Firth Park Grammar School 1965 - 1966

Taken from the 'Firparnian' magazine: June 1966

" When the School Year opened in September 1965 we welcomed to the School ninety-four new first-year boys, and a further third-year form of twenty-five boys from Hartley Brook and Southey Green High Schools. We hope they will be very happy amongst us.

Since the appearance of the last Magazine there have been many staff changes. Mr. S. Pearson, who had been with us as part-time teacher of Handicraft, left in April 1965, and in July 1965 we said farewell to Mr. Ken Bown, who has taken up an appointment at the Richmond College, Sheffield; Mr. P. Bumstead, who has gone to a post in Durham; Mr. J. Shaddock, who has gone to Ecclesfield Grammar School, and Mrs. K. A. Traynor, who left Sheffield on her husband's accepting an appointment in Lincoln. She is now teaching at North Hykeham, Lincoln. All had given valuable service to the School, most of them for many years, and we wish them well in their new posts. July 1965 also saw the retirement of Mr. R. J. Page, Head of the Handicraft Department. A tribute to him appears elsewhere in this Magazine.

In April 1965 we welcomed to the staff Mr. R. F. Pashley and Mrs. E. Sellars, the latter as a part-time teacher of Latin, and in September Mr. G. W. Baines (Latin), Mr. S. Ball (Handicraft), Mr. P. J. Hopper (Biology), Mr. 1. Lewis (Technical Drawing and Handicraft), Herr D. A. K. Schmidt (to teach German during the Autumn term), and Herr D. von Ziegesar (German Assistant). Mrs. M. D. Fisher and Mr. 1. R. Warner helped on a part-time basis with Spanish until a permanent appointment could be made. In January 1966 Mr. G. G. Barnes was appointed to take charge of the Spanish teaching, and Mr. J. C. Brunt the German. We hope they will find their work congenial and that they will spend many happy days at Firth Park.

In August 1965 Miss M. Rowan, of the office staff, left to take up nursing. Miss S. Burgoyne was appointed in her place.

On the four successive days from May 10th to May 13th, 1965, the third-year forms visited the Central Library and were instructed in the organisation and use of libraries by members of the library staff. All agreed that the visit had been of great interest and had served a useful purpose.

A Leavers' Conference for fifth-formers was held at the School on July 12th and 13th, 1965. The Leader was the Rev. Barry Parker, of the Sheffield Industrial Mission, who had the help and co-operation of Mr. F. L. Ashley, Mr. P. F. Avis, and Mr. G. M. Brookes (of the Sheffield College of Technology), Mr. H. Downing and Mr. B. W. Farrell (of the English Steel Corporation, Ltd.), Mr. J. M. Walker (of the City Library Services), Dr. L. Ward Kay and our own Mr. R. T. Oliver. To all these gentlemen we express our thanks and gratitude. They can rest assured that their services were much appreciated by those taking part in the conference.

On the last day of the Summer term, July 23rd, 1965, we were pleased to welcome to the School Mr. C. Coldwell, of Sheffield United Football Club, and Mrs. Coldwell. At a ceremony in the School Hall Mrs. Coldwell presented the Sports Trophies and Awards gained on Sports Day.

Throughout the year a number of boys from various forms have attended the Hallé Concerts for Schools, in the City Hall, and members of the Sixth Form the lunch-hour lectures on World Affairs, while on November 16th, 1965, 150 boys from the upper school were present at the Faraday Lecture in the City Hall.

We express our thanks and appreciation to Mr. Hoffman de Visme, of the Manchester College of Science and Technology, for his two lectures to boys of the upper school in November 1965 and February 1966, and to Mr. M. Murray, of the Anglo-Austrian Society, who spoke to a sixth-form General Studies group on November 17th.

On September 20th, 1965, the School had a full day's holiday in commemoration of the signing of Magna Carta in 1215.

In September 1965 an innovation was made by the introduction of Modern Mathematics in the third forms. By all accounts, the boys are finding it interesting and stimulating.

