FIFTY YEARS OF VYNERS

Staff and pupils of Vyners have been celebrating the school’s Golden Anniversary by holding three reunions.  These were enthusiastically organised by Perry Parsons MBE.  Naturally, the Vyners Swing Band was there on each occasion to provide additional colour, the hall was decorated, memorabilia prepared and food laid on.  Altogether, some 800 of the earlier teachers and pupils attended, including former pupil Sue Curley, now Head of Alumni Relations at Brunel University. 

She said, “Returning even after 50 years, the building seemed very familiar and friendships which were made all those years ago are still intact.  We continued talking as if it were yesterday – and of course we all look just the same!!  Looking back as founders, it was a very special time, a unique opportunity to be there at the beginning of something rather special.  The builders were still there when we moved in so we climbed over ladders and pots of paint for the first few weeks.  School dinners arrived in food urns and you ate at your desk.  Trevor Jaggar and the Deputy Head Dick Fox are still held in the greatest respect by all the original Vyners’ pupils.” 

Perry was very touched by the many compliments he received about the reunions.  He wishes to thank all those who were involved with setting up, entertaining and helping to provide what one ex-pupil described as, “a fantastic occasion”.  

 

TREVOR JAGGAR – VYNERS FOUNDER

Trevor Jaggar was the first head teacher of Vyners School and he was proud to join in the recent 50th Anniversary celebrations.  He recalls the day that the school formally opened in 1959, despite the fact that the building was not yet ready. “It was supposed to be finished the previous year”, he said, “but they went on building through 1960”. 

Nevertheless, Trevor, his staff and a limited number of pupils ploughed through the mud to start what was and remains one of the most successful schools in Middlesex.  “We were very happy there”, he continued.  “All the staff were so enthusiastic, probably because it was new and everybody got involved”. 

At the time, Trevor was only 33 – a young age to be appointed Head of any school, let alone one that was not yet established.  He had only been teaching for six years and was “astonished” to be offered the job.  Somehow it worked out and, of his team of twelve original teachers, he remains in touch with the six who are still alive. 

Among those is John Spencer, the art teacher who continues to hold exhibitions of his paintings.  He started the tradition of high standards of art among the pupils that is maintained today.  He and Gerry Wicks, the Head of Design Technology, were also keen on forming a bond between art and engineering on the principal that art involves practical things and engineering needs design.  So girls and boys all received workshop experience in their first year and many continued the subject through to the sixth form. 

Asked about his most satisfying achievement at Vyners, Trevor said, without hesitation, “making all the staff - not just the teachers - think it was their school”. 

Fittingly, when Trevor left the school in 1967 the parents threw a party to express their appreciation and presented him with a painting of his (and his daughter’s) choice.  The painting hangs to this day in his living room in Ickenham, where he lives with his wife, Eiry, who was also a teacher, and whom he married not long before the start of their adventure at Vyners. 

AFN

 

SHONA’S GARDEN

The children of Glebe School found the perfect way to remember their little friend Shona White, who died in June from cancer.  With the help and support of their head teacher Nick Alford, his staff and Hillingdon Council, they have created in the school grounds a delightful garden, dedicated to the memory of Shona. 

“Despite all her problems, Shona was always smiling and loved being at school”, staff member Caroline Bannister said.  “She was an inspiration to us all and much loved by the children.”  The children contributed ideas for the wording of a plaque placed nearby, which says, “The purple flowers in this garden remind us of our friend.  We shall never forget you, Shona”. 

Shona’s favourite colour was purple so when her mother and sister, Stephanie and Iona, put in the first of many new plants they were all that colour.  The children who continued with the planting and are looking after the garden are benefiting from their membership of the Gardening Club and the support they receive from Ickenham’s Horticultural Society (see October ICN). 

Shona’s family are delighted with the result and full of praise for the many people who have worked on the project, which was carried out in conjunction with additional school building work.  “I can’t believe how quickly it has all happened”, says Stephanie.  “Within a few months the school has got two new classrooms and this wonderful garden has been created.”