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St Stephens Primary School

thankyou so much for your reply kraggy, no i didnt know she had died i,m really sad to hear that but at least i know, i would love to see a photo of her......yes i remember the dog and the house, there was 5 of us sisters at st stephens our surname was sweeney. was you mates with all the brothers? i remember their dad always had chicken soup before his dinner every evening :)
 
thankyou so much for your reply kraggy, no i didnt know she had died i,m really sad to hear that but at least i know, i would love to see a photo of her......yes i remember the dog and the house, there was 5 of us sisters at st stephens our surname was sweeney. was you mates with all the brothers? i remember their dad always had chicken soup before his dinner every evening :)
I was mainly friends with Tony, I have a photo somewhere of him, me and Jimmy on confirmation day at St Stephens, somewhere around 1978/79. I will try to find it and scan it to this forum. You didn't happen to have a brother called Eamon do you? I remember an Eamon Sweeney at school, he might have been in my year.
 
I am just wondering if anyone has any memories or history of St Stephens RC primary school, Nineveh Road, Handsworth? The school closed in the early eighties I believe, and is now a Caribbean day centre. I went to the school 1974-1979. The school seems to have be forgotten, so any info on why it closed or any memories would be welcome. Thanks.
I was there 73-74 then went to St. John wall
 
I was mainly friends with Tony, I have a photo somewhere of him, me and Jimmy on confirmation day at St Stephens, somewhere around 1978/79. I will try to find it and scan it to this forum. You didn't happen to have a brother called Eamon do you? I remember an Eamon Sweeney at school, he might have been in my year.
hi kraggy, no we were all girls, yeh be nice to see the photo !
 
I was there for a bit in the mid 70s, for my sins.
Had John Honey as a teacher in junior 4. He was a right showman; I remember him teaching us a hymn and singing the first line, sweeping his hand into the air like he was doing opera.
One day he took our power ball and spent some time throwing it against the wall of Junior 3, closer and closer to the top until it went on the roof, while he was on playground duty. Then he shrugged and wandered off.

Mr Honey was so-so to get on with, Mr Walmsley less so. Mr Bartrobe (sp) looked like Martin Lee out of Brotherhood of Man. Mrs Flannagan was headteacher and pretty good, but you didn't mess her about – command presence or what.
Mrs Jones was very kind; I think she looked after what we'd call Special Needs today? There was also Miss Bodenham, Mrs Cronin whose names I remember. The pianist was Mrs Reardon, who came in for the evil that was Singing (the boys mostly hated it) and School Mass. She also dragged in for the class plays at Christmas and summer; having listened to my own youngsters' classes singing, I hope she was well paid!

There were prefects from Junior 4 who the teacher would get to keep an eye on a class for a few minutes if they needed to duck out; perfectly normal at the time, but there was a right fuss about 25 years back when the school down the road tried the same thing – putting two eleven-year-old kids in charge of a class of eight-year-olds.

If you messed about in the playground at lunchtime, the dinner ladies would send you to stand against the wall while they stood chatting; I reckon they had Mum-sight and could keep an eye even while you thought they were paying you no attention, but being grassed-up was also a possibility.

There were good kids and bad kids, same as anywhere, and kids who just 'needed' picking on, apparently. There was an English kid (that is, English Catholic parents not Irish Catholic like lots of us were). He was a bit odd but I reckon that was down to his folks not having a telly, but one day one of the lads (John or Paddy?) called him a nose-picking Englishman. I was there thinking there was going to be a scrap; he didn't argue about the English bit but said he didn't pick his nose and anyway always used a handkerchief – he got an apology!

I used to like watching the trains go past on the railway line rather than doing lessons; when I was 17 and started going to the pub we'd sometimes duck onto the tracks to walk home at night. Often thought it would be good to do the kids a favour and drop a petrol bomb on the roof from there! Mind you, the place got closed down a year or so after and I was dead annoyed because it hadn't been such a bad place – we'd dug out beds and grown veggies in the patch of grass at the back of the kitchens by the windows of Infant 1, after all, and that was special.
 
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Mr Bartrope (Harry). Taught me in Junior 4 in 1972-73 - a Geordie, I recall. Was very fair, and encouraged me to stretch myself. We thought he was a rather groovy teacher by comparison with the others!
 
Mr Bartrope (Harry). Taught me in Junior 4 in 1972-73 - a Geordie, I recall. Was very fair, and encouraged me to stretch myself. We thought he was a rather groovy teacher by comparison with the others!
Ta

One letter wrong in 50 years ain't so bad though!

