From My Memory Bank Back in the 1960s
School was a routine we were subjected to for so many of our formative years.
Was it a fair system?
Was it fun? How I can on answer that? The rules were set and
applied by the paid employees of the education department. Such
individuals came from all walks of life. They had many different
personal standards and values. Like with all things in life, luck
played a part in deciding who the controllers of our days were.
However one thing was certain, the power was with the teachers.
I attended the first two years of high school at Elwood Central School, as the new high school buildings could only accommodate Form 3 to Form 6. Some years later the Central School became a Primary School and Elwood High School was the home to Form 1 to Form 6 students.
On the whole, I was
fortunate. Yet there were a few teachers, who had strange values. I
recall the Form 5 maths teacher, who told the class about his marking
rules of our exam papers and “work done”. Without any
embarrassment, he said, “Boys get a scale of marks, girls either
get ten out of ten, or zero out of ten”. I accepted that. Looking
back I think he was preparing me for life. Yes, I did go on to do
pure mathematics at University and passed it, but I always knew I had
to do that bit extra. Eat your heart out supporters of STEM! No, I
did not go on to be a mathematician. The science stream classes were mainly made up of boys. The science subjects were taught by men in the High School. The classes were large even in Form 6.
The younger teachers
were fun. They were fresh from college and they also wanted to enjoy
themselves. Often they found the curriculum they had to teach as much
of a mystery as the students did. My school mates were usually of
middle class and European background. There were many Jewish
students. They were permitted to have leave from school for the
Jewish Holy Days.
Unpleasant things were
kept under wraps. Only a few years ago I found out that two girls I
was friendly with at that time, left the school at the end of Form 5,
at the request of the headmaster. I never knew about it. Their
privacy was protected.
I look back now at the
diversity of teachers we had and cannot but think that the atmosphere
in the staff must have been tense at times. Some of the older teachers were
“fuddy-duddies”. No doubt about that. I recall one, older, female
teacher calling me out of a queue of students waiting to volunteer
for the basketball team, to tell me that the rubber bands in my pony
tails were of different colours. I agreed with her and asked to be
excused. When I returned to my spot in the queue, the others wanted
to know what I was in trouble for. A senior, female teacher used to
get us to kneel on the concrete and with a ruler measured the
distance between our hemline and the ground. For some, rules were
rules after all.
I never argued with any
of them. My instructions from home were clear, though unspoken. They
were that my parents had better things to do then to argue with
teachers. My duties at school were to do well in my work and to not
cause trouble. I managed that and life on the whole was just fine.
We had School Assembly
each Monday morning. There the headmaster or senior teacher told us
of school events and concerns. We all had to say the Oath of Allegiance, which went like this...
I love God and my country
I honour the flag
I shall serve the Queen and
Cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the law.
We then sung the National Anthem, which at that time was, “God Save the Queen.”
Did we question that? I
certainly did not. On the whole Assembly was fairly short and we all
trooped off to classes.
The head was Mr Wade
and in my last year at the school, it was Mr Powell. Both were
shadowy figures, who like good eggs did not interfere in any obvious
ways. Mr Wade had a habit that unnerved some teachers. From time to
time, he quietly prowled the corridors and peered into classrooms
through the narrow windows that looked into the rooms. I think they,
both, were good at their job, as the school ran smoothly and most
teachers remained for several years. I remember Mr Crabtree. Mr
Field, Mr Will, Mr Taylor, Mr Clift, Miss Wedd, Mr Fugedi, Miss
Purves, Mr Pittock, Miss Earl (Roberts), Miss Rowan, Mr Black, Miss
Orpin, Mr Jobling, Mrs Stent, Madam Lewulis, and Mrs Turner.
Each student had a
locker to store their school possessions in. They were located in two
large rooms, one for girls and one for boys, in the middle of the
building, which ran along Goldsmith St.
The girls and boys had certain sections of the yard assigned to them. As it was a new school
the grounds were large. The hockey and softball fields were in
the grounds, as were the basketball courts. We were bus'ed to Middle
Brighton Baths for swimming in summer. This was a salt water pool and was part of Port
Phillip Bay. It was very cold on some days. The facilities there were
ghastly. The locker rooms were basic. Since then I have always
appreciated a good swimming pool. Our sporting competitors in
regional competitions were Brighton High, Bon Beach High, Mentone
High, to name a few.
The school did not have a great reputation for excellence in sports. It was mainly an academic school.
What do we eat?
Mussels!
How do we eat them?
Alive!
and of course there was the war cry Ra Ra Ra: E-L-W-O-O-D H-I-G-H in which we spelled out the name of the school.
In winter term, Form 5 and 6, girls were allowed to make their way to St Moritz in the Esplanade, St Kilda and do ice skating. My close friend Kathy P, and I had the same size feet and I could wear her white skating boots when she could not come to Sport. At other times I used to hire the black boots and skates at the rink. In particular I recall Kathy and I walking back from skating via Acland St, St Kilda, where her mother worked in a well known cake shop. As a treat Mrs P would smuggle us a slice of cake each. It was indeed a great treat after an afternoon of skating.
I think I benefited
greatly by attending a multicultural and co educational school. It was
close to where I lived. I did not have to waste time in travel,
which even then I hated, My friend Tina would pick me up and we would
walk along the canal to the school. After school we some times walked
back, in a more leisurely way along Mitford St to my home. Then Tina
walked on to her home in Ruskin St. Parents did not worry about their
children walking home in those days. It was simpler time to live in.
I kept in touch with a few friends from school but have lost touch with Kathy P, Janet, Tina and Marlene. I would love to hear from them again via this web page.
In those days the
school uniform was maroon and grey. Gloves and hats were to be worn.
There was a grey blazer, grey shirt and grey tunic. A maroon tie was worn by girls and boys with the winter outfit. For summer
there was a maroon short-sleeved, checked dress. The winter hat was grey velour and
the summer hat was a grey straw boater. Uniforms were bought in
Tallents in Glen Huntly Rd or a small shop, Judd's, in Carlisle St.
The shoes were black and worn with grey socks. The school logo was a
sea horse with its tail on the opposite side to its head. The logo
was displayed on the hat bands and on the blazer pocket. The uniform for sport was maroon, with short skirt and matching bloomers and a gold tie belt. The school bag was maroon with a gold trim and the school logo on the sides.
The motto was
'Fide and Diligentia”.
All of these have changed since. There were
no school fees, but a fee was collected each year for the new School
Hall Building Fund. This eventually was built, but burnt down in 1975. It has
been replaced by the Pheonix Theatre.
In : 1960s
Tags: "mr fugedi" "mr wade" "mr clift" "mr pittock" "fide et dilligentia" "miss wedd" seahorse hockey softball stem maths fuddie-duddies lockers classrooms marks tie cake "mr wade" "mr powell" velour fire hall windows queen anthymn boys science