Memories
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Memory from Christine Snowden (nee Tate)
(Pupil 1958 -1962)
My mother attended the school during WW2 but her abiding memory is of being sent home because she had caught nits from the evacuees they had staying with them. I think I may have her school reports.
I attended from 1958 to 62. My teachers were Mrs Wadsworth , Mrs Burgess, Miss Galtry (who you may be aware lives in Riverhead Nursing Home) and Mrs Wadsworth again.
I can remember the names of most of the teachers at the time and could describe the school room by room but wouldn’t recognise it now of course.
Memory from Mrs C Attridge
(Pupil 1960 onwards)
When I came to this school in 1960 I was excited to see that at morning play the 4th year children (today's Y6) set up a stall in the small school hall ( what I think is now the upper school library) and pupils could buy biscuits from them. 1d would buy you 4 plain morning coffee biscuits. If you were lucky and managed to bring threepence you could buy a whole wagon wheel! Jammie Dodgers were also big favourites, along with custard creams but I can't remember how much they cost. I also remember in the 3rd year (Y5) and the 4th year (Y6) on one afternoon each week the boys were taken to an old garage at the bottom of the boy's yard by a male teacher and did metal and wood work. Meanwhile all the girls stayed with the female teachers and learnt skills thought to be more appropriate to girls. In the 3rd year I remember we all stitched a dressing table set, knitted a pair of gloves and wove a cane basket with bead work.
In the 4th year we all hand stitched a blouse for ourselves as there were no sewing machines in school then. I remember mine was made in yellow and white checked gingham material and trimmed with green braid. When I was at DJS Driffield used to have a gala day when decorated floats would parade through town ending up at the secondary school. The school always entered a decorated floats and chose children, dressed up in character to go on it. One of the male teachers, Mr Nigel Brass, oversaw the decorating and the float always looked great. I remember the year I was on the float it was depicted Snow White and the seven dwarves and we had such fun travelling through town waving at everyone.t...
Memory from Paul Binnington
(Pupil 1970 – 1973)
I remember: School Sports Day. Egg and spoon race. We had a jumper tied with the arms around the waist, egg on spoon, tongue out in concentration. Playground, climbing frame, bars with hard ground underneath (not like the soft-landing area of today). Friday 4th May 1973. At playtime it seemed half of the school wanted and supported Leeds United to win the football FA Cup Final and the other half wanted and supported Sunderland. I supported Leeds United then, as I do now. Leeds United were the favourites to win as they were the FA Cup holders, having won one nil against Arsenal in last year's 1972 final. Unfortunately, Sunderland won one nil and it was very hard to go into school on the Monday morning.
On the left hand side of the playground there were pre-fabricated type classrooms and playing football behind them, trying to be like George Best who had scored I think six goals in a match. On the same side and a long a pathway from the climbing frame bars on the right where classrooms and I was taught in one of them.
Further on down the pathway was the Dining Hall. I never had school dinners, as I lived on Bridlington Road and went home for my dinner. I do remember being in the Dining Hall in a class watching a television programme on a television which was on a portable type frame. I was taught in the classroom that you now use as your staff room.
Memory from Wendy Foster (nee Benson)
(Pupil 1973-1977)
I remember celebrating 100 years and my mum (Mrs Benson) made and decorated a cake for it. I think it had the shield of Driffield on it. I enjoyed my time at Driffield Juniors, having Mr Ogden, Mrs Sykes, Mr Stanway and Mrs Greenwood as my teachers. Enjoyed playing netball and rounders for the school against other schools. Also enjoyed my trip to Boggle Hole Youth Hostel with Mr Drewery in 4th year.
Memory from Mrs J Hall
(Pupil 1973-1977, Staff - Teaching Assistant)
I attended this school during 1973 - 1977. I remember singing hymns in the hall and playing Benjamin in the school production of Joseph and the amazing technicolour dreamcoat. I was also taught in the prefab buildings on the playground and in the upstairs room that is now the Activity Attic.
Memory from Linda Laird (nee Markham)
(Pupil 1971 – 1975, Teacher 1988 to 1987 and Headteacher 2014 – 2024)
I attended DJS from 1971 to 1975 and I absolutely loved school. In my 2nd year I had the most lovely teacher - Mr Whittle (Frank). He was such a kind and caring teacher who was adamant we’d all leave his class knowing our times tables up to 12x, and I think almost everyone did! He really inspired my love of maths. In my third year I had another fabulous teacher, Mrs Taylor (Linda). She was a young teacher whose enthusiasm was infectious. I loved listening to her read our class story at the end of the school day and she was excellent at teaching writing. Through her my love of words and writing developed.