The Swimming Gala was held at Hillsborough baths on November 4th, 1965, when the trophies were presented by Miss Jill Slattery *; Speech Day at the City Hall on December 17th; the Annual Carol Service at St. Cuthbert's Church, Fir Vale on December 21st; the School Play, Chips with Everything, by Arnold Wesker, on November 24th - 27th, and the School Concert in the School Hall on March 23rd - 25th, 1966. Full accounts of most of these will be found on other pages. At the Carol Service the collection for the Save the Children Fund amounted to £9 12s. Od.

During the year the School collection for the Freedom from Hunger Campaign reached a total of £151 3s. 2d.

I. R. Bowater (Lower 6 Arts Modern) and R. H. McKay (Lower 6 Science, 1) represented the School in a public speaking competition organised by the Sheffield Junior Chamber of Commerce.

In a competition organised by the Angling Club the winning team consisted of N. Smith (4M), T. Evans (4M), M. Harrington (IY), C. Wake (2M), K. Swain (4W), and S. Hackett (4M). The Individual Champion was C. Wake (2M).

In a cycling proficiency test held on July 15th, 1965, fifteen boys were awarded certificates.
It is with deep sorrow and regret that we report the death of Stephen Crookes, of Lower Sixth Science (August 1965), M. R. Woodhall, of form 3M (February 24th, 1966), and Brian Castledine, an Old Boy of the School (September 20th, 1965). Our sympathy is extended to their families.

MR. R. J. PAGE
With the retirement of Mr. Page at the end of the Summer Term 1965, the School lost the services of a greatly valued member of the staff. Mr. Page came to Firth Park in 1941, after service in several other Sheffield schools, and later became head of the Handicraft Department, which he developed to a high degree of efficiency. Himself a master of his subject, he inspired a love of it in those whom he taught. Impatient of slovenly and slipshod work, he was yet tolerant of the less gifted pupil, and gave him every encouragement and help. But his activities and interest were not confined to the classroom. He willingly gave of his knowledge and experience in the equipment of the stage for school plays, and successive producers found in him an ever-ready collaborator with whom it was easy to work. Always even-tempered, endowed with a sense of humour, and having what seemed an inexhaustible fund of anecdotes, he was most highly regarded by his colleagues in the Staff Room, where his loss is still felt. Many Old Boys will remember him with gratitude and esteem. We wish him continued good health, and a long and congenial retirement. "
 

Notes: * Jill Slattery won medals for the following swimming championships:

• 200m breaststroke Gold 1966 Commonwealth Games

• 100m breaststroke Silver 1966 Commonwealth Games

FORM NOTES

U.6 Sc and 6 Sc.I

THE past year has been, broadly (or narrowly) speaking, pretty quiet (or quite pretty, anyway), apart from a number of fiendish plots on the life of our father figure, Mr. Machin. Despite an attempted drowning by Fred ('The Brain') Womack and 'Rowdy' Wilkinson during physics practicals, and despite having his stool sabotaged by an unknown culprit, he remains his jovial self, cracking jokes about 'common bits' and escorting various male personages 'over the road'.

There was an attempted revival of steam by certain members of the form, but it turned out to be all hot air. Now a revival of bananas is in the offing. Nor must we forget the case of the locker of a certain royal member of the form; but that is a long story, so we had better not go into it here.

Naturally we have the usual sporting personalities among our number, Green being in the First Football Eleven and the Captain of the Badminton team, Crowther a prominent runner (it's the phenolphthalein that does it), and Womack the uncrowned Chess champion. I know that he would object to being mentioned in the sports section of these notes (and I am willing to concede that chess is scarcely a sport), but where else can I put him, unless I give him a section all to himself? Stephen 'Call-Me-Pockets' Clethro is our form captain.

U.6A and 6A (M)
September 7th, 1965. Returned to school. Found that 42-3 had been foisted on to us as form room. Expressed disgust at the stale atmosphere of prefects' coffee and school dinners, and went in search of more congenial surroundings, viz. the lockers under the main staircase.

September 20th, 1965. Four of our number celebrated the eight-hundred-and-ninety-ninth anniversary of the battle of Fulford by walking barefoot along Withernsea promenade.

November 11th, 1965. Broke off diplomatic relations with Rhodesia and sang jingoistic songs around a burning effigy of Rhodesia House.

December 1st, 1965. Santa's Grotto opened to the public. Various specimens of sixth-form graffiti exhibited, providing much Freudian fun for amateur psychologists.

