Tower and Town, December 2016

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Changes At St Peter's

Over the 54 years that St Peter’s has been in The Parade, some things have changed and some things have stayed the same. The school educated children aged 7 to 11 until 2016 when it became a brand new primary school. By interviewing past pupils, we were able to find out more.

During the years, many things at St Peter’s have stayed the same. One of the things which stayed the same was the colour of the school uniform. The uniform’s main colour was dark green. The boys wore trousers or shorts, which were grey or black and the girls wore skirts of the same colour. More recently the girls had begun to wear trousers too. Also, in the summer, the girls wore a green and white summer dress. In addition, the school days were the same with english and maths being taught in the morning, and in the afternoon the children learned subjects like history, art and music. In all cases when pupils did something wrong they had to go to the head teacher.

On the other hand, things have changed too. Although the uniform stayed the same colour, there are a few differences, as the boys in the past used to wear a green blazer and yellow and green tie. However, more recently the children wore a polo shirt with sweatshirts. In the 1960s, at break the children were given a third of a pint of milk to drink. One of the other differences were the punishments given for behaviour. Back in the 1960s the punishments were much more severe. Some of the punishments the children got were lines, the cane or a slap on the leg or hands which could be with a ruler. Furthermore, the children at this time used to have to wait under the school clock in the library to wait for the headmaster. The old clock is still there now and travelled from the earlier St Peter’s building in the town’s library.

As you can see, punishments have changed the most and were much more severe in the past. However, the uniform has stayed the same with the familiar sight of green being seen in Marlborough over the past decades.

Rojin, Year 6