www.Poundswick .org.uk

The Coat-of-Arms
and Motto
 

From 1956 until 1987 Poundswick's Coat-of-Arms was as shown here. It depicts a sailing ship to denote the port of Manchester, above the book of knowledge and the book of learning. The tree is a Willow or Wythen, from which Wythenshawe (literally "Willow thicket") gets its name.

The literal translation of the motto
"Nisi Dominus Frustra" is "In vain without the Lord".
This is a heraldic contraction of the first line of Psalm 127: "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it".

The motto is shared with many others including, for example, the City of Edinburgh.
 
School Uniform
 
Throughout this early period, maroon and blue were the school colours. Boys wore grey trousers, white or grey shirts and a maroon blazer with the coat-of-arms embroidered on the pocket.
Over the years, maroon Poundswick blazers by the thousand must have been discarded as their owners moved on to pastures new. Fortunately for us, Steve Berry (1957-64) had the forethought to cut out the pocket before discarding his. What a gem!

In winter, junior girls wore a similar blazer with a maroon tunic and optional maroon cardigan. Senior girls (fifth and sixth forms) wore a maroon skirt and blue blouse in place of the tunic.

In summer, junior girls wore a dress with a maroon, blue and white check pattern. Senior girls wore a blue dress with white spots

In the fifth and sixth forms, boys wore a black blazer, also with the coat-of-arms on the pocket. By the mid-sixties striped shirts were fashionable and, although officially frowned upon, these were generally tolerated provided they were white with thin blue stripes!

  
 
There were three different types of school tie. The standard tie was maroon with diagonal blue stripes, as shown on the left.

A special sixth-form tie, on the right was plain maroon with diagonal lines of crests. The Prefects' tie, far right, had both crests and narrow blue stripes.

 
Elevation to the status of Prefect bestowed both privileges and obligations. Amongst the privileges was the right to use the staff only staircase. The obligations were much more onerous: to dress smartly, to behave properly and to set a good example to the rest of the school; not always easy!
 
Do you remember the school scarf on those cold winter mornings? This one was exported to Austrialia when its owner, Alan Maudsley, emigrated with his parents in 1970.
 
Headgear comprised maroon caps for boys up to the fourth form; older boys were spared the ignominy of wearing a cap! Junior girls wore a grey "jockey" hat and senior girls a maroon "boater" style hat. All girls' hats sported an enamelled metal badge, as shown here.
School uniforms were supplied by two outfitters; Messrs Chattertons of Gatley and also Henry Barrie of St. Anne's Square, Manchester. Blazers from these outfitters could be distinguished by slight differences in the design of the coat-of-arms on the pocket.

The maroon and blue colours, uniform and coat of arms as depicted on this page survived officially until 1987. However, during the 1970s the uniform code relaxed considerably and variations began to creep in. Girls' skirts got shorter and were worn together with tight maroon polo-kneck jumpers. The expensive school blazers were gradually replaced by more widely-available (and cheaper) plain maroon jackets with a separate badge that could be ironed on to the pocket. By the early 80s few pupils were wearing blazers at all. Branded trainers became the rage in about 1983 and by 1987 all semblance of an official uniform had effectively evaporated. The school then officially went "non-uniform" for a while. Later, a simpler uniform was introduced based on a plain blue sweatshirt and white polo shirt without any crest or logo. From personal observation, the uniform today (i.e. in the Parklands era) appears to consist of a white sweatshirt and black jersey with black trousers for boys and a black skirt for girls. This uniform is not universally worn.