December 22nd, 1965. Total raised by Santa's Grotto for Oxfam - £4 and one trouser button.

January 11th, 1966. Returned to school. Discovered that Santa's Grotto had disappeared before the government had had time to nationalise it.

As these notes are being feverishly scribbled, the whole form is waiting, with a masochistic delight, the opening of the Persecution of the Sixth-Former Season on June 6th. We are all living in a fool's paradise.

6 Sc.II
In September the form moved into the principality of room 56, ruled over with an iron (Fe) hand by Mr. A. Prince. Our willing and democratically-elected form captain, R. Smith, has carried out his duties not only with more than the usual amount of vigour and vitality, but, alas, with great enthusiasm and competence.
A mystery was caused by the appearance of a footprint on Mr. Prince's table. Thanks to prompt action by Chief Inspector Prince and Constable Osborne, the culprit was never apprehended, not even with the aid of Mr. C. Beeley and his special "lasso" apparatus.
The form expresses its thanks to Mr. Machin and his colleagues for all their "fatherly" guidance in the Physical realm, and to the Maths. department for all their hard work and preparation in order to make this "Double Dutch" more comprehensible and entertaining. Through the influence of Mr. B. Smith, the popularity of the violin has greatly increased. Many members of the form have become promising fiddlers as well as mathematicians. Maybe there is some connexion between the two?
'Percy' Hunter is adept in the use of the musical light bulbs, despite the high rate of turnover of the instruments.

6A (L)
Much to our disappointment, Mr. D. A. Smith is not contemplating an excursion to Worksop, cultural centre of the North. Our 'puerile' vocabulary was greatly enriched by Herr Schmidt's 'introverted' commas and by Mr. Parker 'deeply ensconced' in his armchair. The lower school should note that narcotics cannot be obtained from Seaman, despite his spurious title. 'Ape Knees' have been collected weekly, Rockefeller Jones contributing two hundred in one week. We should also like to congratulate Staniforth, who has been nominated to take French 'A' level examinations for the whole form, and who is now in seclusion, disappointed at being unable to write these notes. Tickets for the Warder's Ball are now obtainable from the Vice-Captain. Non-dancers should not be deterred, as they stand an equal chance of success with the rest.

L.6A (M)
The form's activities are shrouded in mystery, or more to the point, nobody has done anything. Mellors is in the school orchestra and plays a 'cello made in Italy out of four orange boxes. Bowater was in the school play and also in the Public Speaking Contest, but these are all immaterial. Our real achievements are as follows:

• Allcock holds the record for his mysterious activities and it is rumoured he will appear on 'Pick of the Week'

• The form have three 'getaway guys 1 in'Typhoon Taylor', 'Can't q-"o' Kania and 'Tiger' Tranmer, all owners of 'souped up' machines. At the other end of the scale Pickering broke an arm when his racing cycle dropped to pieces whilst he was going down a hill

• We have our sportsman in the shape of Harle (whatever shape he happens to be in). It only took forty-seven footballers to be absent before he got a place in the 2nd XI.
  It can be plainly seen that our form consists of the most unusual personalities in the School, and we hope to keep up the good work.

L.6 Sc. (i)
Having found ourselves thrown together one misty morning in September tinder the leadership of Mr. Emerson, we soon discovered what a queer mixture we were. We have no members of any football team, although Everitt and Birt try to play the game, even in deep snow, while Akers and Bray are always trying to develop their muscles, and Kay spends his time playing Badminton. Two of our company (Bulson and R. H. McKay) always seem to be arguing, as they find it impossible to stop talking. Cannon proved that we are not all scientific morons by 1 acting' in the school play, while Colquhoun photographed him. Of course, we have the School's genius, who again has had his hair cut, and we also have worries in Knighton and Heap, who refuse to be separated, while Johnson insists on throwing dissected mice about.

The various strange objects which appear from time to time are usually the work of either Franks or Hughes, except for certain oily marks, for which Oliver (Internal Combustion Engine) Miles is responsible, or, on Mondays, any muddy marks, which are the work of Nick (Pot-Holes) Butcher.
As I promised, on my appointment as form scribe, to mention all nineteen members of our group, here is the last - G. McKay (not to be confused with the aforementioned debater and orator, R. H. McKay).
In conclusion we all wish to thank Mr. Emerson for being so tolerant and kind to us. At times it must take some forbearance on his part.

