WHEN Mike Brogden started school, he thought his teacher was called Miss Smell. It was in fact Miss Snell.

And when Miss Snell told pupils to say “present” when she called the register, he sat back and waited in vain all day for – yes, you’ve guessed it - a present!

These are two of his early recollections at the ‘Hut’ School, Cowley, an annexe to the original Cowley St James School in Beauchamp Lane.

Mr Brogden writes: “I joined the school in January 1946. Other memories include telling my mother I had learned a rhyme from another child – ‘Yum, yum, piggy’s bum’. She was very offended. It seems ‘bum’ was a very rude word. I quickly learned not to repeat rhymes learned at school.

“We had our photograph taken, standing in front of the serving hatch where the meals included cheese flan (horrible) and steamed pudding with sugar rather than custard (lovely).

“Next, I was in Mrs Northway’s class and the photograph above, taken in 1947, shows there were 36 of us. I’m in the middle of the third row, looking just slightly taller than the others.

“Richard Emmanuel, a playmate from our street, Bartholomew Road, is in the middle of the front row. Phillip Cross (third from the left in the third row) and Tony Kitchen (third from the right in the third row) are the only other names I remember. Tony became a policeman, I think.

“Somewhere, there is Edward Aries who became a footballer. It would be good to be reminded of more names and to hear their news.

“In Mrs Northway’s class, we did art on Friday afternoons while she added up the register. We also did group reading. My ambitious mother had taught me to read at home and, instead of being in one of the groups, I was promoted to a solo position at the front of the class where the group leaders could ask me to read a word they didn’t know.”

Mr Brogden, who now lives at Much Wenlock, Shropshire, also recalls the regulation afternoon nap. Camp beds were brought out of a cupboard, “fleas and all”, and pupils had to lie down for an hour.

“I remember being surprised when someone actually fell asleep. Nowadays when children of that age are expected to learn differential calculus, the idea of an afternoon nap seems unbelievable.”

Another memory is of the severe winter of 1947 when the snow was so deep it came over the top of his boots on the way to school.

After a year in Mrs Northway’s class, it was time for pupils move on. Some went to Cowley St Christopher School, others perhaps to Cowley St James while the young Michael Brogden went to Singletree, a council school in a Victorian house near Iffley Turn.

More of Mr Brogden’s school memories soon.