St. Josephs R C School Walkley 1956-61

[AtheistRebel]

Mmm Interesting...

 

I remember all the above teachers at St J's.

 

Imelda Brown was particularly cruel and sadistic.

 

The Parish Priest used to stay at Jean Pierus's overnight and boldly park his Volkswagen directly outside her house on South Road. Everyone in Saint Vincents Parish knew about it but said nothing. In those days one did not criticise a Priest.

 

These are the teachers I remember:

 

Miss Hodges Reception

Miss Curley Reception

Miss O'Flynn J1 - Ran off with a Priest

Miss Watt J2

Miss Pierrus J3

Miss Brown J4

Mr. Smith - Caning specialist when the women teachers wanted someone punished very severely.

Sister Agnes - Head

Sister Catherine - Head

Sister Margaret - Later Head

 

These days I think some of them would be locked up for child abuse.

 

I was one of those sent to Mass at 6.45 AM with an empty stomach on bitterly cold winter mornings.

 

I shudder when I think of the place and I am amused that the convent of the CATHOLIC SISTERS OF CRUELTY is now a Buddhist Centre. I am not at all superstitious or religious but if the Buddhists recite mantras for a 1000 years it will not expunge the stains of cruelty from that land. In addition to the Primary School, there was the Convent, which ran a home-cum-residential hospital for severely disabled children. Before that it was an industrial school and before that it was a girl's reformatory.

 

It was all about the management and control of the poor, mostly Irish, working class.

[padraic]

Well its good to know after all these years other people have the same feelings about St Joe's. I'm still mixed up in side about how God saw fit to make a child wash his mouth out with soap for saying bloody. Sister Gabriel was in charge at the time.

The only person I found any good in in St Vincents parish was Brother Smith.

[jmdee]

I see Jean Peirrus (Peerus?) died a few days ago.

 

 

She may have taught there before going to St Joseph's. I know she taught my brother who started there in 1965/6.

[schoolrdgal]

I see Jean Peirrus (Peerus?) died a few days ago.

 

Ah! R.I.P. Jeanie. Anyone know how old she was?

[jmdee]

The obituary in the Star said 88.

 

Ah! R.I.P. Jeanie. Anyone know how old she was?

[pensionipper]

Does nobody remember Sister Pauline and 'Pop' Smith? Maybe you're all too young?

[schoolrdgal]

Does nobody remember Sister Pauline and 'Pop' Smith? Maybe you're all too young?

 

Bit before my time. Went there from 1956-1961

[xfox3x]

Just come back to this thread to post about Jean Peirus's death but see it's already been done.

Also read about the parish priest staying overnight....never knew that lol.

[Beanydot]

Just realised! When I started at St Josephs it was Sister Catherine but was replaced by Sister Margaret. It was Sister Margaret who gave me the wack on the knuckles with the sharp edge of the ruler!

 

I was at St Joseph's 61 - 68. I knew Sr Catherine as headteacher, then it was Sr Margaret. I had the cane off both of them! Mrs Walsh was the secretary. She was lovely. I remember her heating milk in a pan in the J4 cloakroom, for the teachers' coffee. Miss Brown and Miss Pierrus were there too, also I had Miss Pickering in the infants who was a tiny lady who wore the highest heels. Does anyone remember Miss Mossindew? She left in the middle of a school year and we had to have 2 retired teachers to jobshare - Miss Macdonald and Mrs Day. Does anyone remember having to polish our desks on a friday afternoon?

 

As for Pop Smith and Sr Pauline. They were in my father's time late 1940s.

[andycott]

Hi Beanydot, I was at St Josephs from 1964-1966 (moved from St Josephs Handsworth) and well remember Miss Pierrus who my mum knew quite well and Miss Brown.

I remember Miss P fondly, but Miss Brown was different again! I remember her house being over the wall in the playgound.

I went to school with Victor Grima, Catherine Madin, Andrew O'Dea, Timothy Hale, Sheila Davis. Other people from around that time, a bit younger than me were Mick Cummings, Sean Coleman, Steve Procter.

I remember the walks down to the baths at Upperthorpe and making slides in the frost outside J4.

I also remember being a 'Knight of the Blessed Sacrement' and in the choir, so went quite often across the roads to sing masses etc in latin, Deum de deo, lumen de lumine etc and saw the nuns as other-worldly.

I did quite well and passed the 11 plus, went to De La Salle.

The rest, as they say, is history.