"Templars School Reunion"   

The Story of "Templars and Whoberley Schools" ...

THE STORY OF A SCHOOL Templars Primary First Printed 1996

THE EIGHTIES By 1980, the School had grown but not as much as had been expected even with the new estate, Tanyard Farm, completed and fully occupied. We did, however, have children admitted from a very different culture. Quan was the first, from Vietnam. One of the first Vietnamese Boat Families to settle in Coventry. She was a friendly, smiling little girl, who, at first, spoke no English. She soon learned. Then she was joined by Tuong. In the summer, before the School concert, I took them both home to tea. I showed them the strawberry patch in the garden and suggested they might like to pick some. They had never tasted strawberries before. Sometime later I found them, still in amongst the strawberries, but there were none left for tea. This was the year that staff who had been at the School for a long time, retired. Mrs Gilkes, the School secretary, left in April and Mr. Radford in July. He had been at Templars for thirty years’: Sadly he died soon after, in May 1981. Music still played a large role in School life. On December 2nd, 1980, a group of children, entertained local pensioners at the Lime Tree Centre. They sang Carols for them and the Orchestra played. On the 31st March, 1981, a Morning of Music was held at Templars’. This was repeated in, 1983. There was a Day of Brass later and a Morning of Guitars in 1989. The Infant School had their own Recorder Group, which played’for Concerts in the Hall. But the most successful area in the Eighties was Sport. In 1980, there were football, netball and table tennis teams. On October 22nd, 1983, Templars’ won the Telford Cross-Country Cup at the Royal Showground, Stoneleigh. During this month there was an exchange of football teams between Coventry and Stoke, and the players and their friends were guests at a match between Stoke City and Coventry. In 1984, on February 2nd, Templars’ became Champions of Coventry, West League, beating Parkgate 10-1. On the 18th, there was a return visit by a Stoke on Trent School Team and Templars’ received a pennant to mark the occasion. The Lord Mayor visited the School after the match, a Reception was held at Warwick University and both teams were invited to watch Coventry versus Stoke City at Highfield Road. The football team beat Wood End, 5-0, in April 1984 and won the Coventry Primary Schools League. Again, in April, the Cross Country Team won the Coventry Schools Cross Country Championship in the Memorial Park. The Fourth year boys attended a match at Wembley between England and Northern Ireland - a Schoolboy International. A great event occurred on the 21st of June. Bobby Gould, Manager of Coventry City, visited School and presented the School Team with the Championship Shield for winning the League. Individual Medals were presented to the Team and to the Cross Country Team. He also gave the School a Coventry Away Strip to wear. On the 29th September the School Team played a side from Clifton, Birmingham in the West Midlands Cup and won 7 - 0. In October they played another Team from Birmingham, St. Nicholas’ and won 5 - 1. October 27th saw the School team playing for the Phil Meade Trophy against St. John’s. They won 3 - 0. The semi-final in November was against Kencroft; result 2 - 1. A Smiths’ Crisps Six-A-Side Tournament was held at Templars’ on the 10th of November. On the 16th, Terry Gibson, the Coventry City Striker presented the Team with a Football kit for winning the C.P.S.F.A. League, 1983-1984. His visits became a regular feature for Football Coaching. Cup Final Fever became a personal thing for the whole School. In October 1985 the Coventry City Apprentices came to School throughout the season to coach Football during Games Lessons. May 1st 1987, two Football Teams travelled to St. Etienne to play against teams from all over France and Italy. The Under-Elevens Team came first and the Under-Fourteens came third. They returned with four Cups and many Medals. A Reception was given for the Teams in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour on the 2nd of July. During these years the School always took part in the Coventry Fun Run. In 1981, it is recorded that we missed being the largest Team by 1. Throughout these years there was a strong Staff Team for Netball and Rounders and occasionally, Football. Every year before Christmas, the School Team played a Staff Team at Netball. In summer, it was Rounders. As a member of Staff umpired each match, of course the best Team won! Certain events turned into Templars’ traditions during this decade. An annual Garden Fate to boost School Funds was held. In June 1980, it was a very wet Saturday, so the windows of the classrooms along the main corridor were opened and stalls set out there. Parents and friends filed along the corridor, buying as they went, with a welcome stop halfway, in the Hall for Refreshments. In 1985, the Parents’ Pantomime Season began, with Cinderella. This was repeated in 1987, 1988 and 1989. Both Schools had yearly Harvest Festivals. The Infant School took Harvest Gifts to Boston Lodge, the