I received a comment about Miss Kenderdine's School. Miss Kenderdine's was the first school I attended. To this day, I am a firm believer in Montessori education. I was a pupil there from the time I was 2 1/2 until I was almost 6. I remember my mother having me read articles from the newspaper to her when I was 5. This is not at all uncommon for a Montessori-educated child. They teach Arithmetic using an abacus, with the result that students have little or no trouble dealing with large numbers involving multiple commas. Later, at public school in Canada, I never could understand why most of the students had difficulty with big numbers.
Thank you, Miss Kenderdine!
It was a small school in a suburban house. Miss Kenderdine ran a pretty tight ship. Pencil crayons had to be too small to hold before a new one would be issued. Paper had to be used on both sides. And good behaviour was expected at all times.
There were three degrees of punishment. If you were one degree bad, you had to sit on her knee, up in front of the whole class. The second degree sent you to the top of the stairs, to contemplate your sins in private. The third degree involved being sent to bed in the spare room. That was the ultimate humiliation!
I recall being set uncomfortably on her lap a time or two, and once--only once, mind you--I was sent to the Top Step. It happened after school one day. We were all gathering our coats and hats, and for some irrepressible reason, I flung myself on my best friend in an excess of enthusiasm at being released from the halls of learning. Next thing I heard was the dreaded command: "Veronica! Top Step!"
Morosely, I made my way up the stairs and sat down. Time tiptoed by, as I heard preparations for tea. It must have been winter, because twilight was turning the staircase into a spooky tunnel when I heard the phone ring. "No, Mrs. Dobell, she left with the other children." She made arrangements to walk toward my house while my mother walked down to meet her. At that point, I realized I had been totally forgotten on the Top Step, so I went down, trembling. She was very surprised to see me.
It must have been a hell of a day!
Edited to add: David, if you were there in Earlsdon, did you happen to notice if those semi-detached houses are still there up Mickleton Road?
Your house is still there and appears from the outside, to be little altered.
ReplyDeleteThe porch over the front door is intact, as is the adjacent small window complete with the original stained glass. The are two narrow windows on the side wall, possibly for an inside stairwell ?, that again have the original stained glass. The drive between the two houses leads to a garden and a wooden garage/shed. The only visible alteration is to the ground floor and first floor bay windows, at the front of the house, they are now double-glazed with clear glass throughout.