regardless of age. It considsted of a yellow shirt (the school always stated this as 'Gold' bit it WAS Yellow! Worn with yellow and brown tie, brown shorts, cord or regular, beige knee or ankle socks and brown lace up shoes or sandals (optional) (Winter/Summer change). There was also an optional brown v-neck jumper and an obligatory fawn duffle coat.
Boys had to wear a plain brown school cap with the schools emblem until they were in year 7 when it became optionalexcept for the boarders. The girls wore Brown knee length skirts, yellow
blouses (no tie) and brown cardigans; beige knee length socks in the winter with brown policewoman type domed hats in the winter and white knee or ankle socks, yellow gingham dresses and straw boaters (all ages) in the warmer months. The school had a brown tracksuit which
we boarders had to wear each Saturday morning when we were taken swimming
in a nearby town. Uniforms were worn for Sunday services. Therefore we were only ever out of uniform of some sort on Saturday and Sunday
afternoons and evenings.
The small group of older children wore the same uniform as us but were allowed brown trousers on special occasions. Some boys over 11 also had trousers but they were not worn often as the school insisted on shorts for everyone even in the winter except on special occasions.
we also had a list of what we had to have and what quantity as boarders and anything extra was sent home. All of our clothes were stored in open fronted boxes (cubbies) which were fixed to the wall along the boarders corridor outside the dorms.
The school was a large country house in a small village near the Cambridge-Bbedford border. Compared to other schools it was very small. There were three boys dorms and two girls dorms at one end of the building on the first floor. We all shared the same bathroom and toilets but the showers could only be used when it was either the boys or girls turn or time. The showers were in the basement where in the old days they would have been a food store. We had one common room and it had a TV but we were not allowed to watch TV very often. One of our housemasters used to record programmes like "Blue Peter" for us but usually there were just little childrens videos to watch.
We did not have a lot of activities to choose from but there were clubs on some nights. A lot of the other boarding boys and some of the day boys attended ballet lessons, most of us were members of Crusaders which was like a church youth club and nearly all of the boys attended the local Cubs & Scouts. On Saturday mornings all the boarders had to attend swimming lessons in
Bedford. Some day children would alo attend but not often. On Sundays we all had to go to church. Sundays also included shoe cleaning and letter writing times. We had to show our letters to the housemistress who would correct out spelling and grammar as well as tell us what to write.
The showers were in the basement so when we used them we either had to get undressed upstairs and go down in our dressing gowns or more usually get changed there as we had to pass the common room otherwise and one of the matrons did not like that. There was no heating down there so it used to get very cold in winter. One of our housemasters used to sometimes unlock the boiler room so we could get undressed, dried and dressed in there where it was warmer but there was not much room and it meant running down the corridor with nothing on to gt to and from the showers. The shower heads were set into the wall in a row of about 6 and had push buttons to set the water off. Some of them gave you more time than others and you learnt to wash whilst keeping them pressed in. The water sometimes only trickled out and was usually cold or luke warm. I don't remember ever having a hot shower there. All of the taller boys had to bend down or kneel when they washed their hair as the shower heads were quite low. We would always slip and slide on the tiled floor and it would become a game to see who could slide the furthest. There was a bathroom with a single large corner bath like you get in peoples houses next to the showers but that was reserved for the girls. Sometimes we were allowed to use it but had to share with one or two other boys at a time. A lot of the tiles in there had come off the wall and wesometimes used to try and help some of the others off when we were in there waiting for our turn.
Bed times were very early, even the oldest boys had their lights out and quiet before 9pm, and in the summer it would be hard to get to sleep becuase of the light coming through the curtains and the heat. Most of the windows had wooden blocks nailed to them so they only opened a few inches. The idea was to stop us falling or climbing out but it also meant the dorms were hot and stuffy. There were also peacocks who would keep on calling. There were a mixture of ordinary and bunk beds in the dorms. We all had duvets on our beds and most brought in their own covers. We were only allowed one pillow. Everyone had a chair beside their bed to keep their clothes on and a sall wooden cabinet for other items. The chairs were really small and must have been from a nursery school. All our wash things and towels were kept in the upstairs bathroom/toilets. We all had our own peg and space on the shelves. The school rules said boys had to wear pyjamas and about half did but most of the older boys only wore the bottoms, others just their underpants (they had to wear separate pants to sleep in than they wore in the day). When it was really hot all of us would just lay on our beds with nothing on but that depended on which staff were on duty as one of the matrons never liked us doing that even though it was hot. There was a sick room next to the senior girls dorm but it was mostly used as a punishment room where you had to stay and sleep if you'd been naughty.
We would sometimes sneak out of our dorm and climb onto the roof through a window near the headmasters study. It started as a dare but then became more frequent as it was exciting to do and we could watch people pass by without being seen. I remember there was a large box of dressing up clothes and we would often play with those on a weekend acting made up plays. We did not play much football outside as there were not many of us and there usually wasn't a lot of time. We did read a lot. We brought books in from home or teachers would lend us some as the schools library was not very good and all the books were old.
