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Shenstone Road "open Air" School

P

Peters_History

knowlegable brummie
Does anyone remember this tiny little school?? it was in Edgebaston .. there was a larger school close by which made the school meals for Shenstone road school..

It was a special school for 'delecate' children of which there were about 32 pupils on role with just 2 classrooms... oppisite the school was a row of houses

Angie x
 
I didn't goto Shenstone Road but I did go to Uffculme Open Air School in Kings Heath. I think it was in Queens Road, it backed on to Uffculme Park.

We had four normal size class rooms, a large dining room and a medical block.
 
I know there was another 'special school' at Chelmsly wood at around the same time 1965 ish,

I did not know that there was one in Kings Heath also... was it as friendly a school as Shenstone?... I remember it being so lovely & I have so many happy memories of primary school..

Angie x
 
I was there towards the end of the war. You had your breakfast at the school at 8.30. After lunch you were made to lie down and sleep for an hour, in the winter in the gym with no walls or in the summer outside. We had tea at the end of the afternoon and not allowed to leave untill 5.30. I think this was to save us going home to an empty house. My father was in the RAF and my mother in a munitions factory. I remember that we were not allowed to take the tram to the outer circle bus route at Vicarage Road but made to walk. We were also given tokens for our bus fare, at that time I lived in Acocks Green.
 
At Shenstone as far as I remember it was normal school times.. & yes we too had a sleep in the afternoon in the hall on little camp beds..

we had milk at snack time & if we brough a penny in we could have a jammy doger biscuit... (& they were proper biscuits... nice & BIG not like the migit dogers of today!!) ... & when it was cold they would warm up the milk for us & put a spoon of suger in it...

I remember on Tuesday it was 'bath day'... & I would have a bath... all the staff were very nice & it felt more like a home from home...

All the children in our school had some special need... either bad asthma etc... I remember one little girl I was told had a 'plate in her head' ... silly me.......as when your only 6 years old the only plate one knew about was one you had your dinner off!!!.... or in my case a heart condition...

so we were all special.... as are all children really arnt they??

Angie xx
 
Sounds as though Uffculme Open Air School was a bit more "upmarket" We had a medical block and I was given ultra violet treatment to cure the boils I was plagued with at that time. (it worked) We also had a small nursing unit and if you arrived at school unwell you were put back to bed for the rest of the day. With didn't have baths but several showers in the same room. I can't remember at what interval we had the showers or whether it was only after the gardening sessions. I used to love the mornings when at breakfast we were given a large mug of sweet bread and milk. I hated the clogs we had to wear for gardening and the awful water cress we were given at tea time. I used to stuff that in my pocket and take it home.

There was another open air school at Marsh Hill, Erdington.

george
 
Hey I remember the Ultra voilet treatment!!!... I called it Sunray treatment as it gave me Vit D which I didnt get due to the lack of sun in those back to back houses!!...

Carnt remember where it was we went but I remember we had to sit on big stools with just our knickers & vests in a big circle around the lights & hold hands with everyone else & the nurse would call our name out & we would have to turn around !! & we would have to wear horrable goggles which gave me a big rash around my eyes!!!

... Yep.. sounds like yours was more 'up market'... breakfast n all.... Posh hey?? hehehe..

Angie xxx
 
The U/V treatment in my case was not lack of vitamine D. It had been discovered that boils were caused by a virus in the blood stream that could be killed by ultra violet light. Lack of vitamine D was not a problem, most of us lived on the outskirts of Birmingham and school holidays were spent in the river at Coleshill or the sand pits at Bickenhill.

George
 
There was another special or open air school at Gorcott Hill nr Redditch.It was called Skilts ,I worked their as a housemother in the 70's.The kids there were mostly asthmatic and epileptic,but we had a few 'problem' children as well.It was run by B'ham education Dept.
Barbara
 
i went to Shenstone road school do anyone remember the headmaster mr rawlins and what was the name of the house in bognor regis called i forgot
 
Hi there... I too went to Bognor Regis ... I carnt remember the name of the house but I do remember I had a great time there... & I remember writing postcards to send home & the 'shed/barn... whatever we did some work in ... Goodness that has brought back some memories!!!

Angie xxx
 
Hi Shaun1 ... the school was only a little one with just 2 classrooms it was like a huge corridor really... with the hall at one end and the staff room & bathroom at the other with the classrooms inbetween... in the first class there was a huge blackboard on one wall which I oftened loved to chalk on... :)))
 
Birmingham Council had six of these Open Air schools for children of a delicate disposition, mine was bronchitis, I went to Cropwood Open Air school, which was residential, I think the routine was the same for all of them, breakfast, lunch a sleep and for us at Cropwood, a walk in the countryside, when you were deemed well enough, you came home and went to an ordinary school, I became ill again and was sent to Marsh Hill open air school in Erdington. There is a very good book about these schools which you can get at the library, it is called 'A Breath Of Fresh Air'.
 
My sister was at Marsh Hill Open Air School after suffering 2 1/2 years in the Childrens Hospital with Celiac Disease. Thanks for the tip about the book Trebor. When were you at Marsh Hill ?
 
Ooo Iv just gone onto Amazon and bought myself a copy of the Birmingham Open air school book 'A Breath of Fresh Air' ... so il look forward to looking through that when it arrives... thanks for the information Trebor...
 
Yes Shaun1, ... but also I remember the little sand pit outside and the concrete 'wendy house at the back of the school by the bicycle shed.... No idea why there was a bicycle shed as I dont remember any bikes in there!!!
 
tina james said:
i went to Shenstone road school do anyone remember the headmaster mr rawlins and what was the name of the house in bognor regis called i forgot
Click to expand...
Hi Tina. My name's Karen and I went to Shenstone rd school in 1966 to 1968 and I remember Mr Rawlins. When I was there the teachers were Miss Dane, Mrs Hill and Miss Camden. Do you remember any of those names? I also went to the house in Bognor Regis.
 
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