L.6A (L)
With the W level examinations being far enough away for most of us, an attitude of complacency and sublime contentment has been adopted by the form. In Hogg we have our most patent humorist.
Although, as I mentioned, no measurement of our academic ability is likely to be forthcoming in the near future, we have all worked hard and successfully under the guidance of our form-master, Dr. Eker, who has been patient and encouraging at all times.
Turning from the academic to the athletic, we are ably represented by Johnson and Ashton, who play football for the First Eleven, and by Stead, Morris, and Hogg, who play for the Second Eleven. Burns and Ward run for the Senior Cross Country team. Both Gunn and Smith play in the orchestra, and Steeples and Burns, for some unknown reason, are form-captain and vice-captain respectively.

L.Sc. (ii)
This year we welcomed Robert Wainwright from Southey Green and Harold Edward White from Gregg, and wish them well for their stay here.
Several members of our form have taken part in School activities. Stone and Phillips represented the School at football, and Twigg was a member of the Badminton team which gained the Sheffield Schools Championship. Skelton has helped in Youth Action. Ross (who claims to keep fit by out-of-school activities) was first man home for Haig in the Senior Cross-Country. Spain and Thulbourne are in the School orchestra, and Palmer, Stone and Saunby appeared in the School play.
The form can claim a unique distinction in that, in the persons of Saunby and Phillips, it gained two-thirds of the Senior Swimming Championship. A number of the form hope to take part in the School visit to the National Physical Laboratory later this year.

5A
Several members of our form have struck out lately in the direction of unconventional gear, particularly in hats, shirts and boots. They created a sensation and were admired for a time; but they had their day, and by now are memories. We congratulate Rippon on gaining a prize for merit on Speech Day. He was the solitary prize-winner in the whole form. We have not many sports enthusiasts, either, except Hepworth, who was Sports Day Champion, and Stanbra, who received a shield for ten-pin bowling. In short, we seem to be a thoroughly undistinguished form. The coming G.C.E. and careers interviews have been our most recent problems.

5 Alpha
We are the smallest form in the fifth year, with only eighteen members. Our number was increased by the addition of P. E. Smith, who joined us during the Autumn term from Shropshire. In spite of the label 'Crispy' tagged on to him, he has no connexion with the crisp-making firm of the same name. Apart from Pitts and Gray, the form lacks the theatrical element, but unrehearsed incidents are often forthcoming from the 'Three Musketeers'. Only Saxton is concerned with athletics, but two members of the form are keen pot-holers, and there is one rockclimber. Mr. Mayhew, our form-master, is a great help to us in our efforts to cope with G.C.E. work.

5M
No apology is necessary for the anonymity of these notes, which, like those of other forms, concern (rather surprisingly) the representation of the form in football by its footballers, and in athletics by its athletes. We will not divulge names, for that would be giving the show away; but to turn to another aspect of form life which is more sensational and exciting, we cannot refrain from mentioning one member superb and resplendent in his golden waistcoat and another who has drawn attention to himself by his attack upon the pop scene as a little drummer boy. Nor must we forget a third who contributed to the unbiased reports of the School play, Speech Day, and the glorified "Green 'Un" of sports results, and who, for his sins, has been given the task of writing these notes. Our form is particularly proud to think that its activities are being chronicled in the School Magazine. It gives us a feeling that we are participating in the laudable attempt to elevate triviality to the level of a fine art.

5Q
We seem to have achieved little this year, owing largely to our masters keeping us so busy with work in preparation for G.C.E. However, we did manage to save some face by being represented in Senior House Football by Childes, Bamforth and Summerhayes, whilst Anwar gave his skill to the First XI cricket team.
Swift attained notoriety by having his painting hung in the staff-room, much, we imagine, to the disgust of the masters.

4A
We are not a very athletic form, with only K. Hall in the Under-Fifteen football team. Most of us, however, achieved fairly good results in the G.C.E. trial examinations.

