"I started going to school in 1915, when I was five years old, the school being a Church of England School, the only one in the village. My mother took me the first day and afterwards I had to go by myself. The school was about a third of a mile away from home, but in those days there was little traffic to contend with, nor men who took a fancy to small boys. However, I did have my troubles. Going home was the worst time, when the older boys took delight in terrorising the smaller children, and I remember how glad I always was when I turned the corner into Six Acres and to safety."
"I enjoyed the school work. The infant teacher was kind and well known to Mother and Dad, which I expect helped. The school being a Church of England one, we had fairly frequent visits from the Rector, the Rev. Hodges, who taught us the creed, catechism, etc. There was some opposition to this in the village that had a strong non-conformist element, the Church being situated at one end of the village and the Baptist Chapel at the other. It was arranged for the non-conformist children not to attend the religious instruction lessons given by the Rector, and many opted out. Although my parents were "Chapel" they were broad minded and saw no harm in the Rector's lessons, so I attended."
"As I passed through the school I was quite happy enjoying the lessons and the fun in the playground at break times. As a child one looked up to one's teachers as superior beings and it came as rather a shock that they were subject to higher authority. There was a school inspection by H.M.Inspector of Schools. The Inspector came into the classroom and listened to the procedure. I thought that Mr. Cook had not seen him, as he carried on with the lesson. Later the Inspector asked us questions about the lesson, and it must have been an anxious time for our teacher."
"The Headmaster, Mr. Dear was away from the school during the war, having volunteered for the army. I was not so happy when, after the war, I reached the Headmaster's class. The trouble was the arithmetic lessons. Very little instruction was given and the pupils worked alone through books of arithmetic problems. Some worked fast and were quickly at the end of the book and ready to start on a new one. Others advanced more slowly and I was somewhere in the middle. I could be stuck on a problem for days with no help in solving it from the Headmaster. The beginning of stress in my life!"
