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Bournville Schools

S

snoker

knowlegable brummie
I wonder if anyone reading this attended Bournvllie Infants and Juniors School Linden Road in the late '40s.

I can remember the names of some of the teachers. They included Miss Greenway, Miss Whitehouse, Miss Alcock,
Mrs Lancaster and Miss Hancox. When we moved to the Junior School there were more male teachers such as Morley, Clifton, Holmes, Ward and Barker and discipline was more severe. 'Daddy' Barker would take a run down the corridor before whacking the the backside of the unfortunate pupil who remained bent over whilst waiting for the next whack!

I had a kitten off one teacher and i think it was a Miss Leonard but can't be sure. maybe someone can remember.
 
I did not go to Bournville Infants and Juniors but I did do to Dame Elizabeth Cadburys school just down the road from there & some of my friends when to the Juniour school..

Regards
Angie x
 
I attended Bournville infants school from 1941-1948.
I well remember the teachers you named particularly the caring and sensitive ones in the infants. Those in the junior school such as Morely and Barker were very aggressive in their methods - especially Barker who dealt out the cane regularly for the slightest fault. Mr Ward, I remember as being a little dopey! He gave the cane, which was about 9in long, with a light tap. I had it a few times, once for taking my pet mice into the classroom.
I still have my maths books from the junior school and on examination am amazed at the standard we met. Some very early paintings and crayoning examples are also there from the infants. Geography and English books from the junior school are also in my collection.
Did anyone ever understand the music lessons with Mr Morely - those sight reading books were quite baffling!
In my collection I have a classroom photograph, complete with the headmaster Mr Lewis, from about 1948. I also have a photograph of the infants' Christmas Play from about 1943.
During my period at Bournville school we were honoured by the presence of Dame Elizabeth Cadbury. We had to sing well rehearsed carols for her Christmas visit, and we were rewarded with a visit to the Cadbury Factory theatre where cartoons were shown. On return to school we were given, maybe, two cakes from Roys the bakers of Bournville Green.
In the early war-time years I remember having to take a gas mask on my shoulder. We had regular exercises in when and how to use them. On my walk to school I would go via the Yachting Pool where a barrage balloon was anchored. I lived across the Bristol Rd which was quite a long walk to school in all weathers four times a day in total.
School equipment and writing paper were scarce during my time there. I remember I was the only person in my class to have a leather football and as a consequence was asked to take it once a week for our football games on a field now occupied by the new Dame Elizabeth Cadbury school.
On rare occasions when the pupils had a surplus of goodies they would stand on top of the outside stair case to the upper classrooms and shout to those below in the playground "SCRAMBLES". They would then throw whatever they had to the crowd below. I remember a time when I scattered surplus pears and apples from our garden and conkers I had obtained from local horse chestnut trees.
I failed the eleven plus for grammar school and spent a year at Raddlebarn Rd school from which I passed to go on to Handsworth Technical School.
My three schools were of a calibre that could be well copied today!
 
img004.jpgThis is a photograph of the December Nativity enactment by Bournville Infants School in 1942 of which I played a very small part ie. shepherd.
 
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img010.jpg A photograph of the class during the last term at Bournville Junior school prior to leaving for senior school, often Raddle Barn Lane for boys and I don't know where for girls!!! Photo taken c 1947, Mr Lewis is headmaster. Strange thing is I remember all of the faces but only a very few names.
 
I am just posting two school photos from B0urnville School, one of my class from 1947 and the other of the infants nativity play 1942.
 

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Carolina Yes it does look like a posh school!! To think that the nativity play was performed in the depths of WW2 the scenery and costumes were as good as any performances one sees in modern times. In the class photo I seem to remember the clothes we stood up in were generally our school clothes, our play clothes and our Sunday clothes! No designer stuff then, thank goodness!
 
Does anyone have a final term school classroom photograph from Bournville Junior School for the year 1954 please? snoker I have looked on your suggested Forum but no luck.
 
Party at 30 WW.jpgMartin B Following the personal email I was unable to post this photograph as promised so have reverted to the general Forum. All those including you far right attended Bournville School c1947.
 
