Homecoming Success Could Lead to a School Memory Book?

Wow! What a wonderful Homecoming weekend GNS has just hosted. Well done to everyone who played a part and made it a success. A gathering of past and present, a time to reconnect, meet for the first time, retell stories of the past and discuss the plans being made for the future, an opportunity to revisit familiar ‘spaces’ and see the changes to those well-remembered areas that have now become and will be the new treasured spaces for present and future young students and staff. The memories, the reflections, the different or changed perspectives, even the gripes have abounded and hopefully those who attended woke up in the morning after feeling glad they went, met, saw, heard from others, and contributed their own important and treasured remembrances.

To this point, what a wonderful opportunity to open up the notion of creating a Memory Book to collect anecdotes from former constituents of the school as a complimentary reference to the school’s history. Many examples already exist and can be pulled together under one heading and only last week Archives discovered two forgotten examples of a former student’s comments that shed further light on school life as it was….

In preparation for a display that was to be part of the  celebration of the 75th Anniversary of Norfolk House School in 1988-89, posters were created reflecting both school and global events of those 75 years. Here is one such example, an interview by two Grade 7 girls at the time, Alex Chapple & Sara Piets (alumnae 1994) with Cynthia Musgrave (m.Izard) who was at NHS from 1926-36.

What was your favourite thing about NHS? “Well that’s a very hard question. I loved sports and probably the most exciting thing was when we played away against another school. We didn’t usually get to go in a bus or car, so that was as much fun as the game itself.”

What sports teams did you have? “We had basketball, rounders – which was like baseball – badminton and tennis teams. Instead of P.E. we had drills, some of which consisted of walking with blocks of wood on our heads. For our drill uniform, we took off our tunics and had black bloomers, black stockings, black runners, and white shirts.”

What were assemblies like; how often were they and what did you do? “In a whole year, we only had two assemblies. Miss Atkins [Headmistress] always told us to bring our bibles, because we were going to have bible studies in assembly, but we never got round to it.”

Did you ever get into trouble and what would happen if you did? “If you ever got into trouble in class you were sent out. In Grade 1, you were put in the corner of the room. I remember one Grade 1 boy [boys were admitted for Kindergarten and Grade 1] who was always in trouble and got bored standing in the corner and started licking the wall. When the next Mistress came into class she said, “What are you doing here? Go back to your seat and I never want to see you here again!”

What do you remember about boarders? “Some boarders were full time, like the ones who had parents in China and such places. There were also weekly boarders who lived as far away as Brentwood. They would go home for the weekends. Sometimes the boarders’ parents would send boxes of cookies or chocolates because the food was so bad, like treacle pudding for example.”

Did you ever have honour rolls? If so, what happened if you got on them? “Yes, each class had separate honour rolls. Weekly marks would be added up and recorded on a chart on the wall for everyone to see. A red “H” would mean something like honours with distinction. A normal “H” would be plain honours; a “P” was for passing and “F” was a fail.”

What about lunchtime? If you lived less than a mile away, you would be sent home. There was no cafeteria, so you would bring a sandwich or a piece of cake.”

On a different occasion while talking with the late Keith Walker [former staff 1970-2007] , the same former student, Cynthia Musgrave was quoted as saying: “At one point during the Depression, my father had to go to Miss Atkins and say to her ‘I’m afraid I can’t afford to keep Cynthia at school.’ She said, “Then just pay what you can afford, Mr. Musgrave.” I was absolutely in tears at the thought of leaving, and when I heard that I could go back in September I was thrilled. I loved Norfolk House School!”

I await your “printable” comments that can be added to the Memory Book held in the School Archives and may even be published in a future Gryphon Gallery as part of the historical record of GNS. Please send to [email protected] and thank you for your contribution.