Books We Read (or Were Read) at School

[John Pickup]

Three cheers for our respective teachers, John! Mine was a Miss Roberts and I remember that she was a fan of the Narnia books. She loved art and craft, so we did a lot of that. We also grew tomato plants (the class was divided into six groups and we had a competition to see which group's plant would grow the tallest) and at the end of each term she would bring in large trays of home-made butterscotch tart and we'd all have a piece. She was a serious young woman, but very creative.

My teacher was Mr Green and he also liked the Narnia books. He read The Silver Chair to us. He also read The Cave by Richard Church, another book I loved and now have my own copy.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Miss Roberts read The Magician's Nephew to us. It's interesting that three of us (so far) had Narnia books read to us at school!

[timv]

At my first primary school , when I was five or so, our class teacher (at that age we tended to have one teacher for all subjects, which must have been difficult for non-specialists who had to swot up beforehand) read A A Milne's 'Winnie The Pooh' and his selections of children's poems; at the school which I attended when I was nine-ten we had regular readings of Enid's Find Outers series, starting with 'Hidden House' . This series of readings was my first introduction to the earlier FFO books, which I had not been able to buy in the then current Armada edition (probably sold out by that time) so I had only read the middle and later books of the series. The ideas of Larry as the original group leader and Ern as a potential 'foe' who Fatty outsmarted were completely new to me; I had been thinking of L as a rather bland character who never stood out compared to the other four members of the group. We also had readings of published local (Sussex) diaries by eighteenth and nineteenth century writers , doctors, naturalists etc as an intro to local history - rather unusual but thought-provoking.


In contrast, at secondary school when we started Latin aged eleven-twelve our Classics master (a younger teacher in his thirties) used to read Mary Renault's 'The King Must Die' (about Theseus and the Minotaur, referencing the real archaeology and religion of Crete ) as a way of getting us interested in the world of Ancient Greece and Crete - which I was told was a dramatic change from his predecessor, a 'county gentry' old-style Latin mistress in her late fifties (related to Shakespeare's local landowners in Warwickshire whose deer he was supposed to have poached) who had stuck rigorously to the old-fashioned pre-War curriculum of learning verbs etc with no 'light relief'.

[Katharine]

At my first primary school , when I was five or so, our class teacher (at that age we tended to have one teacher for all subjects, which must have been difficult for non-specialists who had to swot up beforehand)

At my primary school we only had one class teacher per year. I seem to remember the headteacher coming in when I was in my final year to teach us handwriting and play maths bingo with us, but other than that, as far as I can recall, we didn't have any other teachers for lessons. My children all went to the same primary school as me, and little had changed, with the exception there was an extra teacher who would take each class for some of their PE lessons, and taught the older children French. She was also a music teacher, but I'm not sure if she took individual classes, or whether she just ran clubs like the choir. I think the only reason she was brought in though, was because of the new rules which require teachers to have preparation time within the school day.

I wonder, do larger primary schools have different teachers for certain subjects?

Regarding teachers reading in class, I can only remember the teacher I had in my second year of junior school reading to us, so I don't know if that means that none of the others read to us, or whether perhaps his choice of books made more of an impact on me? I suspect that we probably were read to in the infant classes, but I sadly I have very little memory that far back.

I don't know whether I was at my most receptive education wise at that age, or whether this teacher was particularly good, as I think I have more memories of what he taught us than I do of any of the other classes - as a side note, he was still there when my children started the school, and taught my eldest one. Sadly, that is probably the only year I don't have any school books from, as there was some kind of teacher dispute going on at the time, and I clearly remember him making us destroy all our exercise books at the end of the year.

[Anita Bensoussane]

At my first primary school , when I was five or so, our class teacher (at that age we tended to have one teacher for all subjects, which must have been difficult for non-specialists who had to swot up beforehand) read A A Milne's 'Winnie The Pooh' and his selections of children's poems...

It was (and still is, I think) normal to have one teacher for all subjects at state infant and junior schools. At my junior school (for ages 7-11) we had a dedicated music teacher so we'd go to her room for singing and recorder-playing, but otherwise the class teacher taught everything. Nowadays you'll often have a teaching assistant who works alongside the teacher but the teaching assistant is there to provide support across the whole curriculum, working with individuals and groups of pupils who require more input.

I wonder, do larger primary schools have different teachers for certain subjects?

I haven't come across that but it would be interesting to know.


