jmadone
master brummie
Does anyone remember "Playschool". No, not the television programme, but a scheme that operated during the school holidays at Mapledene School. Twice weekly, Mondays and Thursdays I recall, the school would open up in the evenings, possibly between the hours of about 6pm and 8 pm. and manned, I presume, by volunteer staff possibly teachers or social/youth workers.
In the summertime we played individually with the equipment provided such as stilts, bamboo hoops and a variety of other games and sporting equipment. We played team games such as cricket for the boys and skittleball for the girls. Then sometimes we played mixed girls/boys games such as rounders or Red Rover.
When the nights were darker, late Autumn , Winter and early Spring we used the classrooms and the school hall which doubled as a gym. We painted, made models or filled scrapbooks with a variety of ephemera. We played games in the gym and on one occasion the "teacher", a guy named Mr Sampson whom I hero worshipped, brought in some boxing gloves and the boys were paired off to have a go at each other. I was even in those days tall for my age and surprisingly paired with a much smaller lad named Howard Thomas. What a little bantam he turned out to be! Despite my height and reach advantage he came at me like a whirlwind. Neither of us had any boxing technique and despite me landing a lucky punch on his nose which started bleeding, he got in a few telling blows and the bout was declared a draw. I think I was lucky to get that!
We had some great times there and it wasn't just for the pupils of Mapledene School. There were girls and boys who attended other Junior schools such as Stanville Rd., Elms Farm, St.Thomas More and Blakenhale.
In the summertime we played individually with the equipment provided such as stilts, bamboo hoops and a variety of other games and sporting equipment. We played team games such as cricket for the boys and skittleball for the girls. Then sometimes we played mixed girls/boys games such as rounders or Red Rover.
When the nights were darker, late Autumn , Winter and early Spring we used the classrooms and the school hall which doubled as a gym. We painted, made models or filled scrapbooks with a variety of ephemera. We played games in the gym and on one occasion the "teacher", a guy named Mr Sampson whom I hero worshipped, brought in some boxing gloves and the boys were paired off to have a go at each other. I was even in those days tall for my age and surprisingly paired with a much smaller lad named Howard Thomas. What a little bantam he turned out to be! Despite my height and reach advantage he came at me like a whirlwind. Neither of us had any boxing technique and despite me landing a lucky punch on his nose which started bleeding, he got in a few telling blows and the bout was declared a draw. I think I was lucky to get that!
We had some great times there and it wasn't just for the pupils of Mapledene School. There were girls and boys who attended other Junior schools such as Stanville Rd., Elms Farm, St.Thomas More and Blakenhale.