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!