MARION J CORK'S SCHOOL MEMORIES 1920

Marion Jeanne CORK d.o.b. 31.10.1919 Written 16th January 2009

In the 1920’s I went to a small private school at Havant, in the south of Hampshire
The fees were £2.20 a term, dancing class on Wednesday afternoon was extra. Books cost 9 old pennies or 1 shilling and 6 pence that is 12 1/2 new pence. The teachers were called governesses and I imagine Miss Simmons who ran the school was a former governess.

There was a ban on Beatrice Potter. We learned a sentimental poem
‘Hush, hush whisper who dares,
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.’but we were not allowed Eeyore or Piglet. We had Tennyson’s The Brook read to us.
I learned there that if an English town had a name ending in Chester or Cester a Roman camp had been there.

Once a week Sergeant Spencer (who must have served in the 1914-1918 war) came
And took us for drill. We all had our autograph books, and if you gave yours to Sergeant Spencer it came back a week later with a beautiful painting. As I handed him my book I suddenly felt nervous- he might say, “Oh, I haven’t time for that any more, however he took it with a slight smile and without a moments hesitation he handed me a painting. What excitement the following week as everyone crowded round to look! The book with the silly little rhymes had long since gone, but the painting has been cherished, and now hangs on my wall framed and mounted. I was 7 years old. The school had closed by 1930.

I had to attend a state school for 2 years to be allowed to sit the scholarship examination. I went to a little Church Of England School where all the 9 years old were knitting socks and turning heels. As I was clumsy with my hands this was a shock.

That school served us splendidly. In arithmetic I came up to compound interest, and felt insulted when at the Girls’ High School I was asked to add decimals. Spelling was a game. We stood around the walls and the one who got the answer right went to the top.
I remember one word was chauffeur. I had a visual memory: and we learnt grammar. I chanted “ an adverb answers the question how, when, why or what, and still use adverbs and do things quickly not quick.

All the candidates for the scholarship examination passed. One girl was allowed to take it a year late because she had diphtheria the year before.
My mother left school at 14 in 1906. She could write a letter with perfect spelling, punctuation and grammar and in a clear hand. They were trained to do this so that they could apply for a job.

I urged my mother to put money in the Post Office Investment account when they were (unbelievably) paying 15%.  

She turned the idea down with scorn.  "Those young men in The Post Office can’t count.” Collecting 2 weeks pension at Christmas he wrote down the amount, then again underneath, and added them together. Mother had done the sum and got the answer right before he had got it down the first time. My sister was given too much.

At Westminster School a 6th former said to me, "I do wish I’d been taught grammar.” My nephew, a consultant, cannot spell. The word halt has a U in it when he spells it. 

Illiterate teachers invented the theory that correct spelling inhibited a child’s creativity.