Dear Sir -
Here are some questions that have been received (and answered) on this website page when first opened in Autumn 2001

Q1

 What was it like at St John's during the war?
A1 ......Since St John's School was built in 1845 there have unfortunately been a number of wars. The two wars that affected St John's the most were World War One (WW1) from 1914 to 1918, and World War Two (WW2) from 1939 to 1945. During WW1 there were very few direct attacks on this country, whereas during WW2 there were many bombing raids made by German aircraft in its early years and attacks by flying bombs in its later years. One thing that both wars had in common was the fear of invasion. During WW2 many of the signposts in Britain were taken down so that if an enemy did land then they would not find it easy to know where roads went. On the top of Redhill Common there's a monument with a plaque on it with arrows pointing to various places. Even this plaque was removed so it would be of no help to an enemy. You can see that people thought that the Germans might even reach Redhill Common on their way towards London. Of course, they never did.
......St John's School had its own air raid shelters; one for the infants, one for the girls and one for the boys. The entrances are still there although tightly sealed now. There's a great deal more to be told about the war and how St John's was affected, for example schools from London were evacuated and all their children came to St John's making it very crowded. Food and clothes were rationed because they were in short supply. There were no street lights at night. In the winter school sometimes closed early because it could not have the lights on in the dark (St John's has no curtains to stop the lights being seen by enemy aircraft). If I put everything down here this reply will be far too long, so what I've done is to create a new page on this website called 'St John's in WW2', and in it there will be much more information. Some information is there now but it won't all get put in straight away, it will build up over time.
......AJM
Q2 Did you really write on slates at school when you were there? What did the school look like inside and were the classrooms like ours now? Did you have assembly every day? If you were at the school during the second world war, how many times did you have to go into the air raid shelters?
A2 Slates were used for a number of years in the 19th century but had ceased to be used when I went there in 1943. They were set into wooden frames and came in two sizes. The pencil was attached by a string and hard enough to write on the slate but not so hard as to mark it too much. Things were very strict in the old days and children had to be very precise in their writing. As you can probably imagine, slates were not very practical as they could break if dropped, would eventually become very marked, and were heavy. Also they were the equivalent of only one page so had limited space and were no good for writing something down you wanted to keep.
Classrooms must have changed enormously over the years. In 1910 the school was rebuilt and today's classrooms are much the same now as they were then but before that date there was a different building on the site. As far as I know there are no pictures of the classrooms in that building must they were lit only by gas lamps that did not give enough light to read by when it got dark on winter afternoons. In cloakrooms there were no lights at all so the children had to collect their coats before in got too dark to find them. A picture of the old building is at the bottom of the home page on this site.
Assemblies were very much like today with the children being brought together regularly, but whether they were always every day is not known. The school we have today was originally built with no dividing screens in the hall, these were added later because sometimes three classes were being taught in them all at once, not a good idea because of the noise of one class disturbing another. In the present school building the screen between the stage and the TV room is sometimes moved back but the one blocking the year 6 classroom from the hall is always closed so perhaps many children have never realised that it was once a movable screen at all. In the lower building they have since been removed.
Air raid shelters were used a great deal by St John's children, especially in 1940-41 when the bombing was at its height. They were damp and ill-lit and not good places to be in for a long time. The children went into them when the sirens sounded the alert (an up and down sound of the sirens) and they lost a lot of their lesson time. Sometimes they had to remain in them after going home time if the all clear (a steady siren note) had not sounded by then. There is a separate page dealing with St Johns in WW2. This has not got a great deal on it at the moment but I will put more about the air raids and the shelters soon. AJM
Q4 Dear Mr Moore.  Were you a boy at St johns? if you were what was your favourite subject? What was your worst?
A4 ......Yes, I was a boy at St John's. I was there from 1943 (the war was still on) to 1950, which seems a long time ago. I clearly remember my first day there. My mother left me at the gates in a state of total distress - mine not hers - and I spent some time sat outside the front door of the school with five or six like-minded other first-day children howling my eyes out. The sun was shining and we made a little wailing row (read the word either way) on a long, low bench. That's where the memory ends. I must have eventually been enticed into the building but what happened inside I don't know. Eventually we were let out - to play I afterwards found out - but I went home. Mum brought me back and it was explained that I was supposed to stay in the playground and return to lessons until dinnertime. After dinner there was more play and more lessons. I was appalled. This meant I had to stay at that place ALL DAY! Anyway, I understood the procedure. The next day I went back to school. I didn't cry this time but went into lessons. We were let out to morning play and I went home. After that I had a little chaperone, a girl who held my hand all playtime so I didn't do a runner. I've no idea who she was but she probably hated the arrangement as much as I did. How long were joined at the hands during playtimes I don't remember, but I must have eventually conformed to the system and gained my freedom - at playtimes at least.
.......I spent my years in the infants and then went to the lower building where the boys' school was. What is now the gym was divided by those big movable screens into three classrooms. What is now part of the nursery was the headmaster's office. I still feel nervous about that room because that's where we used to get the cane for misbehaviour.
  .Strangely I can't remember much about any of the lessons. I suppose my best subject was sports. I ran for the school in the 100 and 220 yards sprints at all the Borough Sports, which used to be held at the Redhill Sports Ground. I don't think they hold them now. I also played in the football team. I was quite good at maths and English, although h I hated maths once it got beyond ordinary arithmetic. My worst subject? Probably history, which is strange because now I am very interested in that subject.

