Our History

Furzehill School

1912 to 2001 - originally known as Boreham Wood County Council Mixed School

Furzehill Road, Boreham Wood

This was the first purpose built County Council School in Boreham Wood, which was constructed to accommodate the growing population of Boreham Wood and the surrounding villages which had increased by 300% in fifty years.  It  was built to accommodate up to 272 mixed children from seven to thirteen years - the school leaving age at the time.  At first children who were six years and nine months were admitted but it was soon decided by the governors that the intake should start from seven.  The younger ones were called infants (what age is not known).

Mr Tucker & Staff during WW1

The school opened on October 14th 1912 and the headmaster was William Jas Tucker although he did not take up his post entirely until the 29th.  He was previously at Little Heath School - address not known.  His staff were : Mr Francis Rayment - Senior Assistant, Winifred Osmond and Alice Minnie Fram, who lived in Finchley and travelled by train.  She later reported the inconvenient timetable which resulted in trains arriving at 8.20 or 9.00 am, leaving at 3.33 and 5.22 pm.  Miss Alice MCarthy joined as a supply teacher.  The building consisted of six classrooms and two central rooms which were separated by partitions and folded back for community use.  There were 213 names on the register, which included forty infants, but 191 were present on the first day and the junior children were put into four classes numbered from 1 to 1V.  Twenty to thirty more infants were expected because the small National School in Theobald Street was overcrowded, whist the remainder, and some of the older children, walked to Elstree to the Mixed and Infant School.

William J Tucker earned a salary of £160 pa.  The caretaker was Mr Walter Smith who was paid ten shillings a week.  Mr H Vincent was employed to wind and repair the two clocks, which were of inferior quality and had never kept time, for a sum of £1-6s-0d pa.  The county allowance to stock the school was £85 (7/6d a head) and considered insufficient by the Head.

The first visitor was the Rev A Day who was a manager of the school and a few days later HMI Mr E N Wix made his inspection.  The Head was understaffed.  He applied for five additional staff and got two.  He explained :

"Wrote to the Clerk…and pointed out that unless I’m granted five permanent assistants, it will be impossible for Gardening Instruction to be given, as I shall be tied to a class of 41 children…" and  "No gardening today.  It will be useless starting this until I know definitely what the permanent staff is to be… I endeavour to take Miss Fram’s class from three to four, but was called away no less than six times - Mrs Kinsley, Mrs Ostler, Mrs Hooper, caretaker, School Attendence Officer, & Railway-man being the callers.  This one instance shows how impossible it would be for me to be tied to a class."

An entry in the log 2nd December 1912 :

"Mrs Gough called to say her little girl was so severely burnt this morning, that the Dr. says that it (sic) hasn’t many hours to live.  I therefore arranged for the school to have a lesson on the dangers of playing with fire, and the advisability of wearing “Non-flam” flannelette."

3rd December : "Received news of the death of Frances Gough".

Entry to children in the junior section was restricted to those above six years and nine months and this was raised to seven years in January 1913.  There was a Terminal Exam and school reports.  The nurse visited and found some verminous heads.  12th December there was a half holiday for attendance.  The first full holiday was from 19th December 1912 to 7th January 1913.  Miss MCarthy and Mr Meyers left.

In January 1913 there were 230 children on the roll (log book) but in 1913 to 14 the average attendance was 250.  Gardening Instruction began on ‘Demons Plots’.  Mr W R Hill joined from Shenley Boys School, Mr King joined the staff as a Supply Teacher.  Nature Work, cookery and needlework classes commenced.  The years' holidays were agreed by the managers :
Easter : 12 noon the day before Good Friday until Tuesday week after.
Whitsun : Friday before Whit Sunday until the following Tuesday week.
Summer : Close the last Thursday in July, reopen 5th Tuesday after.
Christmas : Close the Thursday before Christmas Day, reopen the following Tuesday fortnight.

3rd February 1913 Margery Ryan from Bernard’s Heath School St. Albans joined the staff.  She was born in 1888.  21st February 1913 :

"At a meeting of the Managers last night it was unanimously resolved that in the absence of the Head Master, the Head Assistant be authorised to inflict corporal punishment in accordance with the C.C. Regulations".

