Teachers from the 1950s and 1960s

We are very grateful to Andrew Philips from Colchester Recalled for giving us permission to re-publish the two following articles that appeared in issues 24 and 28 of their magazine. You can download some of their earlier magazines here and the latest issue, full of photos and local people's memories, can be purchased for £2.00 at Gunton's in Crouch Street or from Andrew by phone on 01206 546775.

First up is an article that Eddie wrote for the magazine about Gilberd teachers from the 1960s. It's worth reading this article in conjunction with the staff photos from 1967. (If you click on each page below you can view a high resolution scan which is easier to read.)

Following on from this article Alan and Leon Taylor submitted their memories of teachers at the North East Essex Technical College during the 1950s. Their recollections and photos complement Mike Woolnough's detailed account of life at the school during the same period, which can be found here.

Finally, this would seem an appropriate place to share some further recollections of school life in the 1950s which Mike Woolnough has been kind enough to send in. Does anyone else remember 'cubes'?

The standard punishment in my day was 'cubes'! This could be given out by a member of staff or a prefect. Many a time I have heard the call, "Woolnough, 5 cubes!" I would then keep a lookout on the notice board for my name to appear on the daily list of miscreants. On the appointed day I would  take myself to room 24 at lunchtime where I would be given a 3 digit number and would have to calculate its cube followed by the 4 successive numbers. If you got the wrong answer you did it/them again until you got them all correct. If you didn't finish them all you returned on the following day(s) until you'd completed them! If you failed to turn up the number was doubled. I once ended up with 80 owing to the prefects on duty failing to check the register to see if I was absent, which I was!

The normal punishment was 5, for more serious infringements it would be 10 or, occasionally, 20. There was an exercise book containing the cubes of all the 3 digit numbers, I have no idea who worked them all out in the first place!

Staff could place you in after-school detention, but as a high proportion of us travelled some distance (I came from Witham) this required notice to your parents via a letter posted home. I narrowly avoided that because Mrs Heather decided she couldn't be bothered with the paperwork! Happy days!!

PS Mr "Polly" Perkins, the chemistry teacher,  was supervisor of an after school detention and told the sole detainee to sit by the window and write down the names of 40 wild birds that could be seen from the window. He was not best pleased when the boy handed in the paper with, "39 sparrows and 1 starling," on it!!