Twenty-Four Hours in Didsbury

My last day at Ewing School with the Middle Group

If you read the previous article entitled Seven Go Camping in Crowden, you might enjoy the latest Ewing School themed article. As the previous one took us back to the Dark Peak, this piece takes us back to a less forbidding part of the world. It is set in Didsbury and Cheadle, and covers my last twenty-four hours as a Ewing School pupil.

Memoirs of a BBC Micro Maniac, Aged Six

Or: how the school computer became my gateway drug to all things of an 8-bit nature.

If you know a thing or three about 8-bit computing, you would have come across the excellent drama, Micro Men (starring Alexander Armstrong as Sir Clive Sinclair). Or, you might have had first-hand experience with a Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, or an Amstrad CPC. Even if you didn’t have access to a microcomputer in the home, you would have had first-hand experience at school.

Academies for All: The LEA DOA for Political Gain

How academies for all plan is a shoo-in for privatisation

Belligerent ghouls run English schools
Spineless ideologues with tiny minds…*

Since the start of the 20th Century, most of England’s schools have been accountable to the public. Methods of governance have included school boards, governors, and local education authorities. Private Schools and Public Schools [like Eton College] have continued to coexist.

Should August Children Start School at Six? A Summer Child Speaks

My opinion on changes to English and Welsh school admissions policy

• Parents of summer born children given right to start school a year later than autumnal peers;
• Policy seen as boost for children born between April and August.

Not one of my former schools, but the now demolished Counthill School in Watersheddings, Oldham. Photograph by Supreme-B, 2008 (Creative Commons License – Some Rights Reserved).

It has often been said that children born on the 31 August one year is at a disadvantage with peers born at the end of the previous year. Or one on the 01 September the previous year.

Central Road Site Approved for New Didsbury School

New free school set to open in September 2015

Back to my old school: St. James’ and Emmanuel’s new school, from September 2015. This is a picture of the school from November 2013, whilst in temporary use for Birches School.

 

Ewing School is back!

I wouldn’t have thought in 2012 I would have said this. I would have thought the site of my old school from 1987 to 1990 would have been houses by now with cul-de-sacs. With streets like Ewing Drive, Goldsack Crescent and Petrie Place.

The Legend of Foodidoo

Local Public Health Education Mascots of the 1980s

If you remember the joys of a typical primary school assembly, you may well remember singing All Things Bright and Beautiful or Sing Hosanna. Sometimes, fellow pupils would have been invited to stand on a ‘birthday box’ where 200 or so pupils would sing the world’s most performed and profitable song known to man (Happy Birthday that is).

Driving Away From Home: My Return to Ewing School (07 November 2013)

Back to the old school, literally.

One tweet I made on the way to work, more than anything set the tone for this post:

This time 28 years ago, in a taxi to the (now late great) Ewing School, West Didsbury. Day 2 of a 4 day assessment. #happydays

— Stuart Vallantine (@Atlantean7001) April 23, 2014

I was sat on a 330 bound for Bredbury, quite a far cry from passing Levenshulme on the second of the four most important days of my life. Instead of the dulcet tones of James H. Reeve on Piccadilly Radio, my soundtrack was the roar of Enviro400 engine and the odd bit of chatter.

Controversial School Sets Up Base Camp

Phoenix Free School set to rise from ashes of Marland Fold

After years of speculation, Professor Tom Burkard has found a suitable site for his free school. Taking over the site of Marland Fold School, the Phoenix Free School will open in September 2014 on Rosary Road, Fitton Hill.

All Saints at 50: Anniversary Celebrations End In Style

Dukinfield school reaches Big 5-0

The second half of the 2012-13 Academic Year came to a close in style at All Saints Catholic College. To celebrate its fiftieth birthday, the Dukinfield school hosted a fun day from 11am to 2pm. There was side shows, a bouncy castle and tours around All Saints Catholic College itself. Other attractions included displays from the Air Cadets and St. John’s Ambulance.

In Defence of Teachers and Summer Holidays

Mr Gove, please see me afterwards…

The late great Ewing School, where the creator of this blog was taught from 1987 to 1990.

Without the staff of my former school, there’s no way this blog would have amassed over 640 entries, nor be successful. I owe a great debt to two teachers from the above school: one enabled me to appreciate the countryside and urban landscapes of my locality; another one enabled me to appreciate humorous prose.