Don't laugh but this is me when I was at St John's.

Q5

 Is there anyone famous who went to St Johns School?
A5

. ...Many years ago a special day called Empire Day was celebrated annually. Many of the local schools assembled on the common by Mill Street and were addressed by the Mayor of the Borough of Reigate. Charlie Pearce was a pupil at St John's and would have gone to the Empire celebrations on the common and with all the other children listened to the Mayor. What he could not have dreamed of then (or perhaps he did) was becoming Mayor of Reigate himself one day, something he achieved when he became the 50th Mayor in 1971-72.
...HHe was not the only pupil of St John's to become Mayor of Reigate, however, nor was he the first to do so. A Mr Bagaley was Mayor 1904 - 1906. As a boy he had also gone to St John's from and was there from about 1864 to 1868. Mayor
.. ...Fleur Adcock OBE, a prominent poet of our time, had been a pupil at St John's during WW2. She had fond memories of her old school and wanted to make a return visit. She had returned in the 1970s when school was closed, had peered through the railings and, following this visit, had written and published a poem about the School. Fleur Adcock came again to St John's (this time as an invited guest when it was open) on November 16th, 2000. She was able to look around the school, talk to parents and staff and take a special assembly. It was a very memorable day for all concerned.
.........AAnother ex-pupil who received fame was Arthur Knight. He won the VC for bravery in WW1 but was killed before he received it. As a boy he had lived at Meadvale.
...

In the above picture of the St John's football team Charlie Pearce is second
from left in the front row

Above: - Fleur Adcock admiring year 6 children's work with the then class teacher Mrs Tompkin

Q6

 What were your teachers like? Did you ever get any homework? What were your schooldays like? Where did you live and was it near the school? Did you leave at one point to go to senior school, or did you stay at St. John's all the way through until you left to start work? What was the local area like at that time? How does the school today compare to the school in your day? Why have you remained so interested in St. John's School?

