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Oakwood Collegiate School


Guest lizzie81

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Guest philhigginbotham

I left Oakwood School in 1960, having passed the 11+ and gone to High Storrs.

The main reason that I am getting in touch is that my brother John (mentioned in Sally's post above) passed away suddenly in November aged 59. John was five years younger than me, and followed me through Devon Road, Norwood Road, and Barnsley Road on his way to King Teds and Sheffield University.

It's a difficult subject to discuss right now, but I have so many happy memories of Oakwood, and will come back to this site with a fuller post in the future.

Kindest regards to all

Phil

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On 9/23/2010 at 20:52, SuzyC said:

 

Hi Kay, I think we must have been peers at Oakwood, I started at 4 in 1956 (Miss Beardsley or Beardsmore´s class). Lots of "Farmer in the Dell" and I could read Noddy books all the way through by 5 :) I still have most of my reports from Oakwood, must dig them out, although I do remember dancing received a "rather heavy on her feet" comment :P Mrs Holroyd did have a son called Bill, who lived in Canada, (I think my Dad knew him from wartime RAF days) he used to visit the school from time to time but obviously didn´t fancy taking it on when his mother passed away.

Do you remember the honour of being chosen as a "Gravy Girl" i.e. being allowed to pour the gravy on the younger kids´ dinners, also custard on their puds too! Phew what a responsibility!!

The trips to Stratford were brilliant, in addition to seeing the plays we also had a trip on the Avon and a walk round the shops. We were obviously very well behaved children, I remember seeing Midsummer Nights Dream and the Tempest, which I thought was most exciting as the character of Ariel was played by a guy with very few clothes on, pretty thrilling at ten!! ;-)

I can remember quite a lot of attendees´names from those days so would love to hear more from you. Some of the teachers I remember are Mrs Skelton, Mrs Frecheville, Mr Beal (and his baggy red swimming trunks!), Mrs Cope, Mrs Wilde (she rapped my knuckles with a ruler for some misdemeanour :o ), Mrs Swift. There was also Mrs Brunt the cook at Norwood Road who cooked the most disgusting beetroot as a vegetable accompaniment to meals, I had only ever eaten it pickled but we had to eat it hot there, ugh!! To this day the smell of cooking beetroot brings back a sinking feeling :P

Oh well, could go on forever, so will stop before I become too boring :(

7 years on and I found this! I think you must have been 2 years ahead of me. Not boring at all! Mrs Swift, Mrs Fretwell, Miss Beardsley, Mrs Cope.. yes I remember them all. But I have managed to forget the beetroot trauma.

 

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I have attached a photo was taken in 1951. Thts me. I attended Oakwood for less than 2 years. The school badge is visible, but the lapel button - I have no idea what that is.

I remember being at the school for one very clear memory. I was playing football and ran over some ice. Slipped and knocked myself unconscience. Great big hullabaloo

 

1951 Sheffield Oakwood School.jpg

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I attended Oakwood from around 1955  until I went to High Storrs Grammar. I attended both the Norwood Road and Barnsley road sites.

i remember the head teacher and also perhaps her son, who had I believe a Canadian accent. Can't remember many of the teachers, but I think the PE teacher was mr Beaumont? 

as was mentioned in other posts, it was really a cramming school t get u through the eleven plus, and in my case it succeeded. It's not until many years later I realised the sacrifices my parents must have made to send me there. It gave me the foundation for my future and whilst my memories of the school are vague it doesn't hide the fact that it was a great place to be educated.

I went to High Storrs with s few from there, I remember Ross Cullen well as we were best friends. Funnily I never kept in contact with anyone after secondary school. 

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I'm coming to this thread a little late. I was at Oakwood 1966-67 in Mrs Beatrice Skelton's class - see picture, I am 2nd from the right on the bench. She didn't take prisoners but was a wonderful teacher and had a lovely sense of humour....at times. As we lived at Wisewood, she occasionally gave me a lift close to home in her Mini, which I remember had those long switches on the dash. She lived on Airedale Road behind Wadsley Church. Mrs Holroyd was the head. In many ways she looked like a caricature for the headmistress of St Trinian's, but she knew her stuff and ran a tight ship.

Members of the class whom I remember include (excuse names which may be incorrect after 53 years!) Penny Warren (daughter of our family doctor in Oughtibridge), Nigel Gale (lived at Chapeltown), Jeannie Brown, Brian Furby (red hair, stocky, made for the front row, possibly hooker), Hazel Andrews, Jean Damms, Pamela Ballard, Jan Wroblenski, Philip Burmah, Graham Maddocks, Graham Parkin (wiry, athletic, all the makings of a great scrum half), ? Fothergill (parents had a shop at West Bar). As I say, memory is fickle and all of these may be wrong. All the faces in the picture are familiar and if I have forgotten your name, my apologies.

