The following is an extract from the story of Shoreham Grammar School, an independent boys school in West Sussex as remembered by P J Stannard.

It has been said that one's first impressions of a place or a person are the most lasting ones, and certainly my first impressions of Shoreham Grammar School are very vivid in my memory.

My mother saw me on the train at Victoria and Mr. Wills was there to see that I survived the train journey. My first view of the school was from Western Road and then turning left into Pond Road.

I was then taken through the corridor and up to my dormitory (3 dorm) where I met two of the matrons, Miss Watts and Miss Mason. Tea was ready at five o'clock and being a 'small-boy' I would normally have had to wait in my form room, but on this occasion together with one other new boy (D. Bradley) I was led straight into the dining room to my place on table 4 next to the matron.

As was tradition at Shoreham, after tea we all assembled in Northover for the collection of bank, pocket money, health certificates and parents notes. My pocket money in those days was one shilling (5p). After this we had a few minutes on our own before the small boys had supper, which was cold sausages, and then to bed.

I remember it was difficult to get to sleep because so much had happened to me in one day with all the excitement of starting a new school. Another reason why I could not sleep, it was Tuesday night, bell-ringing night for the ringers of St. Mary's.

The following morning we rose at 7.30 a.m., washed, dressed and went downstairs to play until breakfast was ready. In those days maids were employed at the school to make the small boys' beds so that was one chore that we did not have to do.

I believe that a few terms later the staff shortage was such that boys had to make their own beds. I well remember our matron showing me how to make a bed and almost giving up in despair at my efforts.

Being only eight years old, I was put into the first form under the care of Miss K. Brady. I remember Miss Brady for several reasons. I believe that she was in charge of the Red List (detention), although this was one of the many jobs that Mr. Wills did as well, the stationary cupboard and something that was well known to all first formers, her 'Spelling Test' with its many forfeits.

These ranged from standing to kneeling on the desk and then in the waste-paper bin, after which a more severe fate awaited you, that of being caned on the hand by her ruler. Her system did not teach one to spell, but did make not being able spell to a painful business!

Miss Brady had one other job as far as we were concerned, - she made certain that we wrote to our parents once a week and she censored our letters for spelling mistakes and typical schoolboy complaints about the food and school in general.

Miss Brady did most of the Form 1 teaching except for music, which Mr. Marsh taught and Religious Knowledge, which was taught by Rev. Kennedy. The latter will I am sure be remembered by us all for his kindly forbearance of our mischievous pranks and also because if one was ill one could rely on a visit from him.

Discipline at the school when I first went there was firm but fair, and the usual form of punishment was 'tables'. Was this why we were so good at arithmetic? I received my first imposition on my first Sunday morning, it was from the Headmaster and was two tables.

The imposition was an 'all rounder' because the dormitory was making a lot of noise before 7.45 a.m. on the Sunday morning. Despite this I would like to pay a tribute to the Headmaster as in my experience it is a comparatively rare thing to find a Headmaster who is extremely fair in dealing with youthful misdemeanours.

I do not believe that there is a single Old Shorehamer that could claim that he had ever been unfairly dealt with when he had been sent to Mr. Bruder to be punished. Mind you that did not stop it hurting when one was caned.

Sundays at Shoreham consisted of the same routine: 8.30 Breakfast, 9.25 Chapel, 11.00-12.00 Silence period (letter writing), 12.40 Dinner, 1.30 Silence period, 2.30 Sunday walk, 5.00 Tea, 7.00 Small boys supper and 7.30 Bed.

We did not in those days have a lot of activities with which to amuse ourselves (there was hardly any television) but I do remember that there were table tennis tables set up in the larger class-rooms and Mr. Wills lent out games such as Monopoly.

In the Winter Term on Sundays one of the highlights was listening on Miss Fox's radio (she was a new matron) to 'Journey into Space'. A few years later we were lucky in having Mr. Green come to the School to show us films.

With the emphasis on self-amusement various clubs and societies were formed. One of the most popular was the Boxing Club. This was run by Mr. Mitchell, who in his younger days had been quite a celebrity as a boxer, it used to meet in the gymnasium on Saturday nights.

The highlight of the Club's activities was the boxing tournament held at the end of the Winter Term. As a small boy I can remember being fascinated by the blindfold match with Mr. Mitchell weaving in and out of the contestants and gently provoking them with a pair of boxing gloves but always managing never to get hit himself.

Two newspapers run by the boys were started during my ten years. The first was begun by some of us when we were in 5 dorm (10 - 11 year olds). It was handwritten and people who read the single copy were asked to pay a small sum. I was sacked from the paper by the editor for drawing an irreverent cartoon of Colonel Nasser.

The second newspaper called 'The Outlook' was published for the first time in March 1963 and was edited by S. Romaine. This was a far more professional affair. The school duplicator was used to run off many copies and eventually it became financially self-sufficient and paid for all its own materials.

Mr. C.H. Curtis founded the Swimming Club and during the winter months the boys used to go to the Heene Road Baths, Worthing. In the summer the whole school would go down to the beach in the evening for a swim. Many of us can well remember the meaning of the whistle signals that were used to control us.

The Model Aeroplane Club was a very active one, too, with boys building their own planes and then flying them in the playground or in the sports field in the summer. Many planes were built with engines. A large crowd would gather in the playground to watch them fly, perhaps with the hope of being on hand to see a major crash landing.

One society that stands out in my mind more than any of the others is the History Group, which later became the Sussex Group. This was the brainchild of Mr. Wright and the group must have visited almost all the most famous historical places in Sussex.

The Cadet corps paraded in the playground and this was looked after by the Headmaster and various members of staff. The activities of the corps included preparation for the Cert A parts 1 and 2. Manoeuvres were held both day and night and the highlight was undoubtedly the summer camp.

At the end of the Christmas Term a play was always performed. These plays have remained in my mind for two reasons, one the high standard of production that was always achieved and secondly the sense of corporate enjoyment that was felt by the audience and given by the performers and stage crew.

In the ten years that I was at Shoreham ten plays were presented eight of which were produced by Mr. J.L.Wright and two by Mr. P. Thomas, I was privileged to take part in four of them, all produced by Mr. Wright, and I am sure a lot of other Old Boys will remember the production of 'The Government Inspector'. I believe that Mr. R. W. Kirkman found it so funny that he attended every performance.

These school plays undoubtedly had an educational value in teaching boys to speak properly. I remember Mr. Wright sitting at the back of the hall saying, 'I can't hear you'? This I believe was the reason why when the Shoreham Rotary Club introduced a public speaking competition our team (coached by Mr. Wright) were the joint winners.