A6

 Where did I live, and was it near the school? I lived in Upper Bridge Road, Redhill and so had a walk over the top common to school and back each day. We were were not very often met so we walked either alone or with other boys or girls. A friend, a girl, lived in Ridgeway Road so I often used to walk to with her. Sometimes my Dad would take me to school on the crossbar of his bike. He was a fireman at Redhill fire station and work 24hr shifts so could only do this every other day. After school I ran all over the common and local area with other boys and often didn't get home until gone 6pm. Things were much freer and easier in those days. Of course this is a very brief indication of what it was like at St John's. I have put more information in a new page on this site called 'Memories'.
What were my schooldays like? You will see in 'Memories' that I say I can't remember them all that well, but one thing I'm sure about, they were good days and I wouldn't mind having them all over again. Anyway, do see 'Memories', which contains only those reminiscences of my own.
....My teachers in the infants' School were all ladies. Miss Pickup, Miss Agate and others. The Headmistress of the Infants' was Miss Faulkner. I think I was in awe of them and probably obeyed them a great deal more than I did my own mother.
....After the Infants' I went to the Boys' School, which was in the lower building. This had its own Headmaster, Mr Bennett, who had a secretary called Miss Willet. They shared an office just inside the front door of the lower building, an area now part of the nursery. A picture of the teachers who were at the Boys School appears on another page.
Did I stay at St John's? Boys and girls used to stay at St John's until they were 14 but by my time this had been changed and they went on to a Secondary school. I went to Cromwell Road from 1950-52 then to the Junior Technical School in Redhill 1952-55.
Homework? Do you know, I can't remember ever having any.		  
How does the School compare to today's School? The main differences that spring immediately to mind are that - The Infants', Boys' and Girls Schools were separate, each with its own Head. - All the children's toilets were outside - Punishment included the cane (Ouch!) - We were allowed outside the gates at lunchtimes. - We sat in rows of desks that all faced the same way - There were no carpets on the floors - Blackboards on easels were used by the teachers - Free milk was issued to the children to drink every day
What was the local area like? On the south side of the School, where the houses are now, was a laundry. This was in operation every day with doors open to let the heat out and children would peer in at lunchtimes and talk to the ladies who worked there. On the other side of Fountain Road there were some shops where children could go to buy sweets. I used to get four Oxos for a penny (1d in those pre-decimalisation days) and eat them. There are now houses where the shops were.
Why have I remained so interested in St John's? When I retired my sister-in-law had two children at St John's and was involved with helping there from time to time. She knew people were needed to listen to children read and asked if I would like to do this. I said 'yes' and from there sprang my association with the school. I was later asked if I would like to be a governor and said yes again. Because local history is a great interest of mine I have become involved in researching the School's own history and in this web page. One thing has led to another. The fact that I also went to the school makes it all the more interesting.
Q7 Has the school ever had its own food cooked on site, and when did this stop ?  

A7

 Up to 2004, as far as I know, no school dinners have ever been cooked at St John's, they've always been brought in from central kitchens. At one time they came from kitchens at Colesmead, Redhill, but there were other kitchens at Reigate. More recently they came from St Matthew's School in Redhill where dinners for both schools were prepared.
....Up to 1941 children had always gone home for dinner, Because of this the day was considered in two parts and the registers marked twice, once first thing in the morning and again when children returned in the afternoon. In 1941 the School was run by Reigate Borough Council, not Surrey County Council as it is now, and a group of people from the Borough Education Committee, as well as some Borough Councillors, school managers and the Borough Surveyor came to consider plans to start a canteen for which 330 children had already been nominated to receive school dinners. This is the first mention in records of dinners at St John's but it is not known exactly when dinners were begun.
....The next mention of dinners is in 1944 when the school records tell us that in June there were some very long air raid alerts that lasted most of the night and into the morning, so few children attended school, and on June 19th the nine infants present out of 197 had their dinners served in the air raid shelters.
...It looks at this point as though it was just the infants who were having dinners, for meals for the older girls and boys began on September 18th of 1944, food coming from Reigate at first and not from the central kitchen at Colesmead where, presumably, the infant's meals came from. The other big difference was that they did not have their meals at school as you do now but went to St John's Hall for them. This was the hall at the top of the Brighton Road where Pendleton Road meets it.
...Here I have to revert to what I remember about school dinners when I was there. I was in the infants from about 1943 to 1946 and remember having dinners in the Girls Hall, which is the big hall where assemblies are held. The dividing wall between the hall and year 6 classroom is actually a sliding screen. I don't think it's been moved for years but used to be drawn back because the hot plates were inside it and were revealed when the screen was folded back. This is verified by an entry in the school logs where the heating failed in winter and children took turns to go into that classroom and get warm by the hotplates, which were turned on specially. The tables for dinner were set up in the hall and the meals served from the hot plates, the dinner ladies standing behind them facing into the hall. I used to enjoy schools dinners. I was particularly fond of school custard, which tased different from home custard.
...When I was in the Boys' School (the 'Big Boys' we used to call it) we used to have dinners at St John's parochial hall. I remember walking in columns down to the hall. Crossing the main road was a lot easier then because there was not so much traffic, which the teachers could easily stop. After dinner we walked back the same way. What I cannot remember is what happened if it poured with rain. I suppose we either got wet or went without dinner.
Q8 Did you ever have the cane and, if you did, where on your body was it? How many times did you get the cane and do you think it was a good idea for children to have it?

