SOME look glum but others appear happy to be posing with their classmates. This was a class of second-year pupils at Donnington Junior School in Oxford in 1952.

The picture comes from Mick Laverty, of Stratfield Road, Kidlington, who has remembered half the names.

The school, in Cornwallis Road, opened in 1936/7 with 74 boys and 58 girls in its infant and junior departments and the first headmaster was Charles Hart, who stayed in the post for 25 years.

He was a special guest at the school when it celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1986. But its most famous former pupil was absent.

Comedian Ronnie Barker was a pupil for four years when he lived with his family in Church Cowley Road.

Headteacher Raymond Miller invited him, but the star, who had recently visited Australia, was unable to attend.

The school celebrated the anniversary with its own trip down memory lane, treating parents and friends to an exhibition of pictures and other memorabilia and a stage revue based on its history.

Much of the groundwork for the exhibition and revue was done by deputy head Joan Ankers and teacher Rosanne Butler, who researched the school’s past.

Oxford Mail:

Ronnie Barker

Mr Hart, the first head, must have been amused as he watched Robert Brown, 12, play him on stage.

The school has featured in the news many times over the years, with choral and orchestral concerts, stage productions, May Day celebrations, fancy dress parades, charity walks, art and craft exhibitions and much more.

Two notable sporting achievements came in 1947 when the school football team won the Schools’ Junior Shield for the first and only time, and an athletics cup at the Iffley Road running ground.

The footballers, who beat South Oxford 3-0 in the final at the White House ground, Oxford City’s former home off Abingdon Road, included Pat Gibson, John Allen, Doug Stewart, Terry Foster, Keith Bricknell, Brian Gale, Peter Evans, Michael Allen, Dave Wetherall, Brian Davies, Keith Jones and Brian Munday.

In 1984, pupils faced probably a bigger challenge when they sponsored headteacher Mr Miller to give up smoking for a day.

They said they would pay if he observed No Smoking Day, the money going to buy a seat for the school playground.

Mr Miller, who smoked a dozen cigarettes a day, plus three pipes and an occasional cigar, promised to do so, but fell short of vowing to give up for good.

“I will try and reduce the amount I smoke,” he said.

These are the names we know so far of the second-year pupils in the picture from 1952. Can anyone fill in the gaps? Back row, from left: ?, Dave Saunders, Maureen Murphy, ?, Ian Campbell, Pauline Scammel, Richard Warnock, ?, Dave Hickman, Christine Faulkner, ?. Middle row: Mick Laverty, John Piper, ?, ?, Helen Powell, ?, Miss Murray, ?, ?, ?, ?, Bunty Dale, ?. Front row: Brenda Martin, Richard Charles, ?, Brian Turnbull, ?, Trevor Jones, Beryl Barry, ?, ?, Kenny Goy, ?

  • Do you have any memories of Donnington School to share with readers? Please write and let me know.