The school, children and registers were inspected regularly by HMI and by managers. There were more Terminal Exams in March.  There were admission problems, April 14th 1913 :

"Mrs Ostler called to say she intended sending her children back to Elstree School so as to be company for her little ones who attend the Infant School there.  She begged me to take the infants and so save her children the long walk to Elstree but at present I am unable to do so.  She refuses to send them to the Infant School in the village on the grounds that its surroundings are unhealthy.  This is entered because it is the third similar case besides numerous repeated requests from parents to admit infants".

There was a half holiday for Empire Day on May 24th.  Gardening was an important subject,  HMI Wix reported in June :

"Notwithstanding the fact that this is a new school the gardens are in a most …praiseworthy state of cultivation.  Some fruit culture is advisable and the elder girls might be allowed to help in flower culture.  As the boys have joined the class at different times there is naturally some inequality yet in the Written and Oral work… Every opportunity should be taken to connect the Gardening with as many of the ordinary school subjects as possible…"

The classes were increased to form a preparatory class V with numbers of forty three to forty eight in a class.  The school closed at 3.30 pm for reason of the local flower show July 9th 1913.  A very wet day on the 15th dropped the attendance to 196.  The first parents day was on the 30th and about ninety attended.  Because of the good turnout the Head decided to make it an annual event.

In September the afternoon lessons were changed from 2 to 4 pm to 1.30 to 3.30 pm.  Mr Hill left to study at college, Miss Mabel Eva Tant commenced duty.  She lived in Victoria Road, New Barnet and was born in 1891.  She left after one year to take up her appointment as mistress of the Infant’s National School in Theobald Street where she remained until its closure.  Chairman of the infant school managers was Rev A R T Eales.  

In 1914 a grant of £5 was made by County for the purchase of forty trees which included planes, beech maple, oak, weeping willow, yew and common holly to enhance nature study.  The selection was made by the chairman Mr De’ath who was a ‘keen student of nature’.  From January to June there was absenteeism through chicken pox, ringworm and whooping cough as well as coughs and colds.

An inspection was made by HMI whose report informs :

"The school has had something of a struggle in its early years, owing partly to the fact that many children were running wild for some time before it was open, partly to the poor preparation which they have received at the infants’ school".  

The school closed for the summer holidays on July 24th and reopened on August 31st 1914.  Mr Rayment was appointed for military service and married Miss Osmond - he was sent to France.  Miss Emily Verena Dorothy Smith, who cycled from Watford, was instructed to take his class until the end of the war.  The National School in Theobald Street was now overcrowded and admissions were being refused.  Mr Tucker could not allow them into his school unless it be recognised as a Mixed & Infants Department, and it became one in October, and new buildings were constructed in the girls playground.  Meanwhile the infants were admitted into the school (although during World War 1 no children under the age of five were admitted because of staffing shortfalls). Classes V1 and V11 were allocated to them.  The roll was then 278 for an accommodation of 272.  Miss Mary Finlay (DOB 1871) was transferred to the school from the National School. She and Miss Ryan took the infant classes of sixty six and forty seven children respectively.  

In January 1915 Elsie Roberta Francis took up a teaching post coming from Knap Hill County Council School.  There were 281 on the roll (including infants) with an average attendance of 239.  Official notice of the proposed enlargement of the school was given.  The school closed on March 23rd until May 3rd because there was no fuel (coke) to heat the rooms and also because of absences through diseases.  The Head continues his pleas for more staff.  Gardening had ceased in November through this and they had suffered as a result.  It was commenced on a skeletal basis.  The two infant teachers still had 100 pupils between them.  Miss Ryan married, became Mrs Stockwell, and her husband went to France with the Civil Service Rifles.  In May Miss Finlay left to teach in a private school in Cheshire because she found that her workload was too much.  The Head agreed commenting that she was asked to perform what was physically and practically impossible.  Her months notice was waived.  Mrs Bryans and Mr G L King started as a supply teachers until the end of term. In September the misses Louise Elizabeth Brettell from the National School and Georgina Sophie Brettell from Wheathampstead CE, took up the vacant posts.  

