Julie Buckingham -Teaching assistant Stubbin Wood

I have worked at Stubbin Wood for more than twenty six years and I still enjoy coming here it is a great school. When I first came here the school had a lot more pupils and classes were much bigger. Now the classes are smaller and this makes them better for teachers and pupils.

As I come to work each day I pass the roses at the school entrance and they really look lovely. They are a great welcome to everyone who comes here. When the school moves to the new site I would love to take them with me. The real welcome though is the people who come to school here. When you arrive here everyone is so friendly and if you are a new student it does help you feel happy to be here. The only thing I don’t like at Stubbin Wood is having to do yard duties when it is cold but that is the same at any school.

I remember my own school days especially the school discos. I was into the New Romantics bands. For those of you who aren’t old enough to know what I mean they were bands like Spandau ballet and the Human League. I would go to discos wearing blouses with big frills on and shorts. I looked really trendy. Lessons were mostly the same as now with the odd  exception. I did Typing and office skills as girls were expected to go into working in an offices but not in charge, only typing and doing office work. We also did a lesson called childcare and I got a CSE certificate in that.

The teacher I liked most at school was Mr Johnson. He was my form teacher and he helped us all such a lot. We did have nick names for some of the teachers but I can’t tell you them because they are a bit rude, sorry.

When I was younger and at primary school I had loads of fun. We had no computers or play stations and we had to play games outside with our friends. We played hide and seek, hopscotch and went on bike rides. We had two other games that no one seems to play anymore. They were cats Cradle and Snobs. Cats cradle was where you had a piece of string in a big loop and you had to twist it round your fingers to make elaborate patterns, it was hard to do. Snobs was a game where we had four or five square stones and you had to throw them up in the air from the back of your hand, pick up another stone from the ground and then catch them all in your hand again. It took quick reflexes to catch them all. Best of all were skipping games and we all joined in them. Although they sound a bit old fashioned I think that the games we played help us play together. We did lots of things together like going swimming and going to the pictures. I wouldn’t like to sit and play on a computer it looks a bit lonely to me but things have changed now and kids do different things to us.

If aliens landed at Stubbin Wood then  I would take them to see Mrs Briggs Chickens. There are two females and one male. I wonder what the chickens would make of seeing chickens in the school.