Life on the Clifton campus in the 1960s
1 April 2015
Life at the Clifton campus and course structure has changed a lot in the last 50 years and alumna Jean Nicholson (Cert Ed Biology 1962) has written a fascinating account of growing up post-war and life on the Clifton campus back in the 1960s:
In 2010 the Clifton site celebrated its Jubilee and 50 years since the introduction of the three year training scheme for teachers - a plan which was going to lead to a shortage of teachers in 1962. This led to a group of 30 so-called ‘mature students’ being offered places to complete the three year course in two years. At least two of those students are now over 80. I am now 84 and actually attended Nottingham Technical College on day release from 1949-1952 whilst working in Boots Antibiotic Research Department.
For most of us it was sheer chance that we saw the tiny advertisement in the Nottingham Evening Post inviting applications to take the teacher training course in two years instead of three. At the time I had three children and worked at home as a hand embroiderer for Hames on Daykene Street.
An interview with Principal Mr K Baird led to an offer of a place to study Biology. Unfortunately no money for fees was available and like many other women, my husband paid and supported me for two years. Unfortunately, although we took the same degree examination as the students at The University of Nottingham we were not awarded degrees only certificates - a decision which affected promotion and salary prospects throughout our careers.
Our time at Clifton was certainly interesting. Most of us had been taught part-time during World War Two and we found ‘modern’ methods alien and had many differences of opinion with our education tutors even forecasting that standards of education would fall. One of the first things we did was an IQ test, the result of which revealed that everyone was in the top 3% for intelligence!
More amusing was the lecture on the “deprived child”. We were most amused to find we were ALL classified as having had a deprived childhood! The lecture ended in uproar, Mr Morgan was definitely not amused. Personally my childhood had been exceptionally happy growing up in a small village in north Nottinghamshire. I went to both church and chapel. After winning a scholarship at 11, I travelled by bus to Retford High School. My mother worked on Finningley Air Station so I was a ‘latch key kid’ working on the farm during holidays and in the evening after school. The idea that I was deprived was, to me, hilarious, and has been a family joke ever since.
Every Tuesday we had to attend the Principal’s lecture, followed by a formal dinner. Following the lecture we had to get the tables ready for the meal and quickly change into our much creased cocktail dresses. The Academic staff would then process to the top table. After the Latin grace we could finally sit down and eat a meal. On one occasion, the lamb chops were so small we referred to them as ‘mouse chops’ for ever more! The slightest remark would reduce us to hysterical laughter, our reaction to fatigue I think. Unfortunately the evening was not finished and we had to clear the hall up before we could catch the bus home.
During my first year at Clifton all the science students, including those on the three year course, went to Malham Tarn field Centre, but that is another story.