Did Anybody Go To King Ecgberts?

[mushy peas]

:hihi:

I wonder if anyone knows where this rumour comes from, it was circulating during my days in the mid eighties. Mr Smiles was a great teacher, probably one of the best, I was well into history, and always did well cos i was interested in it...He once demonstrated a little known teaching method on me, which was part of his arsenal no doubt. It consisted of coming down like a ton of bricks, in a really severe and scary fashion, on a pupil who was actually well behaved. In this case it was me, and i was a shy and timid kind of person at this stage. All i did was quietly laugh at a fellow pupil, during a period when everyone was talking anyway. He shouted at me in such a harsh over the top way, I was mortified. It was only later I discovered that as a teaching method, doing this to the most well behaved pupil in a class is a technique that is designed to control the worst behaved, cos they all think, "**** I better watch myself in this class, look how he's just come down on eagleweb!".... I found it hard to forgive Smiles for that at the time....

he had a nasty temper that surfaced at times. I was on the recieving end once also. Not nice

[dandie]

Thank you chairboy fot the link to this thread. I left in 1969 just after the school went comprehensive.

List of teachers pre that date that I remember

Miss Garrison - hockey and PE teacher, always losing her contact lenses on the hockey pitch

Gerard- french student teacher, had an old 2CV with deck chair seats, all the girls were in love with him.

Miss Griffiths - Maths teacher - minus 100 housepoints every lesson

Mrs Wilson and Miss Benton - art teachers extrodinaire

Miss Smillie - housecraft

Miss Ainsworth - deputy head

Mr Rigby -science

 

I was there between 61 and 66 and remember some of these teachers. Remember my first form mistress in 1M as being Mrs Priestley who taught history. Another history teacher was Miss Crowther a glam lady compared to most of the others. Mrs Palmer taught languages and was a member of the Sheffield Library theatre. She had grey hair although quite young and tried to dye it black for a role in a play. She ended up with green hair. Quite good fun though. Mrs Singleton was a tyrant and scared the hell out of everyone. Remember hiding at lunch so we did not have to go out when it was cold. Remember going to school in th sheffield gales and walking to school from the bus stop dodging the bending trees and half the windows had blown out. They did not send us home though.

The long bus journeys to and from school and it was 10 min walk to the bus stop and we could not get on early buses because of the Dore and Totley High School pupil used those. Very difficult for me as 2 of my cousins went there.

Happy Days and good news that Miss Coates reached 101. I remeber her iron will and the very strict uniform rules that I once broke and had to face her. I never got the underskirt back.

Also remember the Constable picture outside her office as you had to stand and wait with fright thinking what punishment would befall you.

[mushy peas]

Mr Spires

 

("Hey you boy..................." etc)

 

"Dont play please"

[mushy peas]

I think there may be some confusion over the art teachers. There was Mr Williams, Mrs Shaw and MISS Williams, both ladies had very long hair, I seem to remember they were both pretty cool too.

Miss Williams was abit kooky

[Littlepink]

he had a nasty temper that surfaced at times. I was on the recieving end once also. Not nice

 

i really cannot imagine Mr smiles angry. I was a real pain at school but never once saw him really angry. I'm not saying he didn't, i'm simply saying i cannot picture him angry.

[Dave650]

i really cannot imagine Mr smiles angry. I was a real pain at school but never once saw him really angry. I'm not saying he didn't, i'm simply saying i cannot picture him angry.

 

Maybe it was as time went on he got stricter? When I was there he was always very strict (but I respected him for it), I was a pain in the ar*e and all and was on the receiving end of a few of his coldblooded rampages lectures.... He did seem like he'd be a nice bloke outside of school though.

Just remembered a phrase he used to use a lot "it's not my job to teach you manners, but if your parents won't do it I'll have too" [cue humiliating/scary punishment] luckily I don't think he ever directed that one at me but I witnessed it quite a few times, smiles was never a force to be reckoned with.

[Littlepink]

i was worse than a pain in the ar*se but then maybe being a girl made a difference but i was far far worse than the boys. ( not something i'm proud of btw) i often wonder how old these teachers are now because they seemed old at the time and i'm talking about 24 years later and some of them still teach there.

[billy]

Did anyone go on the french trip in 1980...Lion Sur Mer and Paris, the former being one of the grottiest youth hostels in all of France!!

Great day out at Mont Saint Michel tho'

[mushy peas]

i really cannot imagine Mr smiles angry. I was a real pain at school but never once saw him really angry. I'm not saying he didn't, i'm simply saying i cannot picture him angry.

it was for the crime of not doing the homework he had set me,not that I was misbehaving as such.

[Littlepink]

Homework? what's that? i'm sure i was the nightmare of most teachers but you live and learn. Mr Applehoff was a top maths teacher . I think they were all good teachers with hindsight except Mrs Carlson i'm sure she was in the wrong job !!