Interviews of Shirley Swinton and Janet Whinnett

This interview, with friends Shirley Swinton (60) and Jane Whinnett (59), concentrates on their experiences of childhood from early memories through their primary school years. As both women had February birthdays they both started school early, just before their fifth birthday, and therefore spent a year and a half in primary 1. Both had been at home with their mum before starting school and remembered playing around the house with little contact with other children.

Jane could remember playing around St Anne’s Place when the new council houses were being built and especially recalled the Moncrieff brothers who she thought were responsible for the entranceway. Starting school was quite a change for them and they reflect that the post-war climate meant that parents were quite aspirational for their children and that the education system, informed by the Plowden report, was more becoming more focussed on active learning rather than learning by rote – which both women had really enjoyed. That being said, both women recalled that going into primary 3 was like stepping back in time as the teacher, although not old, had very old-fashioned ideas about teaching and taught the children in a more traditional way.

Other aspects of school life discussed include punishment, nature play, environmental studies, playing games, school reading books, school lunches and special trips. They recalled visits to the Courier offices, where they were taken through the whole process of printing the newspaper, and also going to visit the Police station and the West Mills. They also recalled learning, from reading and writing to sewing and knitting. They remembered, for instance, the whole class being given Stanley knives to cut out cardboard to construct a bridge.

Haddington public school had been expanding during their time there and, in primary 7, the children were moved to King’s Meadow primary. Although the physical space was very bright and airy, the women felt that this was a bit of a low point in their primary education as most learning was done on an individual-study basis, rather than practical group work. School trips included a visit to Dunfermline Park and swimming lessons at Port Seton outdoor pool. They both recalled provision within the school for children with disabilities.

Towards the end of the interview, they discuss the boys and girls who attended the school from the local homes at Templedean (girls) and Tenterfield (boys and girls), reflecting on the difficulty of single mothers keeping their children with them (due to social stigma at that time), or of single fathers being able to look after their children if their job took them away from home for extended periods, e.g. working at sea.