I'm impressed that one of your teachers read Find-Outers books to your class when you were 9-10, Tim. When I was at school I got the impression that Enid Blyton was frowned upon (though it was known that most of us read her books outside the classroom). However, when my daughter was six her teacher read The Boy Next Door to her class and my daughter said everyone loved it so much that they would groan with disappointment when the bell rang for home time!

We also had readings of published local (Sussex) diaries by eighteenth and nineteenth century writers , doctors, naturalists etc as an intro to local history - rather unusual but thought-provoking.

I think I'd have enjoyed that as a child, especially if projects and visits relating to some of the readings could have been arranged.

[Boodi 2]

I actually cannot remember any of my teachers reading aloud during class, but I did have an English teacher who really triggered my interest in the works of Shakespeare and made them very enjoyable. In secondary school we had to study one Shakespeare play each year and I found the first two plays really dry and boring (and I suspect most of my classmates did too). Perhaps it had to do with the plays themselves (The Merchant of Venice and As You Like It), but in the third year we got a new English teacher, an older lady who was close to retirement, and she really brought Macbeth to life and we had many fascinating discussions about the various aspects of the play, with the result that even today I can still quote lines from Macbeth!

[Jack400]

It was in the first year of secondary school (actually it may have been the second year) that we read "The Silver Sword". What a fantastic, entertaining and inspiring book.

[shadow]

I remember the teacher reading books to us on a Friday afternoon at both the infant and junior schools but can only recall one book, Charlotte's Web.

[Julie2owlsdene]

I can't remember any of our teachers reading a book to us, but I guess some must have done, especially in the Junior school.

I remember reading Alice in Wonderland as a group read in the first year of my Secondary School.

[Hannah]

I don't remember if teachers were reading to us in primary school (which starts when you're six years old). But I think they might have done it.

I remember a teacher in my 5th and/or 6th year at school. It was our Latin teacher and he read the old Greek and Roman tales to us.

[Anita Bensoussane]

It was mainly in the top years of junior school that we had books read to us. As well as The Silver Sword and The Magician's Nephew, I remember listening to The Incredible Journey, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, James and the Giant Peach and Rebecca's World. We also had an unknown book about a girl who travelled through a fantasy landscape, but all I remember is that it involved her going into a castle full of spiders at one stage.

Other teachers read us short stories, though we did have one novel read to us when I was 5-6 and that was The Enchanted Wood! Unfortunately, I moved house just after my sixth birthday so I had to go to a different school and didn't get to hear the end of the story. Luckily, I was given a copy of my own a little while later so I was able to read it for myself!

[Judith Crabb]

I read somewhere that many of our earliest memories are no such thing, but fantasies created from what we are told by older family members. However, I have at least one memory which is all my own. In the second year of infant school I recollect sitting on one of those prickly rush mats which must have worn well and listening to a teacher reading a story about Winnie the Pooh. I recall looking surreptitiously around to see if anyone else had noticed the name. There seemed to be no reaction, so I concluded that either I hadn't heard it properly, or no one else was listening.
Grade three, the first year of Primary School, and a relief teacher read us 'The Enchanted Wood' and my life was never the same again. In Grade five we were read 'The Good Master' by Kate Seredy, and in Grade seven a wonderful Scot read us The Jungle Books by Kipling and 'The Magic Pudding' by Norman Lindsay, all splendid.

[Wolfgang]

I remember that our teacher read to us Janoschs "Onkel Poppoff kann auf Bäume fliegen" (Uncle Poppev can fly on trees) in Primary school. We performed one of the adventures for a school play and later even on a theatre.

[Anita Bensoussane]

The acting sounds fun, Wolfgang. I took part in a performance of scenes from Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess when I was in secondary school but I was only the narrator.

I read somewhere that many of our earliest memories are no such thing, but fantasies created from what we are told by older family members.

That makes no sense to me because a memory has so many elements that no one else could possibly know! I've been told a few things by my mum that I don't remember but those are her memories - not mine.

It's good to hear that you were also read The Enchanted Wood, Judith. I didn't come across The Magic Pudding until I was an adult but I enjoyed the humour.

[Fiona1986]

I read somewhere that many of our earliest memories are no such thing, but fantasies created from what we are told by older family members.

That makes no sense to me because a memory has so many elements that no one else could possibly know! I've been told a few things by my mum that I don't remember but those are her memories - not mine.

I can really relate to that, Judith. There are stories I've been told by my parents and other relatives that I sometimes get confused as to which ones I was even present for originally, or present and old enough to remember. Memories can also be helped along by photos!

I have a similar thing with books - I can picture various Eileen Soper or Stuart Tresilian illustrations that don't actually exist because I know their style so well and know the stories so well that my mind has mixed them up.