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John George Brinnand has provide some information about his grammar school just after World War II -- the Balham Grammar School in London (1947-50). Balham in southwest London, The school was located on the corner of Balham High Road (A24) and Upper Tooting Park Road. It is now converted unto apartments. We are not sure when it ceased being a school. World War II had ended (1945). But war-time rationing continued for some time. the school was a boy's secondary day school in London. Grammar school were academically oriented selective schools for boys who did well in their 11-plus exams taken in the primary schools. The boys wore a colorful striped blazer which we can see on the previous page. The pattern repeated with the cap. Many schools had plain caps, but preparatory schools and grammar schools might have colorful caps and blazers. There was also a plain blazer perhaps worn for every day (figure 1). Here we see John wearing his plain blazer with the cap and tie. The boys did not wear ties, in some images. we assume a war time concession. Rather we see white shirts unbuttoned at the collar. Other images do show the ties. John tells us about his school experiences, "My memories of my time a Balham Grammar are sparse. There was a Head master (Mr. Thompson who always wore his academic gown) and three or four class teachers who taught multiple subjects. All classes were taught in the same classroom. There were only ten or so kids in my grade, but there was more than one grade in the same classroom. It was not a religious school but morning assembly included singing hymns. Because I could not hold a tune, I was assigned the role of 'late monitor' and sat outside the assembly room taking down the names of boys who were tardy. The only school friend I remember is Havard Rose (we both lived on Tremadoc Road, Clapham). There was no corporal punishment but, if we misbehaved, we had to stay late and write on the board. I do not recall bringing any school work home with me. Until recent years I had copies of my 1949-50 term results but they got lost. I recall I was good at Math and Geography but not very good in History, English, Science, Algebra, Latin/Greek and Scripture. All the history teacher ever did was to tell us to turn to a given page in a book and read a certain number of pages – very little teacher-student interaction. [HBC is appalled at this. We had the idea that grammar schools had academic standards. I can't imagine actually paying for this standard of teaching.] Wednesday afternoon was 'Sports Time' – cricket, football, cross country running; most likely on Tooting Bec Common. I can remember getting the 'stitch' during one cross country run and the teacher told me to 'run through it'- I did and it hurt. I cannot remember playing in any specific matches; however, I was on the 1st XI Football Team that won a cup. so, I must have been fairly active in school sports. There is also a photo of me in my cricket outfit. I left Balham Grammar in December 1950 when I was 15 years and 2 months old."
John George Brinnand has provide some information about his grammar school just after World War II -- the Balham Grammar School in London (1947-50). Balham in southwest London, The school was located on the corner of Balham High Road (A24) and Upper Tooting Park Road. It is now converted unto apartments. We are not sure when it ceased being a school.
John was born (1935). That was not one of the better years to have been born. Hitler launched Worrld War II (1939). Thus John attended primary school during the War. And London was not the best place to spend the War. London was heavily bombed by the Germans during World War II. Destroying London became a pashion for Hitler. The Germans found, however, that London was a huge, sprawling city. While there was extensive damage, large areas of London were untouched. This was especially the case away from the city center. Ballham Gramamr was undamaged. World War II had ended (1945). But war-time rationing continued into the 1950s.
The school was a boy's secondary day school in London. Grammar school were academically oriented selective schools for boys who did well in their 11-plus exams taken in the primary schools. Most English children ended their education after finishing an 8-year primary program. John extended his education for 3 more years of private education.
John only recalls one school friend -- Havard Rose. They were neigbors and played sports together. A snapshot shows the boys together in John's back garden (yard). It is interesting bcause it also shows shows where John lived. We can see that mum liked to garden, which was important during the War, but did not yet have a washing machine. Actually that is revealing. By the time of World War II, Amerivans families commionly had amenities like cars, refrigerators, and washing machines. Briitain was the most affluent country in Europe. Such amenities were even less common on the Continent. This meant that the industrial base in Europe was much smaller than than the American industrial base. As a result, after Pearrl Harbor (1941), American turned that huge indistrial base toward war and Germany and Japan would be swaped with American military production.
The boys wore a colorful striped blazer which we can see on the previous page. The pattern repeated with the cap. Many schools had plain caps, but preparatory schools and grammar schools might have colorful caps and blazers. There was also a plain blazer perhaps worn for every day (figure 1). Here we see John wearing his plain blazer with the cap and tie. The boys did not wear ties, in some images. we assume a war time concession. Rather we see white shirts unbuttoned at the collar. Other images do show the ties.
John tells us about his school experiences, "My memories of my time a Balham Grammar are sparse. There was a Head master (Mr. Thompson who always wore his academic gown) and three or four class teachers who taught multiple subjects. All classes were taught in the same classroom. There were only ten or so kids in my grade, but there was more than one grade in the same classroom. It was not a religious school but morning assembly included singing hymns. Because I could not hold a tune, I was assigned the role of 'late monitor' and sat outside the assembly room taking down the names of boys who were tardy. The only school friend I remember is Havard Rose (we both lived on Tremadoc Road, Clapham). There was no corporal punishment but, if we misbehaved, we had to stay late and write on the board. I do not recall bringing any school work home with me. Until recent years I had copies of my 1949-50 term results but they got lost. I recall I was good at Math and Geography but not very good in History, English, Science, Algebra, Latin/Greek and Scripture. All the history teacher ever did was to tell us to turn to a given page in a book and read a certain number of pages – very little teacher-student interaction. [HBC is appalled at this. We had the idea that grammar schools had academic standards. I can't imagine actually paying for this standard of teaching.] Wednesday afternoon was 'Sports Time' – cricket, football, cross country running; most likely on Tooting Bec Common. I can remember getting the 'stitch' during one cross country run and the teacher told me to 'run through it'- I did and it hurt. I cannot remember playing in any specific matches; however, I was on the 1st XI Football Team that won a cup. so, I must have been fairly active in school sports. There is also a photo of me in my cricket outfit. I left Balham Grammar in December 1950 when I was 15 years and 2 months old."
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