October 25th 1915, twelve boys were not at school as they were working for the film company : the attendance officer brought them back during the morning.  Heavy rains through October and November resulted in coughs, flooding and absenteeism.  There were 260 pupils in school on 12th November, the lowest for many weeks.  The girls were engaged on needlework for the war effort making socks, scarves and vests for the Red Cross Association.  

In January 1916 the school was closed for three weeks by the MOH because of a measles epidemic.  When it reassembled at the end of February, there was heavy snow and so attendance was about 50%.  On 28th attendance was abandoned as 180 of 307 turned up.  Fifty five were sent home as they were ‘wet through’.  This occurred again on 7th July.  The Head was excused military service by the Hertford Tribunal on condition that he remain employed by the local authority.  Miss Lush took cookery classes.  31st May Mrs Stockwell left and Miss Grace Dorothy Ryan (DOB 1888) from Harpenden CC Infants was appointed. The allowance for the year was £49, which equalled 1d pw or 3/6d pa.  13th July children exhibiting in the Flower Show, Elstree, were allowed to leave at 9.30am.  18th July the register closed at 9.15 to allow some pupils to act in a film with Ellen Terry [see Note 1] : "It was deemed better to do this than have a large number absent". Miss Smith left in July.  

In the new term Miss Mary Ellen Heasman joined.  Entry in the log September 15th :

"Mr W R Hill, one of our staff previous to the war, has died of wounds received during the 'Somme' push".

He was 24 years old.  His funeral was held at Shenley,

Miss Francis moved to Birmingham with her family leaving no certified teachers except the Head.   Miss Nellie Ryan offered her help, she was seventeen years old and had just left St Albans High School having passed her Prelim.  The school had to close because of the childrens' infectious sores.  

Mrs Rayment took three months leave and Miss Ivy Charlotte Edwards joined fresh from college.  On May 7th 1917 the MOH closed the school for three weeks because of mumps.  A days holiday was allowed for Chestnut Competition.  The nuts were donated to the Minister of Munitions.  The value of the produce raised from the Gardening classes was £26 for that year.  

In March 1918 Miss E Ryan left "for more congenial work and better pay". Miss Edith M Horsford replaced her.  The Inspection report was not good : many children were backward.  The Head’s reasons were : irregularity, exemptions freely granted, employment of children out of school hours and under-staffing.  Not many pupils remained until they were fourteen years.  Eighty five pupils and two teachers were affected by a flu epidemic in July.  In September Miss G Brettell left.  Miss Mearns replaced her.  Another flu outbreak led to the closure from Oct 21st to 11th November.  The entry for that day reads :

"Termination of the War : News having reached us of the Signing of the Armistice, the afternoon was spent in a manner appropriate to the occasion".
 
The First school trip was to County Hall, St Albans to see The Merchant of Venice, March 10th 1919.  Miss L Brettell left.  There were 341 on the roll which caused overcrowding.  Mr Barkwell was appointed in June but left in July for Wells Blue School, Somerset - he was offered £40 pa more.  The managers asked for the provision of a hut with two rooms to accommodate 112 pupils and this was erected in September 1919.  This resulted in a roll of some 384 children with an average attendance of 310..  Miss Edith Vincer and Charles Carpenter were appointed.  At the end of September there was a rail strike - all of the teachers travelled by train, the heating failed, the weather was very cold; 45F in the school, Miss Horsford had walked from Canons Park but this proved too much for her.  The school closed for a few days but all kept their great coats on when they returned.

Mr Alloway was offered the post of Assistant Master but refused as the salary was too low.  "He is 34yrs of age, married & the HCC refused to pay him more than £140 pa : He asked £160".  Miss Brettell was offered the post instead at a salary of £105 and refused. Miss G S Brettell commenced duty again in December.  In 1920 the school was closed from 17th Feb to 16th April because of an outbreak of measles.  Five children out of eight who sat for “Free Places” at Barnet Grammar School were accepted.  Adverts. for a certified Assistant Master were posted in three scholarly newspapers for five weeks with no response.  Miss L Brettell married, became Mrs Beer, and began as a supply.  Closure in October through diphtheria outbreak.  The disease was still prevalent in 1921.  

