Memories: Starting School aged 4 Part TWO
Mum made sure we could all read before we started school. She started us with the “ladybird” series of “Peter and Jane.” I know Mark was reading 8a before he started, but I can’t recall how far I had achieved. Mum also taught us to write, but using capitals instead of lower case, so I had to relearn them. Certain letters I had difficulty with and “e” in particular, so Mrs N, my teacher, made up a rhyme for me, “Daddy’s going to town; Oh, Daddy’s forgotten something, he has to go all the way back home again.” It worked and I have used similar ideas myself to help children form their letters.
My first piece of homework was to learn a Nursery Rhyme off by heart. I didn’t want to learn the common ones, so chose a more unusual one…
Molly, my sister
And I, fell out,
And what do you think
It was all about?
She liked coffee,
And I liked tea,
And that was the reason
We couldn’t agree!
I was commended by my teacher and as I enjoyed learning and reciting it so much, I decided to learn another one…
Rat-a-tat-tat,
“Who is that?”
“Only Grandma’s pussy cat.”
“What do you want?”
“A pint of milk.”
“Where’s your money?”
“In my pocket.”
“Where’s your pocket?”
“I forgot it!”
“Oh you silly pussy cat!”
Whenever it came to PE, I was always the last one out on to the field because I couldn’t tie my dap laces. Sometimes I’d ask an older child to do them for me, but as I had no friends, they didn’t always oblige and I would stand their crying. One day after much fiddling, I achieved it, but then couldn’t remember the next time how I had done it! 😊
For assembly and dinner time, we would have to go over to the main Victorian classroom, where the chairs and desks had been cleared away. At dinner time my brother sat on a different table than me and I would have to pluck up enough courage to go over to him to get some orange squash from his blue, plastic, Tupperware container. I felt very self-conscious, as everyone else would be sitting down. One day we had rice pudding for pudding, which I have always hated, so I refused to eat it. The Headmistress said I had to sit there the whole lunch time until I had finished it. I was still sitting there when all the children came back in for their lessons an hour and a half later! The tables had not been allowed to be replaced, so the children stood around the room and watched me sitting there refusing to eat. The Headmistress tried to force it into my mouth, but I continued to reject it; so in her frustration she shouted at me, smacked me on my leg and I left the room in tears. The poem, “What is the matter with Amelia Jane,” was very apt in my case!
My brother didn’t fare much better with the Headmistress. He was kept in at playtimes because his handwriting was deemed not to be up to the required standard. It was then that Mum decided to move us to a different primary school!