This year we have had a very quiet time. Little of note has happened, certainly nothing that could be reported in this magazine without being censored, except that the lights once nearly fused and the bin caught fire, with slight help from our electrical engineers and our arsonists, while on another occasion our form plumber succeeded in bursting the pipes. So you see, nothing much has happened this year!

4W
Two people left our form (Beal and Commander), and Tew of 3M joined us. Unfortunately at the moment of writing he is in hospital, and we wish him a speedy recovery.
Five members play for the house football teams, Shore and Turner (Haig), Bell and Swain (Foch), and Mason (Kings). Shore, Bell and Mason also play for the School, and we have three cross-country runners.
Over half of our form regularly visit the Photographic Club on Wednesday evenings in Mr. Holmes's lab. On one occasion this year all our boys were press ganged into going to a concert by the Hallé Orchestra, but we did not like it, as we missed a games period.

4X
Being a revolutionary form, we are not going to fill these notes with the usual information. Who wants to know that Farnsworth and Walton are in the Under Fifteen soccer team, that Roberts and Nicholson run cross-country races for the School, or that others are members of Youth Action? Is anybody interested in our trips with Mr. Clarke to the theatre? Does anyone really care that we have our own form library?
We think not, and so we intend to record only our outstanding achievements as a form, which is exactly what we have done.

4Y
Under the leadership of our new Form Master, Mr. Swain, we began the quite eventful school year 1965-66. Starting with sport, six of our members have been chosen for the Under-Fifteen football team: Wharton, Bell, Nixon, Brooker, Lewis and Ross. Wharton is also a member of the cricket team, and Ross won the tennis championship.
Turning to other matters, it seems to be quite a dangerous occupation sitting in one of the six back seats, since the wall is liable to collapse unexpectedly.
We should like to thank our form captain and vice-captain, Wharton and Mann respectively, for their invaluable service.
We said farewell last Easter to Ridall and Brooker, who we hope will be very happy in their new environment.

4M
At the beginning of this school year we were put under the guidance of Mr. Humphreys, and with his help we have had many small activities at dinner time in aid of "Freedom from Hunger". However, the suggestion of selling Brookfield was turned down; after all, we need a Form Captain.
Our men of the muddy shorts, Clayton and Hackett, can still be seen perambulating the field in various states of undress. Speaking of undress, Keys has been seen in the debating chamber scantily dressed; well, at least, without his blazer.
Evans, Hackett and Smith were in the winning team of the School fishing match.

3A
At the beginning of the year we were pleased to meet Mr. Baines, our new Form-master and Latin teacher. The German boys were lucky in having Herr Schmidt, Herr Wagner and, later, after Christmas, Mr. Brunt. The Spaniards were even more fortunate in having Mrs. Fisher for a term.
Since then we have all been kept very busy, thanks to Mr. Oliver's tests, Mr. Machin's homework and Mr. Clarke's projects. If an idle mind is the devil's workshop, he won't find much to do in 3A!

3W
Before the boys in our form came to their new School they wondered what Firth Park Grammar School would be like. Although we came from three different schools, Hartley Brook, Hatfield House Lane, and Southey, we were all pleasantly surprised to see such a great number of clubs and meetings at our new school.
Some members of the form joined the Scripture Union, others joined the Climbing Club, and lan Shawley joined the Dramatic Society and took part in the School play. Nearly half the class went to Paris at Easter with Mr. Smith. We are all finding it difficult to fit in school work as well!

3X
The form has settled down well in Dr. Wood's room. The form's Oxfam collections have increased since Christmas. Before Speech Day we had a contest to guess how long a certain speaker would speak. The price of a guess was one penny. The winner got a prize while the proceeds went to our Thursday collection.
We are represented in most School activities. Moore runs for the Cross Country team and is also a member of the Under-Fourteen eleven at football; with him in this team are Bingham, Birtles and Stacey. Button received colours from the Under-Fourteen cricket eleven. Stacey and Barber represent us in the School orchestra.

3Y
We have in our form some School Cross-Country runners and two regular players for the Under-Fourteen football team in White and Wilkinson, while others stand in from time to time when they are required. The best third-year swimmer, vamely J. J. Woodhall, is also in 3Y.
This year we have started on a new mathematics syllabus with Mr. Hollands, our form-master. We gather that as a result he has considerably changed his opinion of our abilities, and we ourselves are beginning to get more confident, and to believe that maths. is not so bad after all.

