Memories of Kettering school days at pioneering school for children with medical needs

The original Kingsley School in Beatrice Road catered for children with additional needs
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A former Kettering schoolgirl, amazed to see herself featured as a little girl in a Northants Telegraph picture special , has said how much she loved her school days.

Lynda Malsher (nee Lewis) attended Kingsley School, when it was located in its original Beatrice Road buildings that had sprung up from the Edwardian Open-Air Recovery School.

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The photo of her classmates jogged her memory of the ten years spent receiving her infant, junior and secondary education in the airy and spacious classrooms.

Born with a rare genetic skin condition EI (Bullous Ichthyosiform Erythroderma Ichthyosis) that causes blistering on a second layer of skin, Lynda and several members of her family were sent to the school so they could receive nursing attention.

She said: "It was a very good school for poorly children and we were treated very well, but I was no way as poorly as some of the unfortunate children. I suffer from a skin condition and that’s why I and some of my family were sent there.

"I think the photo was taken around 1963-1964. I must have been about five. I used to love Christmas doing the pantomime, and singing Christmas carols.

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"The classrooms used to have doors in the front that went out into the playground. I can always remember the dinners we had, the cooks were amazing, they always gave us fantastic meals, we also got a small bottle of milk and biscuits every morning. I also remember the room where we used to go for a sleep in the afternoon. l couldn’t understand why we had to go and have a rest.

Lynda when she was in the infants section of the schoolLynda when she was in the infants section of the school
Lynda when she was in the infants section of the school

"Every morning in the assembly hall we had to sing hymns and finish with the Lord's Prayer - I still have my bible which was given to me the day I left school, and I got it signed with some of my friends who also left that day and some who were still attending.

"We had nurses and the two I remember are Mrs Morrison and Mrs Curry. The teachers I remember are Ms Smith, Mr Baxter, Mrs Lily, Ms Helens, Ms Holt, and the headmasters were Mr Lamont and Mr Johnson - the caretaker was Mr Reynolds.

"I remember going to kettering swimming baths once a week to learn how to swim, it was Ms Bonum who used to teach the children. There is housing where the swimming baths used to be.

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At the age of eleven, some children were sent into 'mainstream' schools with one of Lynda's brothers moving on to Bishop Stopford but Lynda and some of her sisters were kept at Kingsley. Lynda, now 63 and living in Broughton, left school at 15 to work in a local shoe factory

Lynda and her husband Stuart celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in 2019Lynda and her husband Stuart celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in 2019
Lynda and her husband Stuart celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary in 2019

She said: "It was very caring and spot on for the children but it was not as academic as mainstream.

"I always said I should have been sent to another school at the age of eleven but I was never given the chance."

Kingsley School moved its provision to a brand new home in Churchill Way, with the Beatrice Road site changing to Orchard ending its days as Maplefields School.

The original school also known as Orchard School has now been demolished to make way for housing.