The class of ’42 are holding their 70th anniversary reunion in Sheffield in early September 2012. If interested in attending, please contact Ken Stringfellow on: 0114 230 4063 or email him at: casyhes@hotmail.co.uk for further details.
” If you started the great adventure of a Firth Park Granmmar School education in September 1942, then please make contact AND COME AND CELEBRATE “.
Steve
The official launch of the book: ‘Headlong into Pennilessness‘ by an ex-puipl of FPGS – Michael Glover, will take place at 18h00 on 30 April 2012 at the Sheffield City Hall. This date is the 47th anniversary of the first concert that the young Bob Dylan ever gave in Sheffield.
A chapter of Michael’s book is devoted to that and other great Sheffield City Hall concerts of the 1960s. All old Firparnians (and others) are welcome to attend the launch.
An excellent short mini-series of two programmes has just started on BBC4 TV in the UK:
“The Grammar School: a Secret History (BBC Four) was only secret insofar as it asked lots of people who might not have been asked before what going to grammar school was like. In other words, solid, oral testimony where someone has taken the time to ask the right question to the right people, rather than spending 20 minutes in front of Google. As a result it cut through much of the romanticised poppycock that is spoken about grammar schools as part of the never-ending education debate (one that grammar schools helped create).
This was the first of two hour-long parts and it made stately progress from discussion of the initial ideal – giving the very best education to Britain’s brightest children, however humble their background – to the more mottled reality. There was the good (grammar schools imbued loyalty, pride, courage and excellence; five consecutive prime ministers can’t be wrong) and there was the not so good (the 11+ left many children haunted: “I have no recollections of which questions I got right but I have forever of the ones I got wrong,” said one woman). And, as the film rightly showed, many children who didn’t get into grammar school did just fine, too.
Episode one took us to the beginning of the Sixties. We now await the crowning irony of what came next – the phasing out the grammar school system at the height of its power by the very people it benefited the most.”
Part one can still be viewed on the BBC iPlayer with Part 2 being shown on BBC next Thursday 12 January 2012.
Addendum: The BBC iPlayer is viewable by UK nationals up to seven days after transmission. However, I am sure that the station will repeat this excellent mini-series at some point in the near future.
The contact form is once again working, thanks to my own perseverence and the help of my hosting company, EUKHosting.com.
Steve
I have just been told that the Contact Form on-site is not working. I have checked everything and all seems to be well. However, I have written to the server company to try to determine the problem.
If you wish to contact me, please use the email address given here. Thanks.
Steve
Many thanks to those who have recently contributed to the site. Special thanks to Steve Addy who has kindly provided some excellent images of three school uniform badges: one each from Lower, Intermediate and Sixth form uniforms. For those interested in keeping the images, they may be downloaded to your personal computers by right-clicking on each one, and ‘saving as…’ to your computer. Each is 1024 pixels wide upon download.
Steve
