The History Of Our School

Hessle Mount School started its life many years before I purchased it in 1976. It was originally known as Miss Trotters and I think it operated from Mere House in Swanland. Miss Trotter was, I believe, the governess to the Reckitt family who resided in Swanland many years ago.

Miss Trotter sold her school to Mr & Mrs Jefferson who lived on Main Street, Swanland. They renamed the school Swanland Private School and operated from two rooms in the United Reformed Church by the side of Swanland pond.

When my son Mark was born in 1969 his father and I placed his name on the entry list to the same Prep school that his brothers had attended. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the entry date for him to start as they wanted him to join in the Spring Term and we had wanted him to join them in the Summer Term. It was suggested to me that there may be no place left for him in the Summer Term so I should take up the offer of the Spring Term. After telling a friend in the village about this, it was suggested that I look at Swanland Private School. Here I met Mrs Jefferson, the owner, along with two teachers who were to become the most important people in my life, Mrs Jennifer Heelas and Mrs Margaret Willsdon.

The little school had the most caring, friendly and talented staff. There was nowhere for the children to play, desks and chairs were stacked at the end of the day, cleared away every Friday and put back out every Monday. Should a funeral be taking place in the church the children had to be very quiet indeed. Mark and the other 16 children flourished and my daughter Sarah was just about ready to join the school when Mr and Mrs Jefferson decided to emigrate to join their daughter in Canada. Parents were informed and the school looked as though it would close down.

I asked my husband if he would loan me the money to buy this wonderful little school; if he would, I would ask Mrs Heelas and Mrs Willsdon to stay on and help me give these children the best start to school life we could. They agreed, and what a team we became. I could not have had better teachers to learn from, never mind the children. We soon realised that most parents wanted a very solid base on which to build their children’s education on, and for their children to be happy and secure at school. To this day, I still believe that to be important. We also found that Hymers College was most parents’ first choice as a junior school for their children to go on to. As the entrance Examination day came around we would get one of our mums to ask as many questions of their child as they could, after they had sat the exam, so that we could be sure we were giving our pupils the best possible chance.

Our little school started getting more and more pupils, and I was loving my new life. My husband and I were out for dinner one evening with a local solicitor named Bob Locking who told me he had found just the right place for our school to flourish even more in - Hessle Mount, situated on Jenny Brough Lane in Hessle. Well, it was just the place to turn into a school; it had such a warm family feel. Margaret and I went to have a look around and we just knew this was the right place. I remember clearly sitting in the sunken garden with these special ladies talking endlessly about all that we could do in the future!

So in October 1978 we purchased Hessle Mount and on April 30th 1979 the renamed Hessle Mount School opened. Money was tight; I was banned from my husband’s office because I stole so much – waste paper bins, pencils, paper, anything that could be useful in school. I was so lucky – even my friends helped with gardening, cleaning and painting. We even painted ourselves into a corner of one of the rooms and had to leap-frog out into the corridor. The staff helped clean the rooms at the end of the day, also making work sheets and often buying books themselves. The parents and friends who organised harvest suppers, cake stalls and dances all made such a difference and still do to this day.

The joy of having a playground for the children to get fresh air and exercise two or three times a day, instead of having to walk to local strip of land in Swanland once a day, was incredible. We knocked two rooms together which became our main hall for assemblies and lunch time. We purchased a piano and Jennifer Heelas organised a choir which would enter Hull Music Festival each year. We had Sports Days - which are still a firm favourite each year.

One member of staff, temporarily homeless with three children lived upstairs, before the rooms were classrooms, for a short while. We initially only used three rooms downstairs but we grew over time and eventually needed all the main rooms and purchased separate demountable units as parents realised what a happy hard working school we were.

Staff meetings were great – we made all decisions jointly. To some of us they were the best days of our lives – this was said to me by Margaret Willsdon a few months before she died, and I told her that without her and Jennifer there would never have been a Hessle Mount School. I was blessed in meeting them all those years ago.

In 1996 Sarah joined the school as a teaching assistant while she studied to become a teacher. By 1998 she had been approached by numerous parents to start a Pre-School and also out of school care facilities. We soon realised that wrap around care was desperately needed by parents so we put our heads together and started a Pre-School in the main building, along with After-School Care facilities at the end of the school day. Sarah worked alongside Mrs Ayre to build both projects, followed by Mrs Black. As it became more and more popular we had to purchase another unit (now the ICT suite) and start Easter and Summer holiday facilities. Mrs Black has now successfully moved the Pre-School into Mount Bungalow next door, which we bought in 2006. We are very proud of all these projects; the children are cared for in warm caring environments by people who know and care about them enormously.

My son Mark also joined us in 2001 and he completely updated and streamlined the financial side of the school. His role of bursar has been vital as the school has grown and flourished.

Parents who were once pupils are now bringing their children to the school and I feel privileged to become part of their families once again. My grandchildren and those of Mrs Heelas and Mrs Riddle are now also part of our school family. Hessle Mount is still a family school with Mark and Sarah ensuring that every parent and child is still valued as much as they were over 30 years ago.

Carol Cutting