I was a milk monitor
I spent a year and a bit at Whitehawk Infants school, where I enjoyed being milk monitor, because back then we had free milk at school, and milk monitors got first pick of any spares because not all the children wanted milk. I still like a pint of milk every so often, usually flavoured with milkshake, to this day. After the Infants, I went to Whitehawk Junior School where I met three other boys with whom I remained friends far beyond our school years. I used to like to swing over the bars at the end of the pathways, until one day I found I’d grown too tall and banged my head.
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Remembering my teachers
Around 1970 we moved from Whitehawk Avenue to Nuthurst Road where I made more friends. I moved up to Whitehawk Senior School which I somewhat enjoyed. We didn’t have year 1 to 12, or whatever it is now, back then. We had 1st to 5th year in the seniors, and 1st to 4th in the Juniors. Some teachers I remember are Mr Simmons (Maths), Mr Yates (Geography?), Mr Fitzpatrick (Art), Mr Darling (Music) and Mr Richardson (P.E.). A year or so before I left school it became Stanley Deason High School, then, shortly after I left school, it moved to Wilson Avenue and eventually it became an academy.
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If memory serves, Mr Yates had a Triumph Herald car. Mr Simmons used a leather strap from a train window to ‘correct’ a boy’s behaviour. He tried it on me but I pulled my hand away at the last moment and his face met the wall. Mr Cox had all the fish tanks in his room and years later I wound up working for him. Unfortunately he died not so long back in a house fire. Mr Hyatt(?) was the Woodwork teacher.
I remember Mrs Wellstead, the music teacher. She had a Morris Minor and lived in Coldean.
Maureen Muzzell – I think we were in the same class! Mrs Wellstead was a great teacher. Do you remember that always at the end of the music lesson, she allowed one pop record to be played. I think my love of classical music came from her – not opera though! She also taught us how to write in italic which is something I still do today.
I was at Whitehawk School in the late ’50s and was taught by a number of teachers that are mentioned. I remember when Mr Scales introduced Mr Simmons as an old boy. Mr Hyatte, Mr Darling, the music teacher before him was “Peanuts”, I can’t remember his name, but he also taught the violin. Mr Jones was my PE teacher, he used to chase the boys into the showers waving a big black plimsole.
Does anyone remember Mrs Stubbing from Stanley Deason high school 1976 /1978?
Can anyone remember when Mr Werner (headteacher) and Mrs Werner (childcare social studies) left Stanley Deason?
I was at Whitehawk Infant School on Whitehawk Road from 1972-74. I remember there being a playground at the front of the school, visible from the street, where we lined up in the morning. The building had a covered verandah that ran around the front, with steps up from the playground. That all seems to be gone now. Up behind the school were some prefab buildings, where some classes were held, known as ‘the huts’. Two events that I remember more than anything 1) the murder of Maria Colwell, who was about a year older than me, by her stepfather in January 1973 on Maresfield Road, which made front-page news around the country and led to a huge overhaul of child abuse laws, and 2) the opening of the Whitehawk Community Centre on Whitehawk Road at the corner of Findon Road in November 1973 by Princess Alexandra. It didn’t last long – it was knocked down in 2012 and has now been replaced by a block of flats. For some reason, I was one of a handful of kids from the school, along with Cubs and Guides and Scouts and local officials, chosen to attend the opening. We stood in a line as HRH stepped from a car and worked her way along and unveiled a plaque. I haven’t been to Whitehawk in a long time and much of the area seems to have been changed now – streets rerouted, cul-de-sacs created and some roads completely gone. Hopefully for the better.
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