Many thanks for photo, I have managed to print it off to put in the family history files, my granchildren had a good laugh at it. The two brothers are in the middle i think, and the girl on the right seems familiar. Will send you personal email re other information.
 
anvil man said:
View attachment 83722 A photograph of the class during the last term at Bournville Junior school prior to leaving for senior school, often Raddle Barn Lane for boys and I don't know where for girls!!! Photo taken c 1947, Mr Lewis is headmaster. Strange thing is I remember all of the faces but only a very few names.
Click to expand...
Just looked at this picture it shows my wife's sister Sheila Wood on the bottom row third in after the two lads.
 
I went to Bourneville Junior school early 1950's. Dame Elizabeth Cadbury, Govenor, came each month to speak to the school at morning assembly. My most vivid memory of that time was an overwhelming scent of chocolate whenever rain was due. Also the belltower and block, the lovely herringbone woodblock flooring and sliding down the bannisters inside and the steel ones outside on the steps. At that time, my grandfather, Nicholas Grose Roberts was the Headmaster of Kings Norton School. Oh happy days!!
 
Three older photos of the schools. The first one is taken from the Park. The boys sitting on the bench seem to have cricket bats (?).

image.jpeg

A quote from Bill Dargue's site
"Built in 1910 it was paid for by George and Elizabeth Cadbury. It is built in the style of a Tudor manor-house and has timber-framed gables, steep tiled roofs and Elizabethan chimneys. Both school buildings, according to Cadbury's wishes, were constructed to standards far in excess of those at the time required by Kings Norton & Northfield Urban District Council".

image.jpeg

This last image must have been taken around the time when the schools were built c1910. It gives a good view of the Tudor/Elizabethan architectural influences. Viv.

image.jpeg
 
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Wow...what a lovely trip down Memory Lane. Thank you for posting these pics. Number 2 is the most familiar to me
 
Welcome Ash. I've had a quick search but can't find anything to explain its meaning on the badge. In general terms a goat symbolises energy. Surprisingly I can't see anything on the school site. Their heritage section focuses on the Cadbury's and the development of Bournville. Unless someone else can answer your question, I suggest you contact the school. You can do so via their site. Although there's an email contact form at the bottom of the heritage page for submitting stories, I'm sure it'd be acceptable to pose a question like this on there. Good luck with your search. Viv.

https://bournvillejunior.org.uk/heritage/
 
Geo Cadbury laying the foundation stone at the school in c1906. Expect the stone is still on the site somewhere. Viv.

74011875-C8B9-4412-AFEF-3B827F9AA1C2.jpeg
 
Fascinating. I was at Bournville from 1947 (?) until moving on to KES in 1951. My younger sister was there too and the Connoly family children - all of us living out at Forhill. I now recognise Mr Lewis in the photo and Mr Morley's name is ringing a bell too. Happy days indeed.
 
Having chatted to my sister Wendy since my last post, I must amend my previous entry as we started at Bournville in 1949 or 1950 not 1947 as I previously thought. My DOB = 1940.

I mentioned the Connolly family children. They are / were Michael, Stacia, and Terry. We ( Cowies ) and they were bussed in from Forhill to Cotteridge each day and we then got the No 11 Outer Circle bus to school. We sometimes walked back to Cotteridge at the end of the school day and kept our bus fares as pocket money ! Alas I have no photos from this period - we didn't have a camera in 1950 I think - that came later as post war incomes increased and such things became more available.

Are there more class photos from these years ?
 
I went to Bournville Primary and junior schools between 1957 and 1963, and then went to George Dixon Grammar School. Fond memories of those years. The smell of chocolate.
 
These Serbian children escaped Serbia with their parents in 1916. They left behind terrible conditions in their home country. Imagine the impact on these boys arriving in south Birmingham and attending Bournville School.

Viv.
2BF91F3E-E9D2-48EB-8064-72C4F501F317.jpegF671B81A-281D-4564-83D8-0C5A83F98B5D.jpeg
 
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