Fields of Green 50 Years of Summerhill Primary School, Maghull
Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
Contents 4
Farm Days
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The 1970s
Summerhill stands on land which was once a busy family farm
Which Liverpool FC legend paid a visit to Summerhill?
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The 1980s
Headteacher hits the roof over children reading books
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Our 50th anniversary has helped us reflect on golden memories We love a celebration at Summerhill - and we were determined to make our 50th anniversary special for pupils, parents and staff. Support from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled us to organise a series of events over what has been a truly memorable year.
10 The 1990s
Over the next few pages you’ll see how we celebrated. You’ll also be able to journey down Memory Lane, back to our early days. It was quite a task to date the old photos - please forgive any mistakes!
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As the Summerhill story enters its next 50 years, please continue to share any old photos or stories you may have via social media.
School celebrates its 25th anniversary with a stylish new look
Millennium
How outdoor learning is helping pupils achieve academic success
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Celebration
Pupils will have golden memories of 50th anniversary
Facebook: Summerhill50 Twitter: @SummerhillL31
Laura Nelson & Yvonne Gleig Headteachers
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Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
1960s
From family farm to primary school Summerhill Primary School was built in 1966 on land formerly occupied by Summer Hill Farm. A farmhouse and outbuildings made way for a modern school. Lancashire Education Authority had purchased the land to meet demand for school places due to the rapid growth in housing in this part of Maghull. The family farm was run by Benjamin Pimley with his sons Stan and Sid. As part of the deal the Pimleys got a new farmhouse on land opposite the school. A link with the past exists today in the form of a stone cattle trough from the farm, situated near the school’s main entrance.
1967 Monday 9th January: ’Today this new school opened with 66 scholars on roll. At 4pm the caretaker opened the door to the new boiler and suffered burns after a blow back. No serious injuries thankfully. Phew!’
One of the first classes at the new Summerhill Primary School
Headteacher Bill Adamson opened the doors of the new £83,900 school on Monday 9th January 1967. The original four staff were Mr G. Nelson, Miss J. Crellin, Mrs V. Vahey and Mr Adamson. They welcomed 66 pupils, a number that quickly grew over the years. Summerhill was planned as a twoform entry school, and the current building was designed as the junior department with 8 classrooms. An infants school was to follow. After becoming established as a one-form entry school for infants and junior pupils, the ‘spare’ classroom was converted into an art and craft room.
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Pupils soon after Summerhill opened its doors in 1967
Over the years the school’s headteacher of the day kept a diary of key events in the official school log. Some extracts are printed throughout this booklet.
1967 The stone cattle trough from Summer Hill Farm still takes pride of place at the main entrance of the school. Pictured (from left) are deputy head Yvonne Gleig, 2016/17 head boy and head girl, headteacher Laura Nelson and governor Kath Coyle
Thursday 16th February: ‘Brooke Bond Tea’s film unit visited. Items (short films) were shown of African animals and a log plantation, Ceylon.’
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Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
1970s
Summerhill grows in popularity The school number grew to 222 by 1970 and Summerhill continued to blossom in the 1970s, developing a reputation for making learning fun. In May 1975 the first of many school trips to the Isle of the Man took place A group of 43 children set sail accompanied by staff Mr Gerhard, Mrs Carter, Mr Kneebone and Mrs Glynn. The popular annual trips continued until 1996. The school regularly raised money for the island’s RNLI lifeboat crew based at Port Erin, including an impressive £1,000 in 1978, as reported by the Maghull Times.
Summerhill’s first Year 1 to Year 6 graduates in 1973. From top left: Paul King, Mark Williams, Lynne Jones, Melanie Jackson, Hilary Priest, Martin Todd, Steven Moore. From bottom left: Mandy Earps, Kathryn Bolton, Mrs Crellin, Mr Adamson, Mr Nelson, Gillian Eaton and Hazel Kane
1979 Thursday 24th April: ‘Lots of stock arriving for the new educational year. This term's theme is 'God's Green Earth' - fits in well with trips and 4th year expedition to the Isle of Man.’
