Hi.

I wanted to find a name for this website that would give good historical coverage -- difficult for a school that has changed its own name so much over the years. I toyed with a number of possibilities: some weren't available, some didn't really work as domain names. And so it was that I ended up with Hall 43. Ok, so it looks a bit like Mr Hall bought a website after 42 other people called Hall, but it's not too bad. The room that bore that name was part of the campus for over 60 years, and was named about halfway through that period, so as an icon it should be fairly well recognisable. Of course, current students won't be familiar with the room because it burnt down in the '90s. But they can find out a bit about it here.

Ok.

This is a site all about Dinnington Comprehensive School (formerly Dinnington High School, Dinnington Secondary School, and various permeatations around Dinnington Secondary Modern) in South Yorkshire. It consists of a staff database, articles on the campus, and sundry other odds and ends about the school and its history. It is designed as an affectionate and light-hearted examination of the school and its staff, in what is a nostalgia-filled world. It is not meant to cause offence or to in any way detract from DCS.

The perameters of this site are defined by the campus of the school. So while the site attempts to document the staff, campus and history of the Secondary Modern, it turns a blind eye to the Secondary Technical School that merged with it when the High School was formed in 1963. My main reason for this was simply a lack of familiarity with the Tech campus, but it also helps keep the size of the site to a manageable level.

The initial bones of this site took the form of a teacher database, put together to bolster my memories. I spent seven years at DCS (1990/1-7), which is my longest period in any one institution, and I wanted to get this stuff down before I forgot it all. My aim now is to eventually catalogue everyone who ever taught at DCS / DHS / DSM, giving a quick review of their tenure and of any memorable traits or stories connected with them. It is not an attempt to character-assassinate anyone or to ruin their lives, but at the same time it would be amiss of me to neglect any memorable (if perhaps slightly embarrassing) antics. Rumours, though, are only alluded to, and only then when they are considered of sufficient note as to be a central part of school folklore. I'm not out to destroy anyone's life or lose them their job or their authority. Many of my more critical reviews have been toned down over the years because I genuinely don't want to mess anybody up or upset them. This site might be irreverent but it does not aspire to be tabloid. I have great respect for anybody who decides they want to teach, and it is not my intention to hurt feelings.

It is my intention to expand this site with information about the school's history, and to try to keep things up to date. It is my hope that these pages might be genuinely informative rather than simply pandering to humour and nostalgia.

Dinnington Comprehensive School was the school I went to and I can recommend it above or below no other. All I can say is that I had a nice time there and learnt some stuff. This site is meant to be a fond memory of a school I went to. It is not a tirade against it.

If you would like to add material to this site, or correct anything that may be wrong, please feel free to send me an email:

Thankyou.

S Jesper