Each school day would start with Assembly. In the Juniors, this would take place in the ground floor hall. The eight classes of the Juniors (years one through four, two classes in each year) would gather to hear a piece of classical music played over the Tannoy loudspeaker system. Some Italian arias, I recall (Caro mio Ben). Also, Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. After a few words from the headmaster, Mr Beckford, we would sing a hymn.
Ones that spring to mind: For Those In Peril On The Sea; as Welsh as you can get in West London Bread of Heaven; at harvest festival time, We Plough The Fields and Scatter, Come, ye Thankful People, Come; and the perennial O God, Our Help in Ages Past; Praise My Soul the King of Heaven; O Worship the King (Our Shield and Defender/The Ancient of Days/Pavilion'd in splendour/And girded with praise.) To Be A Pilgrim (though I recall the first line as "Who would true valiant be"). And of course Onward Christian Soldiers, and All Things Bright and Beautiful.
One that came back to me months later after compiling the above list from memory was At the Name of Jesus (this version).
During Advent, of course, carols would be sung.
No concessions to multifaith other than a once-weekly assembly for Catholic children held in a classroom by Mr Sayer. Who drove a Sunbeam-Talbot 90 car.
Back then, Primacy of the Established Church (of England) held firm; Queen Elizabeth on the Throne, God in His Heaven, we all knew our place. Yet from today's perspective, over 40 years on, this feudal vision of a deity that is Lord and King, wears a Crown, runs a Kingdom or even an Empire, is out of time and out of place. "Jesus, the President and CEO"? A similarly unlikely conceit. A reason why C of E is losing touch with humans today.
I very much doubt that any of my fellow pupils at Oaklands read this blog, but if you are one of them, and can recall anything else from Assembly, please let me know.
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I'm about 7 years younger than you, but I remember from the Infants Mrs. Golding, jolly Mrs Constance who used to cycle past my house every day- and far from jolly Mrs. Sayer who retired the year I moved up to the Juniors. I don't remember assembly in he infants at all.
I do remember the Junior though. By the time I was there in the early 70s the Headmaster was Mr. W.A.G. Warden. What a man! Our assemblies were much as yours, but on a Thursday morning Mr. Warden would keep the whole school in the hall for hymn practice until breaktime - and as a teacher myself I'm sure that the staff appreciated this. He was a tall, well built, jovial sort of man, deep of voice, slow to anger, and full of good humour. Much as I really liked him - and I did - he wasn't even my favourite teacher. No, my favourite was Mr. Watson. Unimpressive to look at, Mr. Watson still had more sheer presence than any other teacher I have ever met before or since. He used to take a party of kids to Austria every year - sadly I was told we couldn't afford it. Nonetheless, I thought he was great. Judging by the reactions of my friends and other people in our class, he was a bit of a marmite teacher - you either loved him or hated him. My younger brother, for example, really wasn't all that fussed at all. I thought he was wonderful. As a former captain of Walpole House I was honoured to be invited to attend his retirement do in 1986. When I told him I was studying for my PGCE to qualify as a teacher he told me that I must be mad - hopefully he was joking.
My last class teacher in Oaklands was Miss Forsey. I'll be honest, I'm not sure what the exact nature of her relationship with Mr. Watson was, but I believe they were something of an item. I'm afraid that Miss F. was something of a tartar, and humiliation and scorn were the main weapons in her arsenal.
I loved Oaklands, in a way I never quite did Elthorne High School where I went in 1976. I enjoyed Elthorne, but I just loved Oaklands.
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