Along with school children across the UK, Summerhill pupils dressed in red, white and blue to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in June 1977, each receiving a commemorative coin
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Snapshots of the 1970s
Liverpool FC star Steve Heighway passes on some tricks to Summerhill’s footballers during a visit in the early 1970s
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Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
1980s
Headteacher hits the roof! Headteacher Mr Burdekin, who took over from Mr Adamson in September 1977, was passionate about encouraging children to read. So, in the summer of 1986 he promised to spend the last day of term on the school’s roof if pupils read 2,000 books between them. In fact, the bookworms devoured 2,584 books meaning Mr Burdekin had to eat his words. The ‘sit off’ is fondly remembered by past pupils, staff and parents to this day. During a return visit to Summerhill in July 2016 as part of the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations Mr Burdekin said: ‘I set the children a challenge to read 2,000 books and if they hit the target I would hit the roof. It was a bit of fun to inspire the children and also a way to get some publicity for the school.
1981 Wednesday 22nd July: ‘A very full day when we celebrated the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana. Everyone in the school came in red, white and blue clothes. Every child was given a souvenir mug.’
How the Liverpool ECHO reported Mr Burdekin’s rooftop stunt in 1986
‘Contrary to the imaginative folklore that has evolved since then, I didn’t do it every year - it was definitely a one-off!’ However, boys and girls just missed out on the chance to make it even more memorable. Mr Burdekin told the ECHO in 1986 that if the children had notched up 3,000 books he had promised to complete his rooftop stunt dressed as a fairy! Mr Burdekin, who was headteacher from 1977 until 1995, died in November 2016 - only weeks after returning to Summerhill to celebrate the 50th anniversary.
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Another innovation introduced by Mr Burdekin came in 1988 when he unveiled his fabled ‘footcubes’ 12-inch dense foam cubes that replaced footballs on the playground.
a TV set. However, for children mad about Pac-Man and Space Invaders it was irresistible.
Their introduction was to prevent footballs being kicked over the fence onto Poverty Lane and children risking injury by retrieving them. Also in 1988, the school invited its first registered pupil Jill Mordaunt (nee Osborne) back to the school to celebrate Summerhill’s 21st birthday. She reunited with former headteacher Mr Adamson to cut a special cake that she had baked.
Summerhill’s ‘Pacers’ earn their stripes in their new green and white kit in 1981
The 1980s saw Summerhill launch a new green and white football kit, earning the team a new nickname. The ‘Pacers’ were named after the green and white striped chewy sweets, popular at the time. In 1983 the school entered the computer age when it took delivery of a BBC microcomputer, The bulky PC was part of a nationwide computer literacy scheme, giving pupils experience of simple programming. The computer was around 1,000 times slower than today’s computers and it required being plugged into
21 today! Pupils celebrate Summerhill’s coming of age in 1988, with its first ever pupil from 1967 Jill Mordaunt (centre), original headteacher Bill Adamson (right) and his successor Mr Burdekin (left)
1984 Monday 9th July: ‘Whole school visited Liverpool International Garden Festival - lovely day.’
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Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
1990s
Summerhill celebrates 25 years For the school’s 25th anniversary in 1991 pupils assembled a time capsule and buried it in the grounds of the school. Contents included a school tie, a photo of the school, coins, a school tea towel, a conker, an acorn, a guitar string and a ’Letter to the Future.’ The exact location of the time capsule is not recorded, although pupils of the day still have vivid memories of burying it. Ex pupil Tim Jackson wrote on Facebook in 2016: ‘I remember it being an old metal biscuit tin which was painted by some of our class. ‘It was buried next to the railings beside the road, about 20 or 30 metres from the car park entrance.
Pupils Tim Jackson and Louise Little bury the time capsule for the 25th anniversary of Summerhill in 1991
‘A plastic envelope inside the tin protected the contents, although I’m not sure that will have saved the conker or the acorn!!!’ Also in the 1990s, the school’s acorn logo was unveiled (1991), Sue Hopper was appointed headteacher (1995), green uniforms were introduced (1995) and the mother and toddler group was set up (1996). It was a decade of success for Summerhill - the school won funding to plant trees as part of the celebrations for the Queen’s 40th anniversary (1993); and a team of four young designers used their ingenuity to win a competition to create models of prototype cars (1994).
