Going into primary class was a big deal. It was all of ten steps from the infants school but a million miles from my experience.
Miss Northey taught us about tadpoles and let us read aloud in class. I sweated on my turn to bring the words into life. The school magazine brought delicious stories and plays and articles into a grey life. The radio broadcast gave us songs each week and sometimes a story. The frogs got out and hopped all over the room. We sang and learned poems. "Someone came a knocking on my wee small door..."
I couldn't see the board so I copied Donna's neat writing.
And we drank milk. Milk in bottles. Free milk that came in bottles to the school.
"Hey there Hooplah
the circus is in town.
Have you seen the elephant,
have you seen the clown...."
Mr Baird in 4th class with the dark rimmed glasses who sat behind the desk and did not like me giggling. Humour was everywhere and much chat to be had and chanting of poems. Down the front under his watchful eye the board was much clearer. He smacked my legs because I giggled so much. Up on the raised platform he smacked the back of my legs and I had to stand still and quiet.
And the milk waited on the verandah until recess and got warm.
Miss Northey again in 5th class. Fountain pens and ink and running writing and ink wells and a new boy from England. He filled the ink wells and placed them in the holes in our wooden desks with the lift up lid. Duncan who sat behind me dipped my pigtail in his ink well. Up the back again next to Donna I copied her curls and roundy letters. Desiree got three red ticks in her margin for good adjectives in composition. Three! The one book that we had for the whole year sported three red ticks. Unprecedented.
SRA and education week and a library flipped my little school nest into some sort of other thing where other people came and sullied and mussied.
School inspection and Miss Northey had to show when she taught science and geography. "...and Kerrie, what is the mountain range called..?" ..silence and Miss Northey on trial awaited the verdict..."The Great Dividing Range." Tension gone. Three red ticks for Miss Northey.
And I gave my milk to Pauline who got no milk at home.
D. A. Read for 6th class and sitting next to Arthur. Arthur who kissed me in folk dancing and lent me his texta colours whose lids I lost running around the playground. He hated me after that and changed his name from Pusscheck to something Aussie and plain and from here rather than there (wherever that was).
D.A. Read was often out of the class (being principal) and the deputy came in sometimes. Long division and tears...lovely school magazines..and singing in the choir. Pauline and I threw rocks into the creek. Apparently not allowed. Pauline took the blame and got the cane. Stanley mowed the lawn while we did bookish stuff. Duncan no longer dipped and I walked home with David. Kevin stopped eating the whole block of cheese each day for lunch and wore ear things so he could hear, and we lined up for high school. Susan, John and Pauline headed the line for the other school further away. I tagged along...last in line.
And the milk was cool in cartons on the verandah and we could drink it in the morning.
Miss Northey taught us about tadpoles and let us read aloud in class. I sweated on my turn to bring the words into life. The school magazine brought delicious stories and plays and articles into a grey life. The radio broadcast gave us songs each week and sometimes a story. The frogs got out and hopped all over the room. We sang and learned poems. "Someone came a knocking on my wee small door..."
I couldn't see the board so I copied Donna's neat writing.
And we drank milk. Milk in bottles. Free milk that came in bottles to the school.
"Hey there Hooplah
the circus is in town.
Have you seen the elephant,
have you seen the clown...."
Mr Baird in 4th class with the dark rimmed glasses who sat behind the desk and did not like me giggling. Humour was everywhere and much chat to be had and chanting of poems. Down the front under his watchful eye the board was much clearer. He smacked my legs because I giggled so much. Up on the raised platform he smacked the back of my legs and I had to stand still and quiet.
And the milk waited on the verandah until recess and got warm.
Miss Northey again in 5th class. Fountain pens and ink and running writing and ink wells and a new boy from England. He filled the ink wells and placed them in the holes in our wooden desks with the lift up lid. Duncan who sat behind me dipped my pigtail in his ink well. Up the back again next to Donna I copied her curls and roundy letters. Desiree got three red ticks in her margin for good adjectives in composition. Three! The one book that we had for the whole year sported three red ticks. Unprecedented.
SRA and education week and a library flipped my little school nest into some sort of other thing where other people came and sullied and mussied.
School inspection and Miss Northey had to show when she taught science and geography. "...and Kerrie, what is the mountain range called..?" ..silence and Miss Northey on trial awaited the verdict..."The Great Dividing Range." Tension gone. Three red ticks for Miss Northey.
And I gave my milk to Pauline who got no milk at home.
D. A. Read for 6th class and sitting next to Arthur. Arthur who kissed me in folk dancing and lent me his texta colours whose lids I lost running around the playground. He hated me after that and changed his name from Pusscheck to something Aussie and plain and from here rather than there (wherever that was).
D.A. Read was often out of the class (being principal) and the deputy came in sometimes. Long division and tears...lovely school magazines..and singing in the choir. Pauline and I threw rocks into the creek. Apparently not allowed. Pauline took the blame and got the cane. Stanley mowed the lawn while we did bookish stuff. Duncan no longer dipped and I walked home with David. Kevin stopped eating the whole block of cheese each day for lunch and wore ear things so he could hear, and we lined up for high school. Susan, John and Pauline headed the line for the other school further away. I tagged along...last in line.
And the milk was cool in cartons on the verandah and we could drink it in the morning.
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