Specially as mi mum always called him Mr Bathrobe...
 
How’s It going? I was there same time, 70 something to 70 something I can’t remember the exact dates. Rod and Brian Rogers and Kevin Gallagher were in my class, then I went Cardinal Newman for first year and the John Wall for the rest., Walmsley tried to reach us rugby instead of football for a bit and we were useless. I remember Tony Slattery and Dave Smith and the Sweeneys, and looking back I think it was a good little school, apart from having to wear poxy shorts in the winter. I remember playing British Bulldog and banging my head on the concrete and then, as if by magic, 6 hours had passed and I was home in Kitchener St with a big bump on me head. (Don’t think I’ve been the same since.) Good to see the names of the teachers on here ‘cos I’d fiorgotten them all apart from Walmsley.
Still in Handsworth, plastering and getting plastered.
Stay Lucky everyone
 
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Thanks for all the replies and memories, I don't think we should forget milk time with straws, or the teacher wheeling in the huge TV so we could watch a timed TV programme. I also remember Reception had a doll's House with a plastic cup and saucer set, not to mention plasticine, chalk and crayons!
 
How’s It going? I was there same time, 70 something to 70 something I can’t remember the exact dates. Rod and Brian Rogers and Kevin Gallagher were in my class, then I went Cardinal Newman for first year and the John Wall for the rest., Walmsley tried to reach us rugby instead of football for a bit and we were useless. I remember Tony Slattery and Dave Smith and the Sweeneys, and looking back I think it was a good little school, apart from having to wear poxy shorts in the winter. I remember playing British Bulldog and banging my head on the concrete and then, as if by magic, 6 hours had passed and I was home in Kitchener St with a big bump on me head. (Don’t think I’ve been the same since.) Good to see the names of the teachers on here ‘cos I’d fiorgotten them all apart from Walmsley.
Still in Handsworth, plastering and getting plastered.
Stay Lucky everyone
Hi, I ended up going to John Wall 79-84, hated it there and a lot of bullying went on that was totally ignored by the school and brushed under the carpet....
 
I am just wondering if anyone has any memories or history of St Stephens RC primary school, Nineveh Road, Handsworth? The school closed in the early eighties I believe, and is now a Caribbean day centre. I went to the school 1974-1979. The school seems to have be forgotten, so any info on why it closed or any memories would be welcome. Thanks.
 
Thanks for all the replies and memories, I don't think we should forget milk time with straws, or the teacher wheeling in the huge TV so we could watch a timed TV programme. I also remember Reception had a doll's House with a plastic cup and saucer set, not to mention plasticine, chalk and crayons!
I went to school around this time my parents were irish.
 
I went to school around this time my parents were irish.
I remember some of the pupils at the time I hung out with Oliver burke,brian Roger's there was an Italian kid called Tony.there was Maxine Taylor mary Murphy I really enjoyed these times.making the pirates hats making the big folders for our presentations.
 
How’s It going? I was there same time, 70 something to 70 something I can’t remember the exact dates. Rod and Brian Rogers and Kevin Gallagher were in my class, then I went Cardinal Newman for first year and the John Wall for the rest., Walmsley tried to reach us rugby instead of football for a bit and we were useless. I remember Tony Slattery and Dave Smith and the Sweeneys, and looking back I think it was a good little school, apart from having to wear poxy shorts in the winter. I remember playing British Bulldog and banging my head on the concrete and then, as if by magic, 6 hours had passed and I was home in Kitchener St with a big bump on me head. (Don’t think I’ve been the same since.) Good to see the names of the teachers on here ‘cos I’d fiorgotten them all apart from Walmsley.
Still in Handsworth, plastering and getting plastered.
Stay Lucky everyone
I must have been in your class because I hung around with brian Roger's and Wayne dally aiden kelly, and dougie slattery these times were great. My parents split up in 78 and mum took us to ireland.
 
I remember some of the pupils at the time I hung out with Oliver burke,brian Roger's there was an Italian kid called Tony.there was Maxine Taylor mary Murphy I really enjoyed these times.making the pirates hats making the big folders for our presentations.
'del' Girona's brother, Tony, Yeah? She was about a year older than Tony, I reckon.
 
Another teacher I remember when I was in Junior 3 was Miss Hammond - who to my young eyes was very tall and very 70s glamorous, but also a very good teacher. Yes, the caretakers were the Bowes, their son was in my class... Kevin?
 
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