Home for the Blind, while the juniors made Gifts to Old Age Pensioners from the surrounding area. There were Carol Concerts, usually in the Church but in December 1987; two classes took part in the Concert in the Cathedral. The Infants had a Carnival Float in the Coventry Carnival. In 1980, it had to be cancelled because of rain, but on the 5th of July, it was entered in Kenilworth Carnival and won Second Prize. It was entitled, ‘Spanish Fiesta’. The 13th of June saw ‘Alice in Wonderland’, another Carnival Entry, win Third Prize. Outings for both Schools were regular events during the Eighties. In June 1980, the Junior School visits were to Weston Park, Windsor, Matlock and Crick, the Tramway Museum. There was a Youth Hostelling Trip to Cleobury Mortimer for a party of Fourth Years. The Infants visited Hartlebury Castle Museum, Elvaston Castle and the West Midlands Safari Park. In 1982, the Upper School visited Guilsborough Grange, Northants, and the Lower School, Birmingham Science Museum. The Lower School split, in 1983, to visit two places. Whipsnade Zoo for one party, the second to Busts Hill Museum at Ironbridge in Shropshire. The TV Cameras were there that day for the Official Opening of the Public. House but not even lemonade was on offer to ordinary visitors. The Upper School had a day out at Alton Towers and returned there and to Guilsborough in 1984. The Lower School visited the new Black Country Museum at Dudley and the Zoo. The day wasn’t quite long enough Another Youth Hostelling Trip took place in 1984 to North Yorkshire, staying at Westerdale Hall and Whitby Youth Hostels. In February 1985, a visit was paid to St. John’s Museum, Warwick, where the children were given a glimpse of Victorian Family Life. Mrs. Davies’ class and mine went to York Castle Museum in April. To tease the children on the quite long journey, I asked Mrs. Davies’ class if they had their passports as I said they would need them to get into Yorkshire. I assured them that my class would be all right, as I was a native of Yorkshire. I couldn’t keep my face straight when we stopped at the Services on the motorway, by a small wooden kiosk, with a man in uniform sitting in the window. I told them we would pick them up on the way back, but by this time they realised they had been had. Alton Towers, Gulliver’s Kingdom and the Cotswold Wildlife Park were other visits that year. The whole School visited the Royal Show in 1986. I stayed behind with those who couldnt go and we painted Murals on the walls of the Lower School corridor ready for the Infants, who were moving in, in September. On the 5th of November 1986, Mrs Scott, an American teacher and I took our classes to the American Museum near Bath and had a wonderful day. In 1987, the Upper School went to London for a trip on the river and a visit to the Tower. The Lower School revisited the Black Country Museum and ‘legged’ it through the tunnel on a Canal Boat. Youth Hostelling again, on the North Yorkshire Moors in May 1987, staying again at Westerdale. This letter was received by the Director of Education and passed on to the School. "Dear Sir, On Monday with a friend I visited Pickering, and its castle. Whilst there we a most delightful School party. The group of boys and girls with their staff had arrived from Coventry, the children, I would think, the top form of a primary They were exploring the castle purposefully and adventurously, armed with pencils and notebooks; they were most courteous and pleasant to talk to. They were very informative on Coventry aˆ?s success in the CUP! The staff too were interesting and in friendly firm control. The whole episode did much for a profession which does not always portray itself so well in the media, though this is probably the truest picture. I did not get the name of the School but the group were to spend Monday to Friday at a Youth Hostel somewhere in the neighbourhood and ~f you do know it, please tell the Head how much we enjoyed the group. Yours faithfully D. Matthew" May 1988, was the Five Hundredth Anniversary of the Spanish Armada so the Lower School visited the ‘Armada Exhibition’ at Greenwich. Also in May, a party went Youth Hostelling to Bridport in Dorset. Another Youth Hostelling Expedition to South Wales took place in May, 1989. The School organised a ‘Camp Out’ on the School field. Joanne Mooney remembers these well. "I was in the Fourth year juniors (Y6) when we had a Camp on the School Field. We au went back to School on a Friday evening after School with oar sleeping bags. It was strange being there at night, especially walking across the playground in the dark to brush our teeth. "When the tents were put up and it was getting late, we all sang songs around the camp fire, while a man played his guitar. Then it was time to go to bed, although no one got much sleep. The boys kept trying to scare us by flashing torches and making shadows on the walls of the tent. It didn’t work. "When we woke up (about two hours after we had got to sleep) it was about five o’clock and some of us went and sat around what was left of the campfire keeping warm. "After everyone was up and dressed there was bacon and egg