Points mentioned by others bring back memories, including the muddy field to the side of the old house and the school badge. Sadly I don't have one but still have the scarf. The school dinners bring back bad memories. Lots of fat and gristle. The best bits were the blancmange and rice pud. On a recent visit to the city I did a drive past recce and noticed that the gate posts are still in place, but that's about it.

I recall taking the 11+ at another school nearby and we had to walk to it. I got a place at High Storrs but after one term was shipped off to boarding school in Jersey. Arriving there was daunting as everyone else had had a term to settle in and make friends etc. I became friendly with a Dutch lad (still am) who also arrived late. He spoke about five words of English and, coming from South Yorkshire, so did I, so we got on well.

Now live in Wiltshire after 36 years in the Army (loved every minute) and only get to Sheffield occasionally now that my parents have died, but would welcome meeting up with anyone for a pint and a natter in the Fat Cat sometime.

752625745_OakwoodSchool1967copy.thumb.jpg.6d3a840ac99eeb90d9f450ad5dc656b7.jpg

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All I can remember, as an old Firparnian, was that, by and large, fellows who had done their "cramming" to pass the 11 plus at Oakwood tended ( at least in the first year)to be looked down upon. As we grew older the distinction faded and by the time we left no one bothered where we had done our primary education.

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On 27/05/2009 at 23:50, Guest lizzie81 said:

 

 

Thanks for the info and links. I'm sure that must be the school. I wonder if anyone has any recollections of the building on Devon Road being used as part of the school.

Lizzie

I attended Devon Road as an ten year old in1953.It was then part of the main school on Norwood Rd.

Jim Baldwin

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On 31/03/2020 at 09:02, Paul Oldfield said:

I'm coming to this thread a little late. I was at Oakwood 1966-67 in Mrs Beatrice Skelton's class - see picture, I am 2nd from the right on the bench. She didn't take prisoners but was a wonderful teacher and had a lovely sense of humour....at times. As we lived at Wisewood, she occasionally gave me a lift close to home in her Mini, which I remember had those long switches on the dash. She lived on Airedale Road behind Wadsley Church. Mrs Holroyd was the head. In many ways she looked like a caricature for the headmistress of St Trinian's, but she knew her stuff and ran a tight ship.

Members of the class whom I remember include (excuse names which may be incorrect after 53 years!) Penny Warren (daughter of our family doctor in Oughtibridge), Nigel Gale (lived at Chapeltown), Jeannie Brown, Brian Furby (red hair, stocky, made for the front row, possibly hooker), Hazel Andrews, Jean Damms, Pamela Ballard, Jan Wroblenski, Philip Burmah, Graham Maddocks, Graham Parkin (wiry, athletic, all the makings of a great scrum half), ? Fothergill (parents had a shop at West Bar). As I say, memory is fickle and all of these may be wrong. All the faces in the picture are familiar and if I have forgotten your name, my apologies.

 

Like you Paul, I'm coming to this thread a little late & thanks to a chance encounter with another ex-pupil while out walking on Saturday. I was at Oakwood from around 1960 (Devon Road) through 1964 (Norwood Road) so we never met, but there are many familiar faces in your photo and names in your post. My family moved from our grocers shop on Ballifield Drive to Doncaster which is why I left (torn away kicking and screaming IIRC!). 

I last met Philip Burmah (Boehme?) by chance when I was 17 - we were both playing music with the West Riding Youth Orchestra / Wind Band while on a residential course in Bingley. I was on cello, Philip on Euphonium. All those 'music and movement' sessions at Devon Road must have had some lasting effect on me as playing & singing remains an important part of my life. The B&A Arithmetic books had a big influence too thanks to some wonderful support from the teachers at Oakwood who encouraged me and Mark Holmes to move forward at a faster pace, leading in my case to a rewarding professional career in engineering (following a degree at Sheffield Uni). Having left Oakwood it was several years before the maths lessons caught up with what I had learned there, which I later learned both upset and inspired my other classmates.

After a year at Thorne Grammar in Doncaster, my family moved again to be closer to my elder brothers and their children and I finished my secondary education at Dinnington High School. This was one of the pilot comprehensives (2500 pupils) which turned out to be another wonderful school (at least for for me) with some inspiring teaching staff/pupils and lifelong friendships formed. Inevitably there were several ex-Oakwood students there but mainly from other year groups. A little older were Philip Halford and Ian Cope (Mrs Cope's son) and younger was Howard Topham. I have one of the old panorama photos taken at Norwood Road with most of these on.

