CLASSROOM MEMORIES
GIOVANNA FLETCHER
I was always so excited to go back to ‘
school. Rightly or wrongly, because in certain schools I didn’t have the best experience. But I loved that feeling. I loved the structure that school brings. I loved seeing friends. I’m such a swot, so I loved the learning we were going to be doing. So for me, it was always a good time. And plus, I think that September/October is such a nice time of year, with the weather and everything.
It always felt really good knowing that I was seeing mates and there was a feeling of starting again. And you were going up a school year, so that was always really exciting. It felt like you were on to the next step, the next chapter.
MILLIE MACKINTOSH
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I was always a bit indifferent when it came to school. I liked the social aspects of it more than the actual academia. There was always an element of excitement to get back and see my friends after the holidays, which would then be closely followed by the dread of being in a classroom for the next six weeks until half-term break. I guess my teachers would have called me a bit of a daydreamer. Textbook learning was not
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my thing, but anything creative and interactive I really enjoyed and excelled at. Looking back, it’s not too much of a surprise that my career to date has been around the creative industry.
LORRAINE KELLY
I remember being so nervous when we moved
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house from the East End of Glasgow to East Kilbride when I was 12 years old and I had to go to a huge new comprehensive secondary school. I had to get a new uniform for Claremont High School; a maroon blazer, grey skirt, white shirt and maroon-and-white tie.
The school was too far to walk to so I had to get the bus, and I remember being very apprehensive about getting off at the right stop, until I realised that everyone on board was a pupil at the school. I sat at the front while everyone chatted and laughed and I felt like a real outsider.
I didn’t know a soul for those first few days, and thought I’d never make any new friends as everyone seemed to already know one
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another and had formed little groups. I was so happy to meet my friend Joyce; we clicked right away, and we remain best friends to this day – 48 years later!
AMY DOWDEN
I absolutely loved school, I was a teacher’s pet. I loved it! Halfway through the summer holidays I would be wanting to go back to school, excited to meet my new teacher and to be back with my friends.