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Did the school that you went to have "Houses"

Don't know how they selected pupils for houses but it seemed to me that pupils that were similar were put in the same houses, by design or accident? Did the house masters match the houses that they were in?

The houses at my school were based on local areas and from memory -

Newstead - always came last at sports related events e.g. athletics, swimming etc.

Welbeck - won all the sports events

Rufford - best at stuff like chess, quizzes

Clumber - good at arts related activities

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The Manning Grammar School, during my period of incarceration at least, sported four houses: St David's, yellow; Armagh, green; Canterbury, red and Edinburgh, blue. Prior to my arrival, there had been

I always wore a tie.............& sometimes a shot tergowirrit!!

I also recall house games, immediately prior to the Christmas holidays. Gathering in the school gym, together with house mistresses, we all sat on the floor and played pass the parcel, charades and ot

Arnold County High School had:

Albert Schweitzer

Eleanor Roosevelt

Anton Semlonovitch Makarenko

Lakshmi Pandit

Sue Ryder-Leonard Cheshire

Gladys Aylward

I can't remember any house being characterised by particular qualities or achievements - although as i recall, Aylward House seldom seemed to win anything!

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barrettkellar #3

Certainly not you usual house names and I must admit to having to look up a couple of them and, as is often the case, left this site with much more knowledge than I had before.

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As I remember, at Mellish, when I started in the 50's we had Red, Yellow, Blue and Green. That was too easy though, so they pulled some former teachers out of the hat and we had McKewan, Baulk, Ball, and Buckley. I may have got those wrong - somebody please correct me if I have!

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The Manning Grammar School, during my period of incarceration at least, sported four houses: St David's, yellow; Armagh, green; Canterbury, red and Edinburgh, blue. Prior to my arrival, there had been more houses, including Ely, but these were defunct by 1969 when I darkened their door and existed only on the various Rolls of Honour of earlier female achievers dotted about the place.

I was allocated St David's and we were all supposed to wear a daffodil on 1st March!

St David's was noted for achievement in the Arts.

I won the speech and drama competition several years in succession but was never permitted to collect the trophy on speech day. That privilege was reserved for the house captain! In protest, during my final year, I refused to participate in the event and the trophy went to another house. Served 'em right. I'm not and never have been a team player!

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I also recall house games, immediately prior to the Christmas holidays. Gathering in the school gym, together with house mistresses, we all sat on the floor and played pass the parcel, charades and other such activities.

I remember feigning illness and sloping off to the sick bay where, wrapped in a brown Witney blanket, I had a nice snooze on the Dickensian looking couch and left the silly beggars to it! That sort of thing didn't appeal to me!

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We had four Houses at Berridge seniors in the 40's/50's. Cannot remember any of them. I do remember that the Houses were made up from all years and class grades. I do remember being peed off when the House Captainship was given to a low achiever. He even captained the House cricket team although he was not in the school team like me. Looking back on those experiences taught me things that were not on the curriculum. Anyway, I did win school colours which he did not. Black and Amber. Honoris Causa (sp?).

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Fairham Comprehensive had eight houses.



John Kenyon - former Director of Education


Alexander Fleming - Penicillin


William Penney - Atomic scientist


John Hunt - Mountain climbing


Frank Whittle - Jet engines


Thomas Elliot - Poetry


Bernard Lovell - Astronomy


Benjamin Britten - Music


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Also remember the annual traipse to Victoria Baths in Sneinton for the swimming gala. Having the distinction of the only girl in the entire school who never learned to swim, my services were thankfully not called upon. However, the rest of us were still required to sit in the gallery and watch. I can still recall the acrid stench of the starting pistol which mingled with the stifling aroma of chlorine. Terminal boredom! There were those who, carried away by it all, hung perilously over the balcony, yelling their support for various girls but I was content to loiter at the back and read a book!

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Jill, I shared your aversion to large quantities of water and was an observer when the class went to Noel Street Baths. I remember we had a teacher, Mr Haywood, who supervised the swimmers. I saw him walking backwards down the side of the bath encouraging a swimmer to keep going. He did not realise that there was a recess where the steps were and walked backwards into the water.

Like your posts, Jill, and their attitude. Keep them coming.

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Yes, Chulla, Manning Girls also used Noel Street baths for weekly swimming. Trekked there and back in all weathers we did. Hated it! The smell of chlorine mixed with mints and vending machine hot chocolate rushed out to greet you in the entrance lobby. Not that we were allowed to partake of that. There was no eating and drinking whilst wearing the school uniform in a public place!

Manning girls didn't wear conventional ties but had red and white striped

Petersham ribbon instead. To show one's pride in one's house, one was expected to wear a house badge of the appropriate colour. This had to be purchased with one's own pocket money and, needless to say, I didn't wear one! Better things to do with my weekly half crown!

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Rufford at FFGS for me too.

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BHGS were Alvric,Godric, Levric, Ulvric WTF was that all about.....?

Being a naughty girl at school , I was never going to be head girl but the house system allowed the pupils to vote for their house captain.....much to the disgust of the teaching staff, hippo girl was house captain for Levric !!!!!!

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Nottingham Bluecoat had

Braithwaite (Blue)

Fenton (Green)

Mellors (Yellow)

Rippon (White, and the one I was in)

Thorpe (Red)

in 1980 when I went there. I understand there are even more now as the school has much expanded in the 36 years since. I was at the school in 1985 when the infamous Nottingham Evening Post headline "Cane For City School" headline was published (after which the headmaster left).

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Thought Carni would have been first to answer for Gedling but I will leap in .

Scott -Red colour

Campbell -Green

Bannister-Blue

Hillary -Yellow

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Carlton le Willows' houses were:

Carnarvon - red (that was mine and was the best - obviously, though Lizzie might disagree!)

Beaumont - blue

Stanhope - green

Bardolf - yellow

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We had a sort of Roll of Honour board for former head girls at Manning. One was a Katrina Sparrow so, of course, people tended to assume we were related. Not to my knowledge either then or now. However, it was often alluded to, especially as I speedily acquired the reputation of not exactly being the most team-spirited, sociable or even remotely interested girl in the school.

My father was a bit put out at the thought of a Sparrow getting into a position of leadership where they'd be expected to toe the line and provide an example to other girls. Our Sparrows run like hell from anything like that so old Katrina must have been from a much removed branch of the family!

I'm pleased to say that the only way I managed to distinguish myself during the Manning years was by means of controversial essays which often poked fun at both that establishment and its staff, many of whom predicted that my pen would get me into trouble before long.

That's the kind of dubious honour daddy would have approved of!

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# 22. Margie

I'm afraid I have to agree with you with your comment that Carnarvon WAS the best house, or at least the most successful one when it came to inter-house competition.

I was in Stanhope and the house colour was WHITE not Green......... rather boring eh?

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William Crane Junior boys had Nuthall (green), Aspley (yellow), Broxtowe (red) and Strelley (blue). Think I have got that correct. Then Senior boys had Nelson (red), Roosevelt (?) Montgomery (?) and can't remember the other, off hand. I was in Broxtowe and Nelson, and I was the epitome of good behaviour and never, ever did anything wrong.

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