A Year in England - School Days (1)

THERE WAS NO WAY TO ADEQUATELY PREPARE for the change of culture between a mission school in the African bush and a government school in metropolitan London. On that first school day in January 1962 I rode my bike across Eastern Avenue (picture) and Main Road to my new school in my new blue and gold uniform blazer, tie, and cap, for my year in Form 1C at Royal Liberty Grammar School. I was in a class of about thirty other boys (it was a boys school) among whom were two named Copsey and Binks. They would prove to be the class clowns. Only last names were used both by the masters (teachers) and the students so I never got to know some of my classmates’ first names.

Discipline was not a hallmark of this otherwise prestigious school. When I sat down at my desk that first morning I could hardly find a spot on the wood lid that was not engraved with a swear word (the meanings of which I was yet to learn), a girlfriend’s name or a design engraved by the sharp point of a geometry compass filled in with ink with a dip pen. Writing on such a surface was quite a challenge.

When lunchtime came we all crowded into the assembly hall for a cooked lunch that cost my parents one shilling a day. The head boy, a position of honor and recognition, would first say grace, the same every day - “For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful” – and then we would dig in. I cleaned my plate as I had been taught (mandated) at Sakeji and took my dirty plate and utensils to the designated area. I was astounded by how much food was thrown away by my fellow students into the bucket next to the dirty plates, and commented on it to some of them.

Among my classes was Music taught by none other than Mr. Alan Sharp who the students referred to as B. Flat. He had least control of any of the masters over my unruly classmates and we learned little. (My first grade teacher at Sakeji, dear old Miss Lucy Traise from Australia, had years before robbed me of any enjoyment of music I might have. She had the class of six-year olds sing the scale (do ray me fah…) and selected from the group those who sang off key and then had us all stand up front as she announced our deficiency to the rest of the class.). Back to Royal Liberty…one day some of the students, the usual culprits, got so out of hand that Mr. Sharp punished the whole class by assigning us all to write a two page essay on ‘The Evil of Drink’. I hated writing essays so this was the worst form of punishment for me. I went home and told my Dad that Copsey, Binks and others (not me!) had been misbehaving in class and now we all had to write an essay. Dad shook his head as he tut…tutted about the lack of discipline at the school as he often did because he had heard about its reputation from others than me, took pity on me, and dictated an essay for me.

Two classmates who would become my friends were Cope, B.A. and Michel, J. Cope was a short round fellow with whom I would ride to school. He family were Salvation Army so I found a spiritual ally in an otherwise nominal environment. Our friendship was somewhat tested one day later in the year in Physical Training (Gym) class. Our PT teacher, an older gentleman, had been a championship boxer and felt we should learn to box so showed us the moves and then paired us up to box each other. He paired us by weight. Cope and I were similar in weight but he was about six inches shorter than me. How could two friends be expected to fight each other? I clearly had the advantage with my height and reach and Cope pleaded with me to be gentle on him. The dreaded day came for our match and an Ali – Frazier contest it was not. I think we both were graded with a ‘D’ and neither I nor my parents were unhappy.

Michel was far from athletic; today he would probably be called a nerd. He was the target of a lot of teasing from the other boys that caused me to have a soft spot for him. He was from a Roman Catholic family and we would occasionally talk about spiritual things, contrasting his church life with mine. I don’t remember much of our conversations but do recall that we spent a lot of time together wandering the halls during breaks.

(c) 2008 roy kruse