1990 Tuesday 11th December: ‘Workmen came to re-site three oak trees which we have grown from acorns and which are now 6 feet tall after 4 years in our tree nursery. They will make a pleasant copse near the entrance for all future generations.’
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Snapshots of the 1990s
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Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
2000 - 2016
Learning from its rural roots
Summerhill entered the 21st century with ambitions to create the best possible educational experience and the best learning environment for pupils. Structural improvements were made to the school under the leadership of headteacher Laura Nelson, appointed in 2001.
2016 Out of this world Summerhill pupils took part in a #CosmicClassroom lesson with British astronaut Tim Peake live from the International Space Station in orbit around Earth.
Innovations such as Forest School (2015), which provides hands-on learning in a natural environment, have ensured that Summerhill continues to produce happy, inquisitive learners. Since 2014 Summerhill has forged links with schools in Ciechanow and Gdansk, Poland, through a European Union funded exchange scheme operated by Erasmus+. Expertise is swapped between partner schools. A second Erasmus+ grant (2017) made it possible for teachers and learning partners to spend a week on an intensive Spanish learning course in Malaga, developing skills to pass on to pupils.
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Summerhill continues to place emphasis on hands-on learning and creating memorable experiences for pupils. These often involve the geat outdoors and in particular learning from nature. The latest residential trip (pictured) for Years 5 and 6 to Glaramara near Keswick, in the heart of the Lake District, gave youngsters the chance to climb, explore and play. As William Wordsworth wrote: 'Let nature be your teacher.' This approach to learning helped Summerhill achieve record Key Stage 2 results in 2016 for reading, writing and maths. Looking to the future Fifty years on from the creation of Summerhill Primary School due to an inux of families into Maghull, Sefton Council announced in 2016 how it is considering approval of further development of farmland opposite the school alongside the M58 to build 1,400 new homes. In response, provisional plans are being drawn up by the council to expand Summerhill in readiness for the next 50 years and beyond.
We’re on Twitter: @SummerhillL31
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Fields of Green - 50 Years of Summerhill
Summerhill 50
Golden anniverary gave pupils a chance to learn about their history A series of celebrations were held to mark 50 years of Summerhill Primary School - thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Pupils went on a trip to the Museum of Liverpool Life where resident experts helped them explore life in the 1960s and 1970s. Sefton Libraries, a partner for the Summerhill 50 project, held digital research skills workshops at Crosby Library for pupils.
One of the highlights of the project was an Open Day at the school in July 2016 when former pupils were encouraged to attend and share their memories. Sharing stories via social media has also helped the project team piece together the story of Summerhill for future generations. Copies of this booklet were given to Summerhill families and a tenminute film about Summerhill 50 was screened to pupils, parents and guests - all thanks to the support of the HLF. A large storyboard featuring a timeline of Summerhill’s story has been professionally designed and stands in the school grounds. Children also took part in maypole dancing, performing for parents and the public.
Andrew Ashcroft Pupil 1971 - 1977 ‘My fondest memories of Summerhill are helping with the pond and train spotting around the country with Mr Nelson for 25 pence’
Finally, the pupils enjoyed music workshops during which they learned about song writing and got to perform the school’s 50th anniversary song ‘Fields of Green’ see back page.
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Live! Learn! Dream! Grow! This is Summerhill, let’s go! To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Summerhill former pupil Elizabeth Jones (aka folk singer Elfin Bow) wrote a song ‘Fields of Green’ which she performed with pupils at a special celebration in July 2016. She said: ‘It was a great privilege. I got inspiration from classic songs from the 60s and 70s like Morning Has Broken by Cat Stevens, so there's a slow opening but then the song energises the children with a toe-tapping central part. It’s a complex song in parts but the children did really well learning and performing it. I was very proud of them.’
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