 Last year, Crookhill and Emmaville
Schools celebrated their
centenaries. This year, 2009 it is
Greenside's turn, and Head Teacher
Dawn Foster, Curiculum Manager Andrea
Ingram, the teachers and teaching
assistants have great plans. Since
the beginning of January, the pupils
have begun to learn about some of
Greenside's rich (and often forgotten)
history. On Friday, February 13, to
give them a real taste of the past,
they will be dressing up like pupils
100 years ago. For the occasion, the
school will be open to all members of
the public. Particularly if you are a
former pupil of the school, try not to
miss this event!
After half-term. the theme for the
history project will be Greenside's
coal-mining history; then after Easter
there will be an emphasis on
experiences of two world wars.
The Local History Group, whose Chair,
Audrey Pyle, taught for many years at
the school, is offering prizes for the
best scrapbooks from the pupils - so
if you have any material to paste in
these books, please give it direct to
any pupil you know, or if you don't
know any, give it to the school, who
will be sure to make good use of it.
The address for the school is
Greenside County Primary School,
Ryton, NE40 3PT, and the telephone
number is (0191) 413 2186.
The School had to expand and move to
new premises from a site in front of
the present Social Club because the
opening of Greenside Pit in 1905
brought a huge influx of new workers
and their families into the village.
Thus the history of school and pit go
hand in
hand, so it is no surprise that Jack
Graham, Chairman of the Governors and
of Banner Tales Should suggest
replacing the picture of the Miners'
Convalescent Home with a picture of
Greenside School on the back of the
new Greenside Miners' Banner.
The new banner replaces one that was
used up to the closure of the pit in
1966, and was discovered hidden away
in the Social Club a few years back, a
little the worse for wear. This one
was repaired, but the ambition of
Banner Tales (a Greenside community
group set up to celebrate the area's
mining history) to have a brand new
one was realised last year.
While the Local History Group is
letting the school have all its
display materials on loan for the
duration of the centenary project,
Banner Tales is organizing the
provision of a teaching pack on coal-
mining so that the present and future
generations of school-children will
not forget Greenside's past.
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