A8

 ......On the website there's a new page call ed 'Memories' and in there I describe having the cane. I think we had one stroke on each hand for one offence. I was certainly adjudged guilty of more than one offence because I had to make the trip to Mr Bennett's office a number of times. This doesn't mean that I was a bad boy, just ordinary, really. And my offences were not terrible ones, they were talking in class when I shouldn't have done, and things like that.
......Sometimes I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. One day I was walking home up Pendleton Road with another boy and three other boys were misbehaving behind us but we were not with them. Miss Willett, the Headmaster's secretary, also on her way home, saw them and reported all our names to the Headmaster the next day. All of us got the cane, me and my friend included, although we had had nothing to do with the incident.
......I can't say that it was a good idea to cane children. For many years it was thought necessary to do so for the sake of maintaining discipline and upholding authority, but these objectives are achieved today at St John's without caning. It didn't do me any harm, however.
......I do know that the cane hurt a lot but it was bearable and the pain went away. Some boys hated getting the cane so much they couldn't hold their hands out and the Head used to have to force them to do so. One used to break down into floods of tears at the thought of getting it, but he still did things he shouldn't have and got caned. It seems, therefore, that the cane was not the deterrent it was intended to be but more a firm indication that you had not obeyed the rules. If I told my father I'd had the cane he'd first want to know what for and then probably give me another good hiding for being badly behaved at school. Which is why I never told him.
......When I was at school the cane was given only for misbehaviour in school time or very close to school time. Years ago boys were caned if they were seen smoking on a Saturday or Sunday. This was when boys and girls stayed at St John's until they were fourteen.

Q9

 Did you have to do lessons in the air raid shelters. And did you used to have school dinners and packed lunches. If you did you have to pay for the school dinners?

A9

 ......As far as I'm aware we did not have to pay for school dinners. I'm told they cost 1s 9d per week in old money; that's about 9p a week in today's money. I had dinners all the time I was at St John's, both when I was in the infants and in the Boys' School. I don't remember ever having packed lunches.
......Yes we did have lessons in the air raid shelters. We had reading, and although the light wasn't very good down there we used to take books and sometimes did some writing, although I can't remember whether we were doing English or arithmetic. Sometimes on fine days in the summer when there were no air raid alerts the whole class would take chairs into the playground and have lessons out there in the sunshine.
......The older boys did art in their air raid shelter. They decorated the walls with colourful paintings of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Robinson Crusoe, Regin the Dwarf, Robin Hood and many other story-book characters. Two other walls were reserved for Treasure Island and Pilgrims Progress. The news of the paintings spread and they were filmed in July 1941 by Pathe News (a news programme like today's television news except that that was shown between films at the cinema in those days).

Q
10

 Who made our School?

A
10

 This is a short question with two answers - a short one and a long one. The short one is that local people made our Church and our school. They were people interested in local affairs and the welfare of the community and the education of its children. The lord of the Manor, Lord Somers, who lived at Reigate Priory, gave money and land. Mr and Mrs Price gave money at different times and it is probably them that Prices Lane at South Park is named after, because they had a farm where many of the shops and houses at the Angel now stand. A Mr Hesketh who used to live near the Ambulance Station was another such man. And there were many more. Over the years they raised money and employed architects and builders to put up the buildings, and to enlarge them when they got too small. A Mr Bagaley of Meadvale was one such builder.
The reason that there is also a long answer is because there have been three different buildings. I'm therefore going to give the long answer in three parts; part one about the original School; part two about the lower building we see today; and part three about the upper building that your classroom is in. Because it is too long to put here (there are pictures too) I have made a new page on the website for you to see called 'How our School was made'.