A real highlight for most of the boys was when we were allowed to go to Cubs & Scouts. If the headmaster took us he would drop us off and collect us later but one of our housemasters used to stay and was a leader. We all had cub pullovers, neckers and caps but sometimes wore our school shorts and socks until the school bought us grey ones like the other boys. The older boys who went to Scouts usually wore their school trousers or shorts depending upon whether it was the headmaster (shorts) or housemaster (shorts or longs) taking us but all had proper scout shirts and neckers. Often we were the only ones in shorts and always the only ones in the winter. The others and the leaders would sometimes make comment about that but we were used to wearing shorts and it was simply a school rule. We sometimes had to take shorts and t-shirts to change into for some of the games. We used to meet at a local middle school and used their hall and when it was time to change we could use their changing rooms which were right next to the hall. The hall had one wall 'missing' so the corridor went past it and the changing rooms were on the other side of the corridor. They were massive and had really good benches, hooks and a huge shower area.
As Cubs we always started and ended each meeting with a Grand Howl. Stood in a big circle and then crouching down while we shouted We will do our best. We played lots of different games. The local boys were always interested in what it was like at boarding school. Somehow I think they felf sorry for us and would not have wnated to swap places but they hd the idea it was like something out of the story books. Scouts met at the same place but had slightly different meeting times but as there was only one school bus we all went and left at the same time. We all learnt to sew on or own badges and would have to stand up in assemblies when te headmaster would tell everyone what we had done. On Remembrance day and St Georges Day we would wear our cub and scout uniforms to school.
School always started at 9am with a whole school assembly in the hall. Before we left our housemaster would have us all line up and check we were properly dressed, had combed our hair and make sure hands and finger nails were clean. We then walked in single file to the hall. All of the older pupils helped the matrons in the morning with the younger children and also had a rota to for pouring jugs of milk and taking them to the classrooms. It was not uncommon for these to get spilt and have people running to get paper towels and mops. Milk was served at morning break in each classroom. We also helped with the laundry folding sheets and collecting & distributing clothes, that was OK until you had to put someones wet sheets into the laundry bags as they smelled. We were all taught to sew as everthing had to have your name on it and the matrons thought it best that we learnt to sew the labels on.
The food was horrible and there were no fat boarders. The headmaster and senior matron believed in traditional meals and we would often get things like liver and yukky over cooked cabbage which everyone hated. We had to eat what we were given or stay until had. I remember one junior boy spending an entire evening refusing to eat in the dining room and then having the plate put in front of him the next morning. I don't think he ate it. For breakfast we either have porridge (a favourite) or cereals and toast. On Sunday we would get a cooked braekfast and sometimes we would get boiled eggs. We had plastic beakers for water or juice and we would always make sure we arrived as early as possible so we could pick the ones which had not been chewed at! After meals we would take it in turns to help clear and put the plates and crockery etc through the big industrial washer. It was abit smelly and steamy but we actually liked the job.
Every Sunday we would have to clean our shoes and help the younger ones do theirs. We had to wear our school tracksuits or old shirts and shorts to do that as polish would be everywhere. We then had letter writing. Every week we had to send at least one letter home. these were always checked by the matron for spelling and grammar mistakes and had to be correct and in best handwriting. Younger pupils only used pencils but older ones used fountain pens. Ball points were banned. We could use the phone but it was in the main office so hardly anyone bothered.
I can't remember playing many matches against other schools but used to really enjoy going to the neighbouring Kimbolton Prep as although they usually beat us we would get a fantastic tea afterwards with all sorts of cakes as afters. When we played against other schools we were given shirts, shorts and socks to wear by the school. We used the village hall and playing field as an extra pitch to our own.
Some teachers were good, some were very strict. We had very small classes with usually only about 10 in each. Most of the rooms had individual or paired wooden desks with lift up lids but the younger classes had larger flat tables. We were not allowed to talk in lessons and had to put our hand up if we needed anything. Most of the work was really easy. We all had Prep (homework) after schoolwhich lasted from 30 min to 2 hours depending upon what age you were or whether you had been misbehaving. If you had been bad at school or the previous evening you had to get changed ready for bed straight after school and when you had finished your prep and supper went to bed. Sometimes that could be at 6pm when everyone else was playing. We would sometimes get smacked by the senior matron or headmaster but the usual punishment was early bed, not being allowed to go out on outings, doing chores around the school like cleaning or weeding or stopped from watching TV on Saturday night (the only time we usually saw any TV). We were all frightened of the headmaster and his wife (Matron) and would be careful not to step out of line. we often covered for ech other which at least taght us loyalty and friendship.
I was very unhappy at the school but had to stay for the year once my parents had agreed to pay. Some children stayed there for a long time but most moved on to Kimbolton Castle or one of the other nearby schools if their parents could afford it. The school was closed soon afetr I left.