Mr Tucker resigned through ill health, November 1920.  Mr Horace Daniel Wittrick, Herts CCEC Emergency Staff, took his place and was appointed fully in January 1921.  In January Mr Smith, caretaker, resigned and replaced by Charles Parsons of Malden Road.  Miss Mearns left at Easter to marry.  Miss Ryans left to work nearer home.  A cookery centre opened in the village and girls went there for lessons.  However, as diphtheria was in the village, the girls from Elstree did not attend and classes were often cancelled.  The upper classes were allowed to watch an eclipse of the sun on 8th April 1921.   1st May Mrs E H Wittrick and Mrs G Wilson were appointed. Also Miss Hood.  School closed for the month through diphtheria.  Miss Fram left in October to work nearer home, Mrs Mabel Winifred Green was appointed in her place.  In December Miss Edwards left to become Headmistress at Arkley Infants School.  Since October 23rd 1920 to 22nd December 1921 the school had been closed four times through diphtheria.  Two pupils had died - one after an operation and the other from pneumonia.  There were three vacant teaching posts.

Miss Minnie Evelyn Cole, Mrs Olive Amy Hawkins and Miss Mildred Blanche Sterrey joined in 1922.   There was a holiday on 28th February 1922 for Princess Mary’s Wedding.  Miss GA Brettell left to work in St Albans.  That year the children suffered a whooping cough epidemic, there were still cases of diphtheria and in September chicken pox spread through the school together with mumps, measles and scarlet fever.  

26th April 1923 school closed for Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon’s wedding to Duke of York.  In June 1924 fifty two pupils and four staff visited the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley.  The entrance in Brownlow Road opened in November.  This was completed to allow shorter travel for those living in that area and also to save the infants crossing a wet and very often flooded playground.  National Savings Association was formed and 101 stamps were sold.  

January 1925 there were 261 on the roll.  A piano was purchased with money raised from concerts and sports meetings for the infant section.  In September 1926 two sisters died - Nancy Baker from an operation and Florrie two weeks later from Infantile Paralysis.  January 1927 Mr P D Gernat joined as Assistant Master and became Head in July 1931.  (Mr Wittrick suffered ill health).  He became the first Headmaster at Hillside School in 1939.  In June pupil Harold Smith was killed outside the school by slipping under his brother’s lorry.  In 1928 milk was sold to the pupils, about 65 taking up the offer.

Class 1 in 1930

HMI report in June 1929 reads that the recent development of the film industry in the locality has affected the school as many pupils came from other districts.  In May 1930 construction of six new classrooms and a hall began.  1931, January Mr A R Mills commenced in place of Mr Best. In 1931 cookery and woodwork classes commenced in the former Infant huts.  

Netball Team 1930

In Sept 1932 there was accommodation for 424 children and there were 388 on the roll.  Children joined at all ages and few remained over the age of twelve years.  In May 1936 the roll was 427 and it was clear that another school was needed, hence the building of Hillside School.  

28th September 1938 the log records :

"In accordance with instructions received from the County Council trenches as a protection in case of air-raids have been started in the school gardens today. Instruction given to all children in the care and use of anti-gas respirators".

The roll was 510 with a high number of infants.  A new infant class was formed with an emergency teacher, Miss A M Bishop, in charge.  Class 1 infants were transferred to All Saints Sunday School Shenley Road to relieve the pressure.

In January 1939 there was an educational visit for the seniors to the Challenge Rubber Works in Drayton Road.  After exams some children were offered places at Barnet Grammar, East Barnet Modern School and Watford Technical and Art Institute. The latter was fee paying.  The school closed for summer holidays 28th July and was due to open 4th September.  28th July the log records :

"Re-organisation : From the commencement of the Autumn term viz 4th September 1939, this will become a Junior Mixed and Infant School, the senior children being transferred to Boreham Wood Senior Mixed School.  The following members of the staff will also be transferred to the new Senior School:- Mr P D Gernat (Headmaster)  Mr J J O’Keefe  Mr A R Mills  Miss J M Durber  Mrs D E Taylor".

The headteacher was now Mr W S Jepps and the caretaker now lived in No.1 Furzehill Cottages, purchased for school accommodation.

