For all the children and their teachers who moved to Acocks
Green to start this new school
H. J. Murch : Headteacher of The Oaklands Primary School
(April 1981 to December 1995)
Printed & Published March 2004
Revised August 2006
Hard copies of this history may be obtained from Oaklands Primary School,
Dolphin lane, Acocks Green, Birmingham B27 7BT.
The school has also published The War Years, by Harry Murch
and Samantha Finch, in 2006. This gives a
more detailed account of that time, and contains many memories of former
pupils.
Foreword
A school is more than bricks and mortar; it is the people who use it –
the children, the teachers, the support staff, the parents – and all that
goes on there. As such it is never static but always evolving and changing.
Using original diaries, registers, letters and the memories
of pupils who attended the school, this booklet attempts to summarize its
gradual development and some of the many activities that took place there
between 1929, when the school was opened by Mr Sutton, and 1959 when his
successor, Miss French, left to take become the Head Teacher of another
school.
During this period the nature of the school changed on more
than one occasion. It began its existence as a combined Junior and Infant
School, before becoming separate Infant and Junior Departments, with
different Head Teachers, on the same site. Later, as the numbers attending
the school declined, it once again became a combined Junior and Infant
School. The name of the school also changed during this period of its
history. Opening as Dolphin Lane Council School, it was renamed in the
city’s 1954 ‘Development Plan for Primary and Secondary Education’ as The
Oaklands Primary School.
'When I was a child it is fair to say
We had just as much fun as children of today.
Now of all the places I have seen,
I’m glad I was a child in Acocks Green.'
From ‘Childhood in Acocks Green’ by Dennis Simons
Acknowledgements
Many people have given their help, support and advice during the writing
of this brief early history of the school.
Above all my gratitude must go to Diane Worland, the present
Head Teacher of The Oaklands School, for allowing me unlimited access to the
school’s records.
I am also indebted to the many past pupils of the school who
sent me photographs, items of memorabilia and letters containing their
personal memories and reflections. Their support and interest has been a
true revelation.
Special thanks are owing to Dennis Simons for allowing me to
use his poems.
My thanks are also due to the school secretary, Samantha
Finch, for all the technical advice, and secretarial help, she has given me
during the preparation of the book.
I also acknowledge information gleaned from the publications
‘Acocks Green’ (by Mike Byrne) and ‘Acocks Green All Around’ (by John Morris
Jones) and thank the Local History Department of the Birmingham Library
Service for allowing photographs held in their archives to be reproduced.
Last, but not least, my thanks and appreciation go to my
family for their patience and understanding during the many months it has
taken to collate, from various sources, the information for this booklet.
Dolphin Lane School 1929-59
Introduction – Goodbye Green Fields and Country Lanes
Getting Started
Buildings – Meeting the Changing
Needs
The School Staff – Comings and Goings
A Broader Education – Talks,
Festivals and Visits
Concerts and Performances – A Chance
to Show Off
Christmas Celebrations
Royal Occasions – Visits and Celebration
Holidays
Physical Activities – Athletics, P.T.
and Games
Fund Raising – Helping Others and
Supporting Ourselves
Medical Matters – The Doctor, The
Dentist and the ‘Nit’ Nurse
Accidents and Misfortunes – Cuts,
Bruises and Even Worse
Transgressions – Naughty,
Naughty!!
The Air Raid Shelter Saga – Keeping
the Children Safe
Evacuation – From Birmingham to the
Countryside and Back
Appendix 1 Birmingham Educational
Districts & School Lists
Appendix 2 New Pupils’ Previous
Named Schools
Appendix 3 Sketch Map of the Local
Roads Housing Dolphin Lane Pupils
Appendix 4 Memories – Dennis Simons