I loved playtimes as we played skipping, elastic, block, and so much more. I often played on the bars or shot goals into the basketball hoops. We did handstands against the wall too. Playtimes seemed so long then, though I’m sure they weren’t. I remember going to Eyam in Derbyshire on a residential visit when I was in my third year. In my last year I was a lead in a French play and I was so tall that some of the parents who came to watch thought I was a teacher!!
Ironically, I eventually ended up teaching there from 1988 to 1987! DJS holds many fabulous memories for me and was the school that cemented my love of learning and my desire to become a teacher.
Memory from Eleanor Clark
(Pupil from 1986, Staff - Teaching Assistant)
I have very fond memories of my time at DJS as a pupil from starting in 1986. My teachers were Miss Stabler, Mr Stanway, Mrs Wild and Mrs Withyman. In Miss Stabler's class I was chosen to play Dorothy in the Christmas play, each year put on a play filmed by Mr Bryant. Mr Bryant was the best Headteacher and his assemblies were legendary. Other assemblies were not as much fun and I remember singing from the "Come and Praise" songbooks and saying the Lord's prayer. I was in the orchestra and we would play every week in these assemblies. We also learned 'modern' songs like the "Neighbours" and "Eastenders" theme tunes to play as the children filed in. I recall morning play where we would play in the playground and the teachers would drive in and park their cars around us playing! The only thing stopping us from getting out of the school and onto the busy Brid Road was a red line painted on the playground and it seemed to work! Lunchtime was in a large brick building on the side of the field accessed by a long walk down towards what is now Manorfield gate.
We had sittings for lunch and all had to stand behind our chairs presumably until everyone had been served and say prayers before eating. At the end of playtime myself and another child (we were in the top year so deemed sensible now) used to go into the staff room up the stairs near the office in what is now the meeting room and wash up the teachers mugs. The room smelt of coffee and cigarette smoke and we did this every playtime! Mr Bryant's office was also up these stairs in our now storeroom and there was always children at the bottom of the stairs waiting to report to him. This was never me, because I was upstairs washing mugs!! My Year 4 ( now called Year 6) classroom is the actually the classroom I have worked in since I started working at DJS 7 years ago. And I can still remember where I used to sit!
Memories from Charlie Wiles (95 years old)
(Pupil 1940’s)
I attended DJS during World War 2 and most of my memories come from the early 1940s. I left aged 14 in 1943. At this time, it was called Driffield Board School- people referred to it as 'Boardy boardy swill tubs'. It wasn't as big as it is now. I think it probably had less than 200 pupils. The school was split into a girl's school and a boy's school. There was a wall dividing the schools on the playground. Mr Dukes was the boy's headmaster and Miss Maynard was in charge of the girl's school. The boys used the Wansford Road entrance and the girls used the Bridlington Road entrance. The upstairs classroom was used to teach the girls domestic science whilst there was a building on the field known as 'manual' which was used for the boys to do woodwork.
Although most of my memories are from when I was a little older, I also remember being at the school as an infant. We each had a little bed and a blanket and would get to have a sleep during the day!
Some of the teachers I remember are Mr Theakston, Mr Wilson, Mrs Senior and Miss Watson.
In the classroom, we used inkwells. Every Friday, we would take it in turns to stay behind and wash them all out ready for Monday which was a very messy job. During the day, we would each have little bottles of milk to drink but they would freeze in the cold so we had to put them on the pipes to thaw. I remember them being like slush!
During my time at Driffield Board School, the cane was still used as a punishment.
In the early 1940s, we had a pig club! We reared pigs and local people bought shares. We would go round the local cafes and ask for food waste to feed our pigs. We also had chickens to look after. We used to harvest nettles and dry them out on the playground. These were bagged up and used for medicines. Because of the war, we had to dig up the tennis courts to use as a vegetable plot. We also had to record the weather and measure rainfall. For all of these activities, we were on a rota and even had to take it in turns to go in during the holidays.
We did not have a school uniform. We also did not have school dinners- everybody was sent home for their lunch. We had assemblies every morning and every afternoon.
During the school day, we used to get sent out to Wansford Road to collect dry milk tins. We had to beat them down so they could be sent for scrap. My last 6 months of school were actually spent on a poultry farm. Due to the war, there was a lack of labourers so my teacher selected me to go and help out. We also had to go bush beating and wild oat picking.
Memory from Mrs Heron
Pupil 1979 - 1983, Staff - Kitchen Team)
Mrs Heron, one of our amazing kitchen team, recalls her time at DJS from 1979 - 1983. Play time in particular was very different.
‘There were bars with concrete underneath. If you fell that was it. You just got on with it. A popular playtime game was elastics. We also had a tuck shop outside the door to where the activity attic is. For 10p a day, I used to buy a packet of Monster Munch and two chewy sweets.