for breakfast in the big Marquee near the Canteen. Then it was soon time to go home and catch up on some sleep." Joanne Mooney A good time was had by all, especially the teachers! Visitors to the School through these ten years were many. The Theatre in Education put on a performance of ‘Strathnever’ for the Juniors in 1980, and a performance of ‘Aladdin’ by the Red Balloon Company in 1982. On the 8th September the Artists in Residence made Templars’ their base. The Infants’ School had visits from Father Christmas each year and a Puppet Show. During 1981, to accompany a Topic on ‘Safety’; first the Ambulance and then the Fire Engine: visited. This’was rounded off in March by the Road Safety: Clown coming to the School. The Infants also had less welcome visitors. On Thursday, May 8th, vandals set the School on fire, with severe damage to the Office Area and considerable loss of new stock. This was followed by damage to eighty feet of the fence around the School, knocked down in a police chase. Fund raising followed to raise money to improve security. A Jumble Sale, a Fashion Show and a Sponsored walk around the School. On the 6th of October, a Burglar Alarm was fitted. Mr. Johnson came to show children some rare animals in January 1981. And there were spring lambs in the Nursery and chickens and ducklings in the incubator. Concerts were Productions in those days in the juniors and got better and better. The 1980 offerings were ‘Rumplestiltskin’ and the ‘Legend of the Third Wise Man’ and ‘Songs around the Christmas Tree’. An ‘Old Tyme Music Hall,’ ‘Rodeo’ and ‘Joseph and his Technicolour Dream Coat’ appeared on stage in 1982, ‘Brer Rabbit’ and ‘Pinochio’ in 1983, and in July 1985, ‘Serendipity’. In 1986, the Lower School put on ‘Peter Pan’ and we all had quite a shock when Tiger Lily fainted on stage, but resolutely carried on. The Upper School performed ‘Cinderella’ with a twist. Many things that we take for granted today began in the Eighties. Before September 1985, the Library was in the Entrance Hall of the School. In this year, The Library as we know it today began. This was due to a small but hardworking group of parents who worked for long hours to label and categorise the books in a simplified Dewey System, and put them on the shelves, ready to use. They also wrote tickets for every child and teacher in the School. Mr. Hedges almost hung from the ceiling to paint the butterflies and I had a small band of helpers to paint ‘Wind in the Willows’ late one evening. We found out just how eerie an empty School can be. 1981 was the most difficult period of the decade, I think. November was the period of the N.U.P.E. strikes and although the children were excluded from School, we teachers had to attend. The School was cold and dirty. We had no heating or cleaners and it was very empty and echoing. Lots of initiatives began this decade. September 1985 saw plans to open a Parents Community Room and on December 11th, the first Parent and Toddler Group began. The Room was officially opened on the 28th April 1986. It wasn’t until September 14th 1988 that the Parents, Teachers and Friends Association of Templars’ was formed. Closer links with Industry were made. In May 1986, Peugeot Talbot gave us drawings of cars and their engines to be displayed and a very noisy working engine from Austin Rover was placed in the Entrance Hall. In January 1988, some children and staff visited the Alvis and were given a test drive in a Scorpion Tank. We came back to School in September 1985, to chaos. Builders and roofers had been in School during the holidays and were still there!! There was no roof on the staffroom, no plaster on the walls of the Office and the Entrance Hall, and heavy rain had damaged the carpets along the corridor. The Office moved to a corner of the Library and the Staff to the Reading Room. This month brought the first mention of the new School. Templars’ was put on the list for review. In February 1986, plans were made with the Warwickshire Nature Watch to preserve the ‘Old Hedge’ on the field as a Nature Reserve. At the end of 1986, the Countryside Project was underway. There were changes in Staff too. Mr. Greeve left and Mr. Hedges became Head and Mr. Harris his Deputy. But the most exciting was for Mrs. Davies. She flew off to San Diego, California, for a year. How we hated her when she sent postcards telling us of sunshine and heat and we had frost and snow. Kathy Scott, an American teacher took her place. Mrs. Davies’ visit made lots of friends for Templars’ and some classes write regularly to penpals in California. One of her teachers from the School she was at comes over regularly at Christmas and some of our performances have found their way over the Atlantic. This brings us to the end of the Eighties and the last seven years of Templars’ in the old buildings and of two separate Schools.

[click here] ... continued Chapter Eight

Acknowledgements
Thank you to all the old pupils and staff who have helped in the production of this history.
Thank you to Mrs. Clay who has put this History together.

Make this a reunion to remember! Thankyou.

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