I read Christopher Rose's 2010 post here & this reminded my of a few names. Others include Melvyn Shepherd (from Worrall?), Stephanie Lewis, Michelle Spence, Judith Tomlinson and Lesley Brown. Lesley's father frequently drove me to school in their Beetle, as did Howard's in their big Humber. I usually caught the bus home though - number 33 to the centre of Sheffield (dropped off at Coles Corner IIRC), then the 52 out to Ballifield from Commercial Street, and all at the grand old age of 5!

Someone mentioned football boots - I remember a pair with nailed on cork studs when I first went to Norwood Road. These were painful to wear & I was very pleased when these were replaced by moulded boots endorsed by Stanley Matthews. I went on to play hooker at Thorne Grammar and later Cricket & Badminton for Dinnington, but from around the age of 15 my Saturday mornings were dominated by music so I had to drop the team games. Mr Beal(e?) led those walks in the woods nearby though & encouraged in me a respect and love of the countryside.

Robert Holland

 

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Robert, good to hear from you. I missed you at Oakwood by a couple of years. Fortunately the moulded sole footie boots were in by the time I started. I was rubbish actually and was constantly shoved in goal, which worked out well because on occasions I played a decent game....usually when our forwards dominated the opposition, so I had little to do. I forget the bus numbers but I used to get dropped off by mum at West Bar and caught one to the end of the road near the school. We used to do lots of things in those days without oversupervision. Great times and we felt so free to explore and have adventures.

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I remember starting at Devon Road in 1955. My mother, Marion Leary taught at Oakwood and I am in possession of a school photograph taken in July 1958 when she left the school. I would be happy to let this go to any former pupil who may have been on that photo. 

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Hi

I came across the pic of Mrs Skeltons 11+ class 1967 I'd never seen this pic before I'm third from the right top row.

I remember Robert Furby, Nicholas Marples, Lesley Brown, Jackie Round, and a few others. Unfortunately I went to Oakwood a little late we were so far behind we went into j3 we were called little j4. I failed the 11+ but I stayed at Oakwood and the following year I was getting the results that would have got me a place at Grammar School.

It would be great to hear from anyone in this class I live Norfolk now but I visit Sheffield every fortnight (need the big city feel) lol

Simon

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I attended Oakwood collage school 1952-53.  Mrs Holroyd was the head mistress.Mrs Thorpe and Mrs Twidale were our teachers.

Oakwood was a mixed private school where sports field hockey,football and cricket were encouraged.The academic subjects were of a high standard pupils were encouraged to graduate and attend a preferred Sheffield and district secondary school.

Duncan Stainrod

Parksville, Vancouver Island BC Canada.

August 2021.

#.Any 53’ grad reading this note…do you have a school group photograph of the graduating class circa.1953

if so please post to this sight.

Thanks DS 

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On 27/05/2009 at 21:23, SteveHB said:

Hi lizzie81.

There was an Oakwood Collegiate School at 74 Norwood Road,

it may be the same place.

 

New to this forum. I've only just read these posts. I was a pupil at Oakwood from 1950 to 1954 when I went to King Edward Vll School. Yes. There was an annexe as you describe. I think the annexe opened around 1953.

Does anyone Mes Day, a teacher there? She was very good and kindly. However, she had a sharp tongue. I remember one rather "stout" biy whose name I know but who I shall not reveal. He yawned widely. Mrs Day said "**** ********* (name redacted), you have a mouth like a parish oven"". Not a very kind thing to say. It's stuck in my mind for the last 7 decades.

I remember Mrs Holroyd's daughter had a Sunbeam Rapier convertible. I used to envy that motor.

I have so many happy memories of my time there.

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Hi,i went to Oakwood cramming for the eleven plus. I was in Mrs Wells class, what a lovely lady. We had Mr Midgely who came in once a week to teach sports on the cinder area to the side of the school. Classmates i recall are Simon Happs , Mark Weston, BarrySidall. Remember getting a letter sent home asking for me not to go to school before 8 as i used to wake the caretaker up with myfootball against the wooden garage door/changing rooms. No showers then just bucket of water and soapn towel. Happy days

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I attended Oakwood Collegiate School in the early fifties. The main school was on Norwood road and the annexe on a busy main road, maybe Burngreave Road. The last year was spent at the annexe. It was a cramming school for the eleven plus exam, it certainly worked as I went to High Storrs Grammar. Mrs Holroyd was the head teacher, I think she was from Canada as she often talked about that country. My family moved to Australia and I attended University here. The expert teaching for the exam at Oakwood set up my career.

This photo was taken in 1951

4826EF2B-0085-486A-8BC8-A55AB547460E.jpeg

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