Mr John Anderson (Deputy Headteacher (1982-1988) and Headteacher (1992-2010)
Congratulations to everyone at Dronfield Junior School as you celebrate it’s 150th Anniversary this year. I was privileged to serve as it’s Deputy Headteacher from 1982 - 88 under Mr Henry and later as Headteacher for 18 years until my retirement in 2010.
I look back on my time at DJS with real fondness and with many happy memories, as this was a time of major changes in education, with the introduction of the National Curriculum and the coming of computers in the classroom. My proudest moment was with the Outstanding Ofsted report in 2007 which celebrated and praised every aspect of school life, from the outstanding teaching and the high achievement of the pupils and also the ‘stunning range of enrichment opportunities’ afforded to all pupils. I have always believed that school life should combine hard work with fun - with discos, parties, sports and artistic events, after school clubs, musical productions and trips and visits.
I inherited Mr Henry’s passion for table tennis (the school won national team championships several times) and with the support of so many excellent sports coaches achieved success in many other sports. I particularly enjoyed our Sports Days at the EIS, where every child experienced a range of athletics events while the teams competed in their House colours - so very exciting! I also remember the annual sponsored Krypton Factor Challenges where children attempted a wide range of challenges, often helped by celebrated stars such as the boxer Bomber Graham, astronaut Helen Sharman and Kevin Burns who came to see the challenges in action.
I loved to organise trips and visits - from PGL and Kingswood activity holidays, to trips to Edinburgh, Wales and London to visit the Houses of Parliament and see the sights, always followed up by theatre visits in Sheffield, Manchester and the West End to see top shows like the Lion King, Wicked, Matilda, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Cats. The Y6 children particularly looked forward to the France trips, visiting Paris and experiencing the magic of Disneyland. When I meet ex pupils now it’s always these extra curricular activities that they loved and remembered.
Of course my greatest achievement as Head was in appointing so many excellent members of staff who worked so hard and gave me such wonderful support - how many others schools would have all their staff turning up on Friday nights without complaints to help run the regular discos? I also enjoyed the very active support of the school governors who played such an important role in supporting the school, helping in lessons, going on trips and helping to run our regular Quiz Nights.
So many memories - I miss the school, the staff and especially the pupils. I have met so many of them since retirement and it is so wonderful to hear how well they have done in their careers and in life. I was very pleased to pass the school on to Martin Finch and subsequently Nicola Thomson, both of whom have taken the school forward and when I occasionally pop in to visit the school I am pleased to see it is still such a vibrant community at the heart of Dronfield.
Memories from past pupils
Pat Hutchinson ( née Greetham) (Attended DJS early 50s - 1954)
I joined Dronfield Juniors from the Infants in the early 50's until 1954 when I went to Dronfield Henry Fanshawe. I loved my time there. There were some wonderful teachers ... Mrs Oliver, Miss Cadman, Miss Bramall and Mrs Lockwood. The Head teacher was Miss Village, who was lovely.
The school then was all girls and we were divided from the boys by a high wall, into which my brother, Robin, crashed whilst coming down an icy slide! He split his head open! Our playground was full of girls having fun, playing hopscotch, chase and skipping.
There were 50 girls in my class and we sat according to merit which depended on the results of Friday's spelling and mental arithmetic tests!!! The teachers sat at a high desk at the front of the class. I remember in Mrs Lockwood’s class there was a lovely fire and we stood round the fire guard in a long, orderly queue waiting to have our books marked … gorgeous.
It wasn’t just Maths and English although we were given a good grounding academically; we did Nature walks, maypole dancing; we did sewing, we were taught about astronomy and learned the stories of Greek myths and legends. We also put on plays and I remember Judy Britten as Toad in Toad of Toad Hall … hilarious.
All in all I am so grateful to the wonderful education and experiences I received at Dronfield Junior School.
Nick Dann (Attended DJS 1974 - 1978)
In 1975 I was a mere 8 years old and recall the 1975 DJS Centenary Celebrations with great fondness. There was excitement in the school as we looked forward to a celebration day where we all dressed up as Victoria schoolchildren. I think I was in Mrs Soaper’s class and I took a special trip to my Grandads in Chesterfield to relieve him of a flat cap and some braces. On the big centenary day at school I remember doing exercises on the large playground with the rest of the school as they did in Victorian times. I think we received a celebratory gift but may be confusing it with the Queens Silver Jubilee in 1977 where we got a tea spoon and china mug. One Christmas party at DJS we had a funny hat competition (which I won) after me and Dad made a toilet cistern for a hat with the aptly titled “Dann Dann The Lavatory Man” emblazoned on it. I recall being taken into the staff room just off the main hall to show all the teachers. It made a change to go in there and not be in trouble!
I was at DJS from 1974 to 1978 (I think) and I have very fond memories of my time at both the infants and juniors. At DJS I particularly enjoyed my year with Mr Allen who had just started as a new teacher (and is still teaching I understand). We were in one of the wooden classrooms on the main playground. The school seemed massive at the time and I would love to come back and walk around wondering if it has that same old nice school smell. I moved out of Dronfield in 1989 but still maintain contact with a lot of old school friends and our 1983 Henry Fanshawe leaving year still have a reunion every five years.
