Dulwich Road was great!

To me Dulwich Road Secondary Modern School was an excellent place of learning and life experience, especially during the latter part of World War II. My time spent at the school was 1944 to December 1948. I was in the first batch of pupils to stay on until the age fifteen. The Headmistress at the time was Miss Ward and she had a brother who offered two pupils an office job at “Wolsely Sheep Shearing” in Witton each school leaving time. My friend Jean Oldbury and I were lucky enough to be selected in December 1948 and so began our working life. I mentioned the war years and I vividly remember once a month on a Friday, we took grocery items into school, i.e. a tin of peas, 1/2lb of margarine, packet of tea or sugar etc for a bring and buy sale to raise funds for the school. Lessons were good. I enjoyed history, geography, maths but mostly English and reading where my favourite teacher introduced us to Anne of Green Gables, which I have never forgotten and still watch the video of it or read my lovely copy of the book which came from Canada, where the authoress was born. Cookery and house-wifery were quite important too in those days. I recall making scones and bread in the school kitchens and later at “The House” on Kings Road, Kingstanding, we cleaned, polished, scrubbed cellar steps and also prepared meals for the three teachers who lived there. There were school trips such as to Kingstanding Odeon to see Henry V (super!) and also to Birmingham Town Hall to hear the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra also wonderful. After the end of the war in Japan, the fifth year pupils were treated to a girls school camp in Headington, nr Oxford, a special, happy time and often recalled even now, by my many friends in Birmingham who were there. Following on from that I was lucky enough to gain a place on a trip to Paris, staying at “Hotel Moderne” Rue de la Pompe, Paris. We saw all the famous sights. One of my most vivid memories of the trip was having to take tins of condensed milk for our coffee. The Eiffel Tower was partially camouflaged from the war and the American Troops were still in Paris. I still hope to go back to see the building where we stayed. I’ve checked and its still there My school days were amongst the happiest of my life and I still benefit from what I learned and also was delighted to attend a 50 year’s reunion in March 2000, along with my friend and former netball captain Margaret Wright. I earned myself 1 netball medal for Dulwich Road in 1946 but Margaret won quite a few more and carried on her netball career by umpiring, reaching County Level. We are still in touch and I have a copy of a letter I wrote to her when she left Dulwich Road in 1947. Head Mistress Miss Ward, Teachers Miss Hobbs, Miss Mansell, Miss Brosnen, Miss Smith, Miss Sugden, Miss Hitchen, Miss Coombes, and Miss Poole all helped in giving me and others a good education, despite gas-masks, air-raid shelters, rationing and lack of calculators and computers. Dulwich Road was great!!