BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 I looked through the list of schools and could not find Portland Junior School Bilborough so I am adding this to the list. Looking at some old school photos from the late 50s I counted the number of pupils in the class. In Miss Martinson's class there were 40. Amazing by today's standards! I remember the day of the 11+ exam. We arrived at school to see desks set out in the hall. They never told us the exam was that day! In a way it was probably a good thing as we just went in and did it! I only joined nottstalgia last week so I hope I have gone about setting up the new topic correctly. I will press the button and hope for the best! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 You've done it perfectly, BilboroughShirley. Good post. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Thanks Michael, I hope we have some members with memories of Portland. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 My cousins Trevor, Wilfred and Rika all attended Portland School in the 1950s. They all have the surname Hill and Wilfred and Rika are twins. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 I “Googled” Portland Primary School to see if it has a website with some up to date photos of the school. I was amazed when the first site listed (http://portlandprimary.weebly.com/) said this under the heading Portland Primary School: AAre you battling to control pests? Do you worry they'll take over your house? Do you need expert help yet have no idea where to look or what to do? It seems that the school is sponsored by a local pest control business. This may be good from a finance point of view but the initial impact of the site is very off putting! There is nothing about the school, only pages of detail about how to get rid of house pests ranging from ants to rats. As a former pupil (from a long time ago) I feel very disappointed by this presentation of the school on the internet. Looking at the 2013 Ofsted report for the school it is judged as “requires improvement” with low level disruption in lessons but surely they do not have to go to a pest control company for help! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Maybe its the kids who are the pests. I know we were when we were at primary school. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Snowy 1 Posted September 27, 2015 Report Share Posted September 27, 2015 I joined Portland from Crane Junior after we moved house and had a happy experience over all. I also remember not being told the exam we were doing was the 11+. A thing I have resented ever since. I thought the best thing was the after school dances. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted September 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2015 #7 Welcome to Nottstalgia Snowy. It is good to hear from another member who went to Portland School. I look forward to reading your posts. Do you remember Mr Bourne the head? He always seemed OK. In my last year there our class teacher was Mrs Pearson who seemed obsessed with poetry and we had to do a kind of coral speaking, saying poems all together as a class. It did not do me a lot of good as I failed O level English Literature! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted December 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2016 Yesterday I did a 78 mile round trip to attend a very good meeting. The M6 was OK, the M42 was fine with traffic flowing well and then I turned off and the worst bit of the journey was driving through Lickey. Parents were collecting children from the primary school, parked both sides of the road. Doors opened into the road. People getting in and out. This was the most dangerous bit of my journey! It made me think about when I went to primary school. Portland Infants was about a 15 minute walk from home. Everyone walked. I remember when I started school mum walked with me and the first day we were all escorted into the school. After that parents left us at the gate. When parents stopped taking you to school you felt more grown up. I remember when I was at Portland Junior School they used to have open days when parents could visit and some of us took flowers to put on the tables. On my own I used to carry a glass vase with roses in from our garden. I walked all the way to school with this. When the event was over I would carry the empty vase home. I still have my mum's vase. Today children would never be allowed to do this. There is a lack of independence. Independence produces confidence. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted December 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2016 Does anyone remember these teachers who were at Portland Infants and Juniors? Miss Moseley: the reception teacher in the Infants. She had lovely brown wavy hair and she was very nice.. Miss Burlinson: the headmistress (as they were called then!) who seemed very old to me! Miss Henshaw: she had the second class in the infants. She always wore a bright green dress. She lost my maths book then found it at the end of term. Mrs Bowker: she had dark hair done in a bun. I seem to remember someone said her husband was a mountaineer. Miss Maxfield: she was the first teacher in the Junior School. She was good but shouted a lot. Miss Martinson: there were 42 of us in her class. I have a photo and I counted! Miss Whitworth: she went on the school trip to Newfield Hall in Yorkshire. She was nice. Mrs Pearson: she liked to teach us country dancing and we had to recite poems as a class. Choral speaking I think it was. Mr Gregory: I was never in his class but he ran a competition that involved us collecting a bunch of wild flowers. Another activity that would never be done now. Mr Bourne was the Headmaster. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted December 3, 2016 Report Share Posted December 3, 2016 10 hours ago, BilboroughShirley said: Parents were collecting children from the primary school, parked both sides of the road. Doors opened into the road. People getting in and out. This was the most dangerous bit of my journey! It made me think about when I went to primary school. Portland Infants was about a 15 minute walk from home. Everyone walked. I remember when I started school mum walked with me and the first day we were all escorted into the school. Likewise, when I was at infants and junior schools, I don't remember any pupils arriving by car. Everybody walked because they all lived only a short distance from the school. (and not that many had cars anyway). But also in those days, everyone just went to the school which was nearest; none of the present obsession with choosing 'the best' school for the child which may be 10 miles away. Driving kids to school is also a major contributor to road congestion. Drive anywhere in Nottingham around 8.45am when the schools are working and you'll get stuck in traffic; drive in the same places when the schools are on holiday and the traffic hold-ups have all disappeared. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lizzy dripping 0 Posted December 23, 2016 Report Share Posted December 23, 2016 Hi anybody lived on Glaisdale drive in1960 oñwards and attended portland junior school . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,674 Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 Doesn't look like it Lizzy but welcome anyway ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
