In January 1934 I started school at St. John the Baptist School on School Hill, Findon.   There Florrie looked after me until she left in the Easter, aged fourteen. 

My first teacher was Miss Pilamore.   She was kind and soft spoken but she did the ground work on her pupils for, when we left her class at the age of seven, they could read and write and were well on the way to knowing their tables.  

In her class we played with plastercine and wrote letters in chalk on small blackboards.

On Friday afternoons she would read us a story, one I remember is how the daffodil got its trumpet.

Other times we were given small squares of fabric to unravel, she would then collect up the small piles of thread.   I can only think that they were used to stuff toys.

We sat at small two-seater desks.  When entering the class we would stand by our desks until told to sit and kept quiet most of the time.

Every morning started with the calling of the register followed by prayers and a bible story.   After this came "sums".   We started by learning our numbers and counting with teacher as she moved coloured beads along wires of what we called "the bead frame".   Letters were taught by the teacher pointing to the letters displayed round the walls.  To follow that we were given cards with the alphabet and a picture for each letter on it.  We had to cover the letters with plywood letters until we knew them all.   It may have been all very plain and simple but it worked well most of the time.

We always sang grace before going home for lunch and at the start of afternoon school.   Everyone who lived near enough went home at lunch time.   Children who lived way out at Buddington, New Barn, Cobden Park Farm and New Buildings had to eat food they had brought from home in the school shed.   The grace we sang before going home was "Be present at our table Lord".  As we sang we would gather speed until it was hard to understand the last few words.   Infants came out of school at 3.30 p.m., when we sang "Now the day is over".   I was always moved when we sang "For those in peril on the sea".

Mr. Thomas, the Headmaster, was very strict.  We had to line up before going into school and he would stand by the door.   As you passed him you had to show your hands.   If they were dirty he would pull you to one side, boys by the ear, girls by the hair.  He was well known for canning naughty boys but he was respected and some of the children would even go to his house to walk to school with hi.  

Before we could go home at the end of the day we played what he thought was a game.  I thought it more like torture!  We had to stand round the room and he would name a subject.   A child would say the first letter then each child would guess the next letter.   As an example, on this particular day the subject was fruit and the first letter was G, followed by the letter R and then the letter A.   Everybody thought the next letter would be P but the child say N instead.   This puzzled everyone and in the end Mr. Thomas asked the girl what fruit she was thinking of    She replied Grannipomit.   She was really thinking of Pommegranite.   Nobody dare laugh, but we did when we got outside.   This once she was allowed out, even though she gave the wrong answer.

One day, when learning about the Catechism, a boy was asked what his Christian names were.   He replied Billy William as his name was William but he was always called Billy.   He was "sort of" correct.

By today's standards the school buildings were very primitive.   The toilet block was across the playground.   The toilet seats were like wooden shelves with holes in them with buckets underneath.   These were emptied by Florrie's dad.

The school at this time was cleaned by Aunt Sue.  My mum did this for a number of years after Aunt Sue retired.

There was no such thing as a school uniform as it was hard enough to dress children and a lot of clothes were either passed on or down.   Mothers made a lot of childrens clothing out of worn out adults garments.  I once had a dress with a buttercup pattern on it and a girl I didn't like asked if she could have it when it was too small for me.   Not likely, I thought, and it got torn and she never did have it.   Mum never had time to make us clothes but she did knit us a few jumpers.

Oliver Thomas was very strict but fair and remembered by all the pupils he ever taught.   Not one to spare the rod but very few boys ever got in real bad trouble and so he must have done some good.   sitting on his high chair at a high desk he looked down on the class over his half rimmed glasses, soon spotting any one talking and not getting on with their work"

I think it was once a year that the school dentist would call at the school to check our teeth and we would be sent home with a form.   I believe we had to pay about one shilling for treatment.   The dentist would set up an old fashioned treadle drill in the Old School House.  This frightened us as he was a puller not a filler of teeth.   Our school mates would come back into class with blood running out from the corners of their mouths telling tales of horror so mum took us to her dentist, Mr. Peterfield in Bath Place, Worthing.   It is still a dentist surgery today.    If we didn't make a fuss we were allowed to dash into Woolworths, which was almost next door, and have sixpence to spend.