In September 1939 Hillside School was intended to open but the outbreak of war on the 3rd prevented this.  The entry on the 4th was :

"Owing to the outbreak of hostilities the opening of the school which should have taken place today was postponed until further notice".  

The playground was used by the military for drill and the building for lectures.  The managers had an emergency meeting on 20th September to declare that because there were 1,000 troops in Boreham Wood and anti-aircraft guns on the hills it was too dangerous for the schools to open until protection was made.  Air-raid precautions went into place but there was still no shelters or sand for bags by November 10th.  Meanwhile from 23rd October the junior children, and from 25th the infants, were given homework and reported to the school at set times for marking.  It eventually opened on 27th November 1939.  

In February 1940 the roll was 455 but the attendance was cut by half because of "severe cold and snow".  The summer holiday was from 28th July to 12th August but air-raid warnings forced closure from 23rd August to 2nd September and from the 5th there had been no morning sessions due to air-raids.  So from 28th September it was decided that morning sessions would begin at 10 am if there had been night alarms.  Evacuees used the school in the war and also displaced teachers from Hastings taught there in place of supply staff.  Firewatch began.  In 1942 there was a change of caretaker.  Mrs Nilson was the cook and Mrs Vanderstein her assistant.  Mrs Parsons and Hayes were the "kitchenmaids".  The canteen was open during the holidays but as the demand was low this scheme never lasted more than a week at a time.  

August 7th 1942 the school closed for the summer holiday until September 7th but at the beginning of October it closed again for a week ‘to enable children to work on the land’.  On 8th and 9th May 1945 the school closed to celebrate Victory in Europe.  The entry on 11th states that they returned and the children were very weary and many were asleep or dozing on arms during lessons because they had been up until the early hours. In 1945 the school was renamed Furzehill County Primary under the 1944 Education Act.

In 1948 26th April, there was a holiday for the Royal Silver Wedding.  On the 18th there was a week’s holiday trip to Hastings.  In September the school was overcrowded having admitted sixty pupils.  

The original building caught fire on 7th February 1949 and was almost completely destroyed.  The entry in the log book relates :

"The school was destroyed by fire on this day.  On my return from a school football match at about 5 pm I observed flames from the belfry tower.  I gave the alarm & the brigade appeared.  There was no hope of saving the building for the flames spread so rapidly along the roof and by 1am nothing was left but the skeleton of the building".

The next day one class was restarted at Hillside School and on 9th two more in the huts which survived the fire at Furzehill.  By 16th the whole school was assembled at Hill House (Elstree Prep) and Shenley Hospital.  However the children at Hill House were moved to Wilton House, Shenley in September.

Some of the school was re-built in January 1950 which enabled the use of four classrooms for the pupils who had been at Wilton House.  In July the school was fully built and occupied and all outside accommodation was given up.  However the hall and eight classrooms that were built were not adequate for the numbers on the roll.  The urinals were considered to be offensive and the drinking fountains were condemned.  The school adopted the logo of a phoenix as a symbol of the mythical Egyptian bird that burned itself to death on a pyre every 500 years and rose rejuvenated from the ashes.  It was reported by John Cooper, headteacher of Monksmead School in 2001, that to commemorate the event, shortly after, two cherry trees were planted either side of the entrance gates using ashes from the fire.

The school was overcrowded 545 on the roll, because of the influx of children from the new London County Council estates which were rapidly being built.  Rooms in the Church Hall were used and at Easter all the fourth years were promoted to Hillside County Council Senior School to release two rooms so that children who had been refused may be admitted.  However, the Church Hall was taken over by the Food Office for the distribution of ration books for several weeks and new children had to wait.  

The name Furzehill School was adopted in 1952 when the Juniors moved to Summerswood School, Furzehill Road in May, and the school took only infants with 230 on the roll.  

Miss Jean West became the Headmistress until 1957.  Mr Jepps became the Head at Summerswood and he took with him: Mrs E Rogerson, Mr A Adams, Miss M Sterney, Miss M Watret, Mr D Cooke, Miss E Homes, Mrs J Bainbridge and Mr C J Chapman.  Those remaining were Miss E M Gordan, Miss M E Thomas, Miss T Walter, Mrs W Sherwood, Mrs F Gunn.  New staff were: Miss H M McLaren, Mrs Simmons & Mrs Cooke and Mrs Tallis supplies.  There were ten classes with a roll of 379 with two classes housed in the cadet huts.  The roll increased to 404 in September.  The school became the responsibility of the Barnet Divisional Executive in November.  

