Muriel Pedder (Née Thompson)
"After all this time one's memory does tend to get a little foggy, but looking
back I guess three words would cover a lot of feelings … excitement … bewilderment
… apprehension.
Excitement because this was a brand new school, so different from the small
church school I had attended up till then.
Bewilderment because it was, to me, enormous, with indoor toilets, separate
cloakrooms, home rooms, moving to different rooms for different subjects,
and of course crossing the covered walk to go to "Domestic
Science". Now the big one - NO BOYS.
Apprehension because up to now I had been in a class that contained kids
of different ages and both genders and now I was going to be in a class
of all girls, my own age and my class was 1A. It was explained to me that
this was the highest class I could be in for my age and I do remember thinking
that this was good so perhaps things would be O.K., and that my mum and
dad would be pleased. One thing that was hard that first day was that we
had
to stay at school for "dinner".
I had always been used to seeing my mum at this time, and I was very pleased
when school was over that day and I got my bike from the new bike shed
and went home to tell mum all about the 'New School'.
I expect a lot of kids felt as I did, but being kids we soon adapted
to this new life and way of education."
Muriel Thompson, (1936)
Muriel aged 13 – attended Brentwood Senior School on its first day of opening
in 1936
Muriel now aged 85
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