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Silvermere Secondary Modern

On reflection Silvermere was a very large site especially for secondary schools, the sports facilities being substantial for the time. Fitted inside the running track was a full size hockey pitch. Seem to remember we had a full time groundsman to boot
 
robert said:
Roy Polard ,Alan. Some teacher names, Mrs Bell maths, Mr Brettle maths and PE, Mrs Brettle english , Mr Gregory Dep Head, Mr Evans geography, Mr Redgrave english, Miss Lacy drama, Mr Knight art, Miss Trumper PE and Mr Bennet metal work.
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I am the son of Leonard Bennett the Metalwork teacher. My father went on a cruise to the Mediterranean with the school on the Nevassa from 10th November to 26thNovember 1965.
I am about to throw out nearly 280 sides of the trip. Would anyone like them?
 
Hi Gordon, I remember your father well, he stood in as an English teacher at times.I have him to thank for knowing how to address an envelope correctly.
 
Gordon Bennett said:
I am the son of Leonard Bennett the Metalwork teacher. My father went on a cruise to the Mediterranean with the school on the Nevassa from 10th November to 26thNovember 1965.
I am about to throw out nearly 280 sides of the trip. Would anyone like them?
Click to expand...
Hello Gordon, my name is David Harvey and I was at Silvermere Secondary Modern school until 1959. Your dad taught me metalwork until I left there. If anyone is reading this post recalls my name and would like to contact me please do so.
 
My father was Ignacy Rowan, and he taught woodwork at Silvermere - I'm guessing about 1953 to 1956/7. He was originally Polish, and had qualified as a teacher in Vilnius (then part of Poland) in 1937. During WWII he served in the Polish Army until being imprisoned in Russian NKVD prisoner-of-war camps after Russia invaded Poland. After an armistice for Polish prisoners in 1941, he joined the Polish "Anders Army" to fight for Russia against Germany. In 1942 Anders Army left Russia for Palestine to defend the Middle-East oilfields. My father volunteered for the Polish Air Force in Britain and trained in Canada as a navigator. He then became an instructor and the adjutant at the Polish Apprentices School at RAF Halton. After being demobbed in 1947, he trained at Loughborough College to become a woodwork and metalwork teacher.

Ignacy Romaszko - P 2689 ellipse.png
He left Silvermere to teach at Archbishop Illsley in Acocks Green. He died from leukaemia in 1959 at the age of 44.

The book "Trail of Hope" by Norman Davies is a fascinating account of the extraordinary hardships and tragic events which Anders Army experienced, and which provide a salutary lesson to anyone who imagines that Russia has any redeemable qualities, and can be trusted.

Chris Rowan
 
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