In January 1953, fifty one children were admitted and twenty seven refused.  They were offered places at High Canons in Ridge.  In February gifts of toys and sweets were collected by the children for those in the East coast flood area.  In April a class moved to the Sunday School room as thirty seven new children were admitted.  School closed for a Whit-cum-Coronation holiday May 22nd to June 4th.  The council presented a gift of a box of chocolates and the PTA gave two pencils and a rubber (to fit into boxes) for each child.  There was a visit to the cinema to see A Queen Is Crowned.  New cleaners joined Mrs Ethel Thompson of Eldon Avenue and Mrs Beatrice Jackson also of Eldon Avenue in place of Mrs Wickes and Johnstone.  There was a trip to Whipsnade Zoo.  

In July 1954 262 children were transferred.  thirty-nine to Cowley Hill, six to Saffron Green, thirteen to Kenilworth, 195 to Summerswood.  The remainder left the district.  However the intake was high. Twenty-five new entrants came from the Kenilworth and Saffron Green areas and eight children came by coach from the Merydene Estate in Theobald Street.  In January 1955, eighty-six travelled from the Merydene and Cowley Hill estates and the roll was 463.  

In September 1955 the school reverted to a Junior Mixed Infants for ages five to eleven years. There were 116 juniors and 300 infants on the roll.  Mrs Mills was appointed cook.  Mrs Wilson retired after thirty five years service.  

1956 School Play

Mr Holland became head in 1957.  Pupils : 504.  In May third years went swimming at Aldenham.  A visit to the Greenwich Maritime Museum.  In September the roll dropped to 377.  In November school milk was issued, 290 took it.  1958 trip to Cuffley Camp.  In July forty eight left for secondary school :  nine to Boreham Wood Grammar, one to Watford Tech., one to QE Boys, two to QE Girls, one to Finchley Grammar, eighteen to Hillside Secondary Modern, one to Lyndhurst Secondary Modern, fifteen to Holmshill Secondary Modern.

May 6th 1960 was a school holiday for Princess Margaret’s wedding.  There were polio injections.  Visits to the Festival Hall for the Nutcracker Suite, the Mermaid Theatre for Emil And The Detectives, Wembley for the Schoolboy International Exhibition.  1962 allotments given over to school for playing fields.  Two new mobile classrooms to replace old huts.  Colour Factor Mathematics introduced.  

A class in 1962

Netball in 1964

The dining hall was demolished and re-built in 1965.  There was a visit to see the new Baptist Church in October 1967.  1968 January heavy snow disrupted the school.  Negotiations were initiated for middle school status.  The children had eye tests.  In November 1969 there was a metrication course for teachers because of Britain’s entry into Europe.  School trips to France annually.

After a rebuild

In 1970 County approved an expenditure of £100,000 for building and expenditure.  This was to include an oil-fired heating system.  In September infant children were only admitted provide they were five years.  Parents raised £1,300 for a bigger library.  1971, the stage was removed, new entrances to the hall and links between the old and the new buildings.  However, the new blocks were not ready until September 1972.

In 1971 it adopted Middle School Status changing from a two-tier to three-tier system.  The age range was now nine to thirteen years.  Roll was 314.  In 1972 approval was given from Herts CC to buy an additional 4.3 acres of land with access from Cedars Close for the sum of £190,600.  Mrs Forster left to teach at Parkside First School after twenty five years.  Caretaker Mr Parsons retired in 1974.  He died in 1978 and an oak tree was planted in his memory.  Trip to Stoke Bruerne in 1975.  There were BCG skin tests and vaccinations for tuberculosis.

In 1976 the police film Never Go With Strangers was shown.  Gideon Society presented bibles to pupils.  1977 there were rubella injections.  

From 1978 to 1989 the headteacher was Mr Holland.  In 1979 Mr Jon Cooper left after seven years to be deputy head at Monksmead.  Mrs Lewis, cook, retired after eleven years.  

