This is my first school as it is today. It’s not changed much except that it now has inside toilets which it didn’t have in my day. I started school on 7th September 1950.  How can I be so precise? I've seen, and have a copy of, the original register. The school itself was built in 1881. The school was and still is very small. You walked through the entrance foyer into the corridor. It still has the children’s coat hooks on the left hand wall. As you go down the corridor, the door on the right led into the infant classroom, and the door on the right led to the junior classroom. The junior classroom doubled as the dining room because the kitchens are on the far side of this classroom. There was, and still is, a hatch in the far wall through which school dinners are served. The total number of children in the school varied between 30 and 35. I attended

Shaugh Prior School from 1950- 1956. My first memory of the school is my very first day. My mother took me to the school and tried to leave me. I screamed and screamed, I suppose because I was scared.  I had had no experience of interaction with other children at that stage. I was hanging on to my mother and pleading with her not to leave me. Of course she had to, and eventually I was dragged into class. Whether we were told then what the rules for going to the toilet were, or whether my mother had told me previously I don't know. What I do know is that later in the morning I put my hand up to go to the toilet and was given permission. Instead of going to the toilets which were outside, I proceeded to do a runner and went home. My mother of course took me back to school again. I don't know whether I was punished for escaping, but I rather think not because I have no memory of it. I now have very fond memories of the two teachers there, Mrs Nelmes the infant teacher, and Mrs Armistead who taught the juniors and was also the Headmistress.