Each week, our class teacher would choose a child to go up to the staffroom (where the activity attic is now) to make a hot drink and then carry it back down the stairs to the classroom.
I also remember the caretaker, Mr Dean. He lived in the caretaker’s house that was where the car park is now.’
Memory from Mrs Trowsdale (nee Wood)
(Pupil – 1970 – 1974, Staff – Teaching Assistant)
I am currently enjoying working as a Teaching Assistant at Driffield Junior School. Born and bred in Driffield I came here as a child from 1970 - 1974. I can vividly remember all of the classrooms in which I was taught. In particular in year 4 - those days years went from 1 to 4. It was in the old block which is currently the Nurture classroom. Whenever I go in there, I can still picture myself happily sitting with my friends at the back next to the radiator! Another fond memory is of playtimes. There was always a ‘ craze ‘ of what we all played but suddenly the next week this could be something different. Elastics and skipping games were some of my favourites! Happy Days! xt...
Memory from Mr A Wilkinson
(Pupil 1984-1988, Staff - Teaching Assistant)
I attended the school between 1984-1988. Teachers included Ms Stabler, Mr Stanway, Mrs Saville, Mr Talbot, Mrs Attridge and Mrs Withyman. Head teacher was Mr Palmer. Also, at school we had Mr Chambers, Mr Drewery, Mr Clubley, Mr Stephenson, amongst others and I'm sure the caretaker was a Mr Palmer (although this may have been seniors). The school looked different then, very similar to the picture outside the NTA room. Of course, upper school wasn't built then, nor the main hall.
Memories included: A trip to London, which included the Natural History Museum and Buckingham Palace. I'm not sure how long we stayed but it was such an adventure. Film club in the sports hall. I'm sure we watched Indiana Jones on the old projector. The hall was packed and sweets on offer- none of this healthy stuff. Playing football for the school team in what is now Y5. Freezing cold night game on the field in a horrific tangerine kit. Things did get better by Y6 when we progressed to the maroon kit. I do have some team pics. Of course, in a small town, many of the names I am still in contact with, indeed many have children or family who have attended DJS as the next generation. Playing football on the playground (where the upper school is now. Booting the ball up on the old music room roof, big and imposing, and unfortunately through the window of Mr Clubley's classroom, which is now the staff room. It still reminds me when sat having a coffee and the children go past, or a ball hits the window. Mum and Dad were not happy. Also rounders in the playground, Darren Newlove was the left hander and he could hit it well over the prefab classrooms - or at least hit the windows......
Mr Stanway had a stamp and postcard club from his room on a lunchtime. We also used to trade football cards back then for the football world cup in Mexico.
Dinner was down in the old building where the willow maze was. Lining up outside the building in any weather waiting for the dinner ladies to let you in. Octagonal tables, plenty of noise (until the ladies sorted you out) and a hope that the sponge puddings or the concrete slabs would come with loads of various coloured custard. I’m sure we had Mrs Atkinson, again, that may have been seniors. Being a prefect and wearing the prefect badge around school. I'm not sure if there were any benefits to it, but i suppose it was an honour. I'm sure we had a special place in assemblies and got to take the register. Mr Bryant as head teacher was fantastic. He ruled the school, you didn't cross him. Firm but fair. Fantastic stories of his mate Ken Wagstaff, who would go onto play for Hull City. For many years later many of the teachers still acknowledged us in town. Mr Bryant, Mr Stanway and Ms Stabler in particular. It was a lovely place to be
Memory from Nichola Roe
(Pupil)
I loved my time at school and look back with lots of fond memories, I particularly remember a really enjoyable trip to Haworth. I made lifelong friends at Driffield Junior School and am very grateful for the time I was there.
Memory from Stewart Blackburn
(Pupil)
One of my best memories is of Mr Bryants (head master) assemblies, when he use to tell stories of his childhood and have pupils acting them out. Another is of Mr Ogden (yr 4 teacher) whose class room shelves were hull of working Lego models. Also the plastic figures that fastened under the boot of his car to look like someone was trapped in it.
Memory from Sarah Clarkson (nee Dolman)
(Pupil 1990’s)
I've sent a few photos from when I was at Driffield junior school. My daughter is currently in year 4h- Caitlyn Clarkson. Her classroom did not exist when I was there. My first teacher was Miss Shepherd now known as Mrs Broadbent. I remember the classroom at the top of the steep stairs and the old canteen block at the far end of the school which is no longer there. There was also an old music room in an old building opposite the tennis courts. We had a secret garden which had an old building which had been replaced. I remember school assemblies in the old school hall. Everyone wouldn't fit in there now. Our headteacher was Mr Farn and i remember Mrs Dixon and there was a receptionist called Mr Blackstone. He bought my dad’s old car which he use to park in the playground where the new hall is. text...