Priory High School for Girls

Are you on this photograph or, do you know anyone who is? Has anyone any pictures of this school for the period 1945 to 1950?

Hi Sheila, go to Topic Categories, then Schools and Education, there you will find a topic called Wheatley Street school.

I attended Priory High School for Girls from 1947-1952. Miss Muriel Clews was our headmistress - a formidable lady and close friend of Selina Dix. One of the school houses was Selina Dix, the others being Godiva, Ellen Terry and George Eliot. Are there any girls out there who were in class 5F in 1952? Some of us are meeting for lunch on the 14th March and we would love to hear from anyone with information about "old girls" from the school. When I started the school in September 1947 it was Wheatley Street School for Girls but in the November Miss Clews announced that the school would, in future, be known as The Priory High School for Girls. I think it was in the late fifties that the school closed and it was moved to Lyng Hall and became a comprehensive school. I remember sliding down the sloping playground on long slides in icy weather - no health and safety considerations then. I also remember Miss Clews marching us all into the Hall after the death of King George VI to sing God Save the Queen and telling us to remember where we first sang the National Anthem for our Queen.

For those who may be interested, click on the 'Famous Coventrians' tab on the left of this page, scroll down to 'Earned Coventrian Status' and you will find a potted biography of Selina Dix on clicking 'Full description'.

My mum is on the front row of this picture of Priory High school girls - her name was Freda Jones.

Hi Shirley, welcome to the forum I hope you get some quick replies but there might be a bit of a wait... or not. I never stop being amazed by the links people have to each other.

I attended Priory High in the early 60's. We shared the building with Wheatley Street Boys School. Their Headmaster was Mr Jenkins {or Jenkinson, one was Headmaster and the other the Science teacher}. Their entrance was in Wheatley Street. The Girls entrance for Priory High was in Lower Ford Street and had Lime Trees growing along the metal fencing each sides of the double metal gates that led you into the playground. In the girls playground there was a seperate entrance with a ramp halfway down the building that led into the unit for the deaf. The Girls Headmistress was called Miss Whitehead who commanded respect but was always approachable and one of my most favourite Teachers, as was Mr Bartlet, English, Mr Thomas, Maths, Mr Price, History, Mrs Hill, P.E and Mrs Tucker, Domestic Science, who taught me so much. Although we had mixed lessons, we had our own playgrounds and were not allowed to mix during free time. We all attended Assembly in the mornings, including the Deaf Unit who stood in the front row as they were nearer the Teachers and could see them better, there were children who could lip read and also some that were hard of hearing. Looking back I never remember integration with the children in the unit, even in Assembly they all stayed together, I never remember them in the playground with us. I felt that was such a shame. Thank goodness times have now changed for the better. I loved my time at Priory. A year or two after I left they opened a new School called Sidney Stringer a few streets away which was mixed and our school no longer took in children as they were transferred to the new school. Our school was taken over by Coventry Transport which used it to Garage and repair the Buses until it was finally demolished. Shame.