Fielding Primary School to celebrate 50 years

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Grand reunion in July

Class of 55 - where are you now?

 

Hundreds of former pupils of Fielding Primary School in Ealing are being tracked down for a huge reunion next month.

 

The school, in Wyndham Road, is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and is trying to trace ex-pupils from every year of the school's life.

More than 800 former pupils have been contacted through Friends Reunited, and many have already been in touch with the school. Messages have come from ex-pupils across Britain, and as far away as the United States and Australia.

 

Two famous former pupils who have been in touch are the wildlife artist Warwick Higgs, now based in Los Angeles, and the television actress Deborah Grant. Deborah was one of the first pupils at Fielding, and found her love of acting while taking part in the school's drama productions. She went on appear in many hit TV shows, including Bergerac, Bouquet of Barbed Wire, Peak Practice and Casualty.

 

�School plays were always the very best part of school for me,� she says.

 

�Later in life I got to know several teachers who had frightened the life out of me when I was at school, and of course they turned out to be delightful.

 

�After I left home, my tortoise Jimmy spent many years as the school tortoise, with �Fielding' painted on his shell, as he was prone to wander.

 

�Those were happy days, and I remember school friends fondly. It would be a shock to see them now we are all so old!�

During the anniversary week, former pupils will be able to look around their old school to see how it has changed over the past half century.

 

The celebrations will include a picnic and the opening of an anniversary garden at the school on Friday 8 July.   Past and present pupils will bury a time capsule, reflecting the history of the school and its life today. The school's head teacher, Mrs Annette Reeves, says there has already been considerable interest in the reunion.

 

�We believe many former pupils are still living in the area,� she says.

 

�They know this is our fiftieth year. They want to see the school again and meet up with old friends.�  

 

Among those planning to attend the reunion are a number of pupils who were at the school in the 1950s.

 

Many still have their old black-and-white class photos. They show neat lines of boys and girls, all smartly turned out, smiling for the camera. Those first pupils are now approaching retirement age, but many still have vivid memories of their time at Fielding.

 

Gina Jolliffe, who now lives in Devon, has written to the school to express her appreciation for the education she received.

 

�I loved Fielding,� she says.

 

�Coming from a non-academic family, the school gave me a tremendous start in life. It gave me a vision of how far I could go, through the medium of education, which was the main way for working class kids to improve their lot. 

 

�I found it a wonderful place to be. It spelled out all that was exciting about the future in the 1950s.�

 

The school cost almost £75,000 to build � a lot of money back then - and the children were warned by their headmistress to treat the new building carefully!

 

Britain was emerging from years of austerity, following the Second World War. It was a time of social and cultural change.

 

One of the first pupils, Barry Cole, recalls the annoyance of his class teacher over his enthusiasm for a new style of music just becoming popular.

 

�I was told off for tapping my feet in class,� he says.

 

�I had listened to Rock Around the Clock on the radio before leaving for school and the tune was still going around my head.� 

 

Bill Haley's landmark recording became a huge hit in 1955. Along with a whole generation, Barry Cole was hooked.

 

Fielding is hoping to see many of its former pupils during the anniversary celebrations, regardless of when they were at the school.

 

The head teacher, Mrs Reeves, says it will be an opportunity for former pupils to see the life of the school today, and tell their stories to the present generation of pupils.

 

�We are very keen that the children know their heritage and that Fielding celebrates the things it does best,� she says.   �But while we remember the past, we are also looking forward to the future. We want to show how the school is preparing for the challenge of educating further generations of children.�

 

Any former pupils who want to join the Fielding celebrations are invited to contact the school.

 

Write to:

 

Fielding 50

Fielding Primary School

Wyndham Road

Ealing

London W13 9TE    

 

Phone: 020 8579 6185

Email: fielding50@hotmail.co.uk

 

May 23rd 2005