3M
The form started off the year badly, but steadily improved as the weeks went by. Even Mr. Beeley, our form-master, has noticed this. We are a mixed bunch, but as a whole we get on well.
Members of our form are in the S.U., Scouts, and the Youth Action group. Form members also attend the Life-saving classes each Wednesday.
We were grieved at the news of the death of J. R. Woodhall. Many of our form visited him during his long stay in hospital, and twenty of us attended the funeral.

2R
On Speech Day we had prize-winners in Evans, Lawson, Price, Senior, and Wade. We also have several members of the special choir trebles, while White plays his clarinet in the orchestra. On the sporting side we have School footballers in Price, White, Bagley and Millar. Millar also captained the junior Beatty House team. Cross-Country runners included the junior Champion, Kinsley, Other members of the team were Bates, Mitchell, Thompson and Wade. Our form supplied two entrants for the Annual Swimming Gala, Price and Oliver.
Our form captain, Price, was unfortunately in hospital over the Christmas holidays and had to be operated on twice for appendicitis and an abscess. We are glad to see him back to his usual self again.

2G
There were four boys from our form in the Swimming Gala; they were Clarkson, Hackett, Wing and Robinson.
We played two football matches against 2M. In one we beat them, but in the return match we were heavily defeated. In spite of this, Evans, Fletcher, Hall and Wing played for the Under-Thirteen team. Lewis ran for the Cross-Country team and most of the form ran in the house Cross-Country competition. Mountain was the junior table-tennis champion after beating another boy in our form (Evans) in the final.
Besides sporting activities, several boys can play musical instruments.

2M
We can boast of being the most athletic form in the second year, at least if the number of boys taking part in sporting activities is anything to go by. In the School Cross-Country team we have Weldon, Dawn, Wallace. Platts and Hobson, and to the Under-Thirteen football team we have contributed Fletcher (Captain), Wallace, Hattersley, Wake, Scholey, Dawn, Algar and Burrows. In the house Cross-Country race Dawn was second, Hobson fourth, and Wallace fifth, which is not a bad total out of five. In football our record-breaker of the year is Beatty's goal-keeper, Harris, who in three matches let twenty-one goals past. His successor for next season will have something to live up to.
Our collections for the Freedom from Hunger Campaign have done well, and our form-master, Mr. Plumbly, hired some films and organised a film show after school one afternoon. We are very sorry to have lost him, but wish him well in his new post at Ipswich.
Finally, we hope that our third year in the School will be as happy as our second year has been.

1W
Our form-master is Mr. Snook and the Form Captain is White. The Vice Captain is Ayres. Most of us seem to have settled down with Mr. Snook. Deakin has established himself as the best cross-country runner in the first year by winning the House Cross-Country. We also have Street, an Under-Thirteen footballer, in our form. In fact there are quite a few boys who have played for their house teams. We have a good form football team, and we have played and beaten 1Y three times, but we have not yet played 1X.

1X
The majority of us seem now to have settled down. Parker has a name for being the best swimmer in our form. We have three boys in the cross-country team. They are Rumsby, McGee and Baker. In the first-year Cross-Country Rumsby came second, Armitage fifth, and Baker sixth.
Our form-master, Mr. Hopper, has helped us with his contributions to the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. We thank him very much for this.

1Y
In our form we have quite a few sports enthusiasts. In the Cross-Country team we have Hanson, Bull and Birks, the first of whom came third in the First Year Cross-Country contest. Some boys have played football for their House as well as for the form. These include Bull (Kings), Hanson (Haig), Price (Foch) and Harrington (Kings). In the swimming gala Morris and Harrington both did very well. On the lighter side several of our members play table-tennis during the dinner hours and after school on Mondays, while several are in the Angling Club. Barber, Jordan and Goodman are interested in stamp and coin collecting. We wish to give our thanks to Price for taking charge of the form collection for the Freedom from Hunger Campaign. Thanks to his efforts, we have made quite a good contribution to this deserving cause. Finally we should mention that a number of the boys from our form are regular attenders at the meetings of the Scripture Union.

Related information:

• The Firparnian - Firth Park Grammar School Magazine

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