Queen's Certificate 1992

In 1989 Mr Fryer, who had previously taught at Campions Middle School, was appointed headteacher and he was in that position in 2001.  In 2000 Herts CC changed the Boreham Wood system back to two-tier.  Falling rolls in the area resulted in a knock-on effect of school closures.  Furzehill was a victim of this decision and it closed in July 2001.

The final entry in the log from Phil Fryer :

"The final months of what has been a magnificent school.  Sadly, we have been caught up in yet another re-organisation, this time returning us back to the two tier, hence the cancelling of Middle Schools.  
I have enjoyed my last thirteen years of my career as Headteacher of Furzehill Middle School working with lovely children, a magnificent staff of teachers & support colleagues.  
We have achieved some excellent awards - the first Middle School in the county to receive the Sports Council Gold Award, from Sir Bobby Charlton of Manchester United and England F.C. fame! - thanks to Jonathan Nagle our head of PE.  
In addition, Jonathan helped us to gain recognition of all the extra-curricular activities run by the school, from “Education Extra”, a national body.  We won this award over a three year period.  
Other successes were recognised with an Investors in People award - Mrs Linda Berry - Deputy Head and Mrs Shelagh Musk, Bursar/Office Manager heading up this work; and the DFEE (Dept. for Education & Employment) Achievement in Education Award for substantial improvements in our academic achievements, 1998 to 2001, in Key Stage 2 results in Year 6.  I have been associated with Borehamwood since 1965 when I taught at Campions Secondary School on teaching practice.  I then taught there 1967 to 1978, lived in Canterbury House, 1967 to 1972, worked in the Lair Youth Club, and Maxwell Road Youth Club, and then returned to the town in 1988 to be the last headteacher of Furzehill School".

Note 1 : The Ellen Terry film mentioned above was Her Greatest Performance. This was Ellen's first film after a lengthy and distinguished stage career. It was released by Ideal Films on August 25th 1916, directed by Fred Paul and is now lost. It seems it was filmed at Neptune Studios.

Ellen Terry

YOUR MEMORIES

Violet Taylor Remembers :

At the start of the last century Boreham Wood's children had only one state-run school, Furzehill. Violet Taylor was born in 1918, in a council-owned cottage in Shenley Road, the youngest of eight children. "They were all lived in by big families, and we all got on very well, and used to go to school together," she said.

Conditions were very different to those at the Furzehill School which closed recently. The cane was an accepted punishment for children, and girls were taught to cook as a priority.  Mrs Taylor was a pupil from 1925 until 1932, and remembers her days at the school fondly, although they were not always easy: "We had a good time at that school, and the teachers were all very good".  She was a proud member of the school's netball team: "We had a lovely big shield made for us, because we used to win almost every match." The shield took pride of place in the school's hall for decades, but may have burned in the fire that destroyed Furzehill, in February 1949.

The school's headmaster, Horace Daniel Wittrick, was a strict man, who spent his days patrolling the corridors, and had a useful trick for keeping an eye on his pupils while they were in class. There were windows over the doors of each classroom, and Mr Wittrick watched the reflections on the windows, to ensure his pupils were behaving properly.  Mrs Taylor was only caned once, after a teacher caught her running around in a cloakroom, but she remembered how Mr Wittrick would subtly warn pupils to behave properly. "He used to stand in his office and try out his canes," she said, adding that, although she was embarrassed at being caned herself, she thought it was an effective punishment.

Mrs Taylor can still remember many of her schoolfriends' names. She was friends with Cyril Bond, Gladys Fitzhugh, Pat Howell, Nelly Bone, Evan Hallis, Jenny Smith and Joan Freestone, whose family owned the Freestone Bakery.  "We learned about all sorts of different things, and we had a lot of different teachers. Just before we left school, a teacher came to take us in French. I had just started getting into it when we had to leave."

In the 1930s, children were only allowed to stay in school after reaching the age of 14 if they could pass a series of tests.  Mrs Taylor passed the written test with flying colours, but became nervous during the spoken test. "I took exams to get into St Albans School. There were three of us, and I got rather frightened when I had to take the oral test, so I didn't pass. "We had to go in one at a time, and we were asked questions. I wasn't used to that."   From the Watford Observer, 13th August 2001.