FLY2 10,108 Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 Give them time to wake up, Someone must have done ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tompa 285 Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 19 hours ago, lizzy dripping said: Hi anybody lived on Glaisdale drive in1960 oñwards and attended portland junior school . Hi Lizzy, I lived at 60 Cockington Road, and went to Portland Junior school probably 8 or 10 years before you. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lizzy dripping 0 Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 Hi tompa did you know the mathews they lived on cockington rd.The unwins i think owned the chippy when i was at school. My best friend lived on stotfied rd so spent a lot of time around that area,spent many hours on the park there . Good photo they are lovely to look back on which one is you?.Was there a lady teacher there when you was there she wouldn't allow youto go at the back of her desk, and if anybody swore she made them lick soap.On the day we left school we where allowed behind the desk.She had dark hair in a bun but can't remember her name. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tompa 285 Posted December 24, 2016 Report Share Posted December 24, 2016 Hi,I remember the chippy but never knew the name of the owners. A foster sister of mine and her husband Phyliss and Harold Musson and 2 kids lived a 77 Stotfield Rd I am seventh from the left top row got my arms folded. Also knew twin bothers I think their surname was Saunders, one of them was named Gerald, they are 4th and 5th bottom row. The only female teacher I can remember the name of was a Miss Boswell but can't be sure for certain. I played Cowboys and Indians on the waste ground opposite the shops on Cockington Rd before they built houses on it. I left that area when I was 11 years old to live at Union cottages Union Rd St Anns. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lizzy dripping 0 Posted December 26, 2016 Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 Hi the musson name ring's a bell i may have known them how old would they have been i would have been 7 in 1960.my friend was ellen bowler and a lad named Nicolas who also lived on Stotfield. But cant remember his surname.i bet it changed since you lived there,my mum still lives on Glaisdale its a very busy road now to when we where kid. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted December 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 27, 2016 I went to Portland school. The only teacher I remember with dark hair in a bun was Mrs Bowker. I was never in her class. Tompa, I have looked at your photo of Mr Gregory's class. (I was never in his class but I remember he ran a wild flower competition.) Is the girl on the front row, third from the left Jennifer Fisher? Next but one to her looks a bit like Kathleen Oats. At the right hand end is it Janina Robach? There were 2 classes in each year group. I started a thread about Portland school and I have listed the teachers I remember there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lizzy dripping 0 Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 Hi Shirley when did you go to portland junior? I was there 1960 .you have a good memory, i cant remember the teachers names. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted December 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2016 Hi Lizzy. I left in 1961. Portland was a nice school and I was happy there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Happily retired 37 Posted October 27, 2017 Report Share Posted October 27, 2017 Both hubby and I went to Portland junior school from 1961-66. We both have lovely memories of our time there. Headmaster: Mr Woodward, a truly lovely gentleman. Teachers: Mrs Bowker. Mr Denman. Mr Phelps. Mrs Bailey. Mr Pavey. Mr Saunders Some children we remember: Linda Newbold John Leivers Raymond Soar Adrian Woodward John Upton Anthony Turton Patrick Funnel Jane Bonser Paul Keeley Paul Eustace Robert Fell Trevor Jones Steven Rogers Jane Dunn Julie Mckinley Michelle Dodwell Christina Collinson Henry Johnson Barbara Fisher Steven Lees Neville Clifford Lorna Shaw Celia Hunter Victoria Irving Richard Garton David Bramley Wendy Bowers Michael Sheppard Linda Smith Julie Smith Margaret Harris Elaine Harrison Carole Stainright Michael Alsebrook Peter Bradbury Alan Fewkes Judith Middleton Phew! Not bad to say it was 50 years ago........ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
annswabey 599 Posted October 27, 2017 Report Share Posted October 27, 2017 I didn't go to Portland but a lot of the people on your list were in the year above me at Bilborough Grammar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BilboroughShirley 1,120 Posted October 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 I left Portland in 1961. Mr Bourne was the head teacher then. Also a decent teacher. I remember Mrs Bowker but I was never in her class. In your list of pupils, Neville Clifford was the younger brother of Marion. They lived on Tremayne Road. I think Steven Lees was the younger brother of Susan Lees who also lived on Tremayne Road. Patrick Funnel was the younger brother of Robert Funnel. They lived on Bramhall Road. Lovely memories. Thanks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Happily retired 37 Posted November 5, 2017 Report Share Posted November 5, 2017 Did you ever come across Pete Carroll? He lived on Birchover Rd. He attended the sixth form at Bilborough Grammar. He became a writer and poet and changed his name to Henry Normal. Look him up on the internet. He co wrote the first series of the Royle Family and was the executive producer of the acclaimed movie Philomena with Steve Cougan and Judy Dench. He wrote a lot of material for Mrs Merton. It is exciting to see someone from Bilborough rising to success from humble beginnings. David Hawley who attended Bilborough Grammar became communications director at the International Monetary Fund HQ in Washington. Joseph Morley was musical director of Mama Mia in London. I love to think that children educated in Bilborough have been so successful! I lived on Tremayne Road and my hubby lived on Canver Close, off Westwick road. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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