Alice is
only a few months away from finishing her Certificate of
Teaching, however
she has been very busy and pressured with work and her ongoing course demands.
In a
letter to her mother dated 30th March 1958, Alice mentions how she was
given a complimentary ticket to go with another student to watch the St. Albans
Grammar School Dance Demonstration on Friday 28th, a programme
featuring mainly National Dances It was a really excellent experience for her,
although it was a long day as she had a school visit at Wellingborough High
School in the morning, followed by an inter-year games tournament in the
afternoon and late leave at night.
Then, the
very next day, Saturday 29th March, she watched The Lark written by the French playwright Jean Anouilh and performed
by the Bedford College of Physical Education Dramatic Society, which took place
in the college gymnasium. Alice tells her mother what an excellent play it was
and how superbly it was acted. She speaks with respect and admiration about her
fellow student Eileen who played Joan of Arc in the play and how the whole
thing was exceptionally good because of her.
With
Alice writing this letter to her mother in the evening, mentioning that she
will be on duty tonight, we get the opportunity to find out about student life living
in halls, or Houses as they were called then. Students had a rota for their
house duties. One student was on duty each week from Friday until Thursday
throughout the term. The student had to lock up at 11pm during the week and at
9:30pm on Sundays. Then she had to check that all students were in their rooms.
If a student was not in the house, the student had to report it to the lecturer
on duty. Finally, she had to make sure that public rooms were tidy and lights
were off.
The rules
do not stop there. If a student wanted to leave the College grounds in the evening,
then she had to sign the leave house book. There were two of these, one for
evening leave and another one for after 11pm or weekends. When a student had leave
during half term or weekends then she had to provide information such as name, address
and telephone number of her hostess to the member of staff in her house.
Returning
to the letter, Alice explained to her mother that mock final exams were to take
place at the beginning of April, only a few days away, although nobody had
started revising yet, and she reckoned it would not be until the morning before
the afternoon of the exam.
This letter
to her mother gets really exciting when we find out that Alice’s efforts in looking
for a job during the last two months have paid off. Alice has found a job as a
PE teacher at Heriots Wood Grammar School for Girls, now known as Bentley Wood
High School, in Harrow, north-west London.
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| St. Albans Grammar School for Girls Festival of Dance Programme, March 1958 |
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| Programme for 'The Lark', March 1958 |
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