St. Kenelm's C.E. Primary School, Romsley
Centenary Celebrations
1915 - 2015
Memories of Mrs Margaret Pickford - Parent/Recorder Teacher from 1982 onwards
Although both our daughters attended the school from 1982 onwards, I feel that "school" was at the centre of the children's lives before they actually started to go there. I can remember the wonderful Silver Jubilee celebrations which took place on the school field in 1977!
The friendly and welcoming community of Romsley and Hunnington meant that families in the village became fairly "close-knit" through pre-school activities and starting "Big School" was just an extension of this. Children met and mixed at the Toddler Group each Wednesday where I played the piano for "Wheels on the Bus", "Heads, Shoulders. Knees and Toes" and many more songs. Then onto (Auntie) Margaret Bayfield's Playgroup – what a wonderful influence she was on the children in her care! My contribution to the school in those days was the weekly recorder lessons that I led for many years. Happy memories and here are a few more:-
- The friendly and welcoming face of the school secretary, Mrs Gill Tandy.
- The size of the school in those days – just three teachers and mixed age classes.
- Parents collecting their children came right into the playground – no major security worries in those days.
- School plays and pantomimes. I remember having to make the costume for my daughter playing Fatima in Aladdin.
- Making hats for the Easter Bonnet Parade.
- Bluebell walks to Ell Wood.
- Mr Ruddick's wonderful "Wild Flower Count". The whole school was asked to take part in this sponsored competition and hours were spent in Ell Wood and the Rolling Hills trying to identify and then ticking off as many of the thirty/forty different varieties as possible. The parents learned an awful lot and the children thoroughly enjoyed the walks with their friends!!!
- The annual school trip to Weston Super Mare (come rain or shine!) and how much the children loved Tropicana.
- The friendliness and support of the crossing lady.
- The annual Sports' Day where I dreaded the Parents' Race but couldn't possibly not take part for fear of losing face. I think my friend Ruth Harper nearly always won ...but she cheated by running in bare feet!
- The eagerly awaited whole school photos. So few children to arrange in height order in those days. Individual photos too to be sent out to family members each Christmas. (Not to mention the "first day at school" photo of our younger daughter taken by her proud dad. She buried her head and sulked so much that he took a photo of the daffodils instead!)
- The day I collected my elder daughter from school and completely forgot that I had taken the younger one with me. Only when I arrived home with the former did I realise that the younger one was not there. She had wandered back through the gully having crossed the main Bromsgrove Road with the mother of her friends and arrived on our doorstep five minutes later, seemingly not having missed her own mother at all. Such was our supportive community. Today it may have been called "child neglect"!