Miss Horabin and Miss Wallet lived on the Newton on either side of Waddington Avenue. When they both retired they bought a house in Waddington and moved in together. They could be seen daily taking their Labrador and Golden Retriever for walks in Red House Park. Both were dedicated to the children they had in their care and organised many of the extra curricular activities which we all enjoyed. The clubs they instigated were: Chess, Country dancing, film, model making. They organised the fund raising events which paid for the swimming pool. Mr. Paddock was the caretaker and did a splendid job keeping the playing field and gardens neat and tidy. We were encouraged to buy spring bulbs each year and plant them ourselves. I can't imagine a more beautiful setting each year when they came up. There was a May Day pageant as well as a Christmas pantomime. The Lord Mayor spent a day with us every year joining in with the morning assembly and lessons before lunch in the dining area.
At the end of our term before we moved up to seniors we had a leaving do, sandwiches cakes and jelly and blancmange. Mr Swinton played the latest records on the swishest of Hi FI's. Each leaver was given a goody bag which contained a Helix `Drawing set, a three foot balloon you had to get your Dad to blow up and an assortment of sweets and a sachet of medicated Vosene Shampoo.
I went to Churchfields, one of the first Comprehensives in Britain. It was state of the art with every conceivable facility: Wood and Metalworking classes, Chemistry, Biology and Physics labs, Music and art studios, Technical drawing, cookery. There were 1200 of us; we all wore school uniform and the cane was rarely used, I think three times whilst I was there. A wonderful place which is no longer there, with falling birth rates after the advent of the pill many authorities had over capacity and places like Churchfields were in prime areas for Housing. I understand that Dartmouth never quite lived up to the same standard . My S.I.L who lived in Spouthouse went there and did well.