She is called Winifred Pilling and she is 86 years old She was born in the year 1919 in Stacksteads She still lives in Stacksteads and has done all her life I interviewed her about the years of her school days and her childhood By Jenny Pilling 9B

1. Were the teachers strict and how often did they use the cane? If you were late you got the cane but otherwise they didn’t use it very much. When they did use the cane you were made to hold your hand out and they would smack it very hard. I don’t remember the teachers being too strict because you did what you were told so they didn’t shout very much.

2. What did you do at dinner time, did you have to go home or could you stay at school? No you had to go home even if you lived quite far away like me. There wasn’t even room for you to eat your own if you brought it. There were no school dinners either. I would sometimes be late and get the cane then because I didn’t live that close but some of the others lived just up the road so it was alright for them.

3. In your lessons what did you use to write with? Well I used to write with pencil and paper but as I got older I remember others filling up ink well so I used some sort of pen nib with something on the end for you to hold it with but not like a fountain pen.

4. Did you have break times in between lessons if so how long were they? Yes they were maybe about half an hour long. We girls would play netball at break times and the boys would be kicking a football around. We were also made to go to the toilet before we went out to play because the teachers did not like us going in lesson

5. How long was a school day and did you enjoy going to school? Well we started school at 9 o’clock and finished at 4 o’clock I think. Yes I did enjoy school but things have improved for schools today to make them more enjoyable

6. What subjects did you do at school? Which were your most and least favourite? The subjects I can remember doing are religion, we spent a lot of time learning about the catholic faith. Other subjects we did were what they called the three ‘‘R’s’’-reading, writing and arithmetic. We also learnt how to sew and knit. When I got older we walked to a different school to do cooking lessons. The council school which we went to had the facilities to cook unlike ours. The cooking classes we had were my favourite, we had to wear a big white apron. I didn’t really dislike any of the subjects I was taught.

7. What were your hobbies as a child and what did you like to do in your spare time? I liked to dance and twirl around as if I was a ballet dancer. I liked to play the piano but I didn’t have one. My aunty had one in her house and I liked to play it very much. We always played netball as well, me and my friends.

8. What did you like to do with your friends at the weekend or after school? I used to like playing with a top and whip but boys played with them more than girls. I also like making mud pies and playing shops selling them.

9. Did you have a weekend job while you were a young teenager? No there were no jobs for teenagers while I was still at school. I left school at 14 and went for a job in the slipper works, I would put the socks in the slippers, it was called socking. I got less then a pound for a full week for that about. I did that for a while and then went onto a machine sewing the slipper material.