Morwell High School

Well, I wouldn't have believed it - hardly a mention of it with any information on the web.  Did find this picture.

If I had $1 for every time I've walked through these doors I'd be rich!  The room on the right was the needlework room, and on the left was the Home Economics centre.

I started at MHS in 1965.  The Principal was Mr Ivan Theodore Maddern.  I believe his headstone may read thus: Hus of Elsie (nee JONES); father of Marian, Dorothy & Philippa; 2nd son of Esther (105) & David (106). "Educator, Esperantist, Historian - A man ahead of his time"  I would agree.  He was a controversial man with many ideas ahead of his time.  For instance, he introduced a Study Day - can't remember at what year level it came into force, but it meant we only had lessons on four days a week, with the fifth day for private study, homework etc.  He also thought examinations were abominable and an unfair way of assessing students' abilities.  So I had no exams until I got to Form 5 and 6 when we had to sit the State exams for Leaving and Matriculation.  Our assessments were cumulative throughout the year.  But he was a very authoritative man with some decided ideas about what was acceptable and what wasn't.  I remember one male student a couple of years ahead of me who had long hair.  After refusing to have his hair cut he was expelled.  It was two years later that Laurie returned to complete his schooling.  He was then in our Form 5 class.  Ivan T also had firm ideas about boy / girl relationships.  The school captains lost their positions when he saw them talking to each other (they were an 'item' I believe) outside her house one weekend.  I still have a copy of a letter sent to all parents 'explaining' how important the matriculation year was, and how parents were NOT to expect students to do chores around the house, nor allow them to socialise as these activities would detract from their studies.  He also decreed that girls were only allowed to walk to and from school with their brothers - no other males.

John Murfett

Some of the other teachers I remember (most fondly, some less so) were Elsie McMaster, Ian Fry, Madmoiselle Harney, Peter Caplan,  Sue Smith (? Art Teacher), Glenys Hartnell and her husband, Sally Milner, Max Alvin, John Murfett, Peter Pickburn, Mr Creagh, Mr Withoos, Mr Winkler, Mr Day, Mr Clemens, Mr Traill, Mr Edmonson, Miss Benjafield, Mrs Lawrence, Mrs Dennis, Mrs Cafiso and Mrs McLaren.  I still keep in touch with Glenys Hartnell, now Glenys Warner.  We met up at a Principal Accreditation Program - she was being accredited as a Vice Principal in a large secondary school, I was being accredited as a Principal of a small rural school, but we undertook the same program.

I remember being allowed to go home on the day Man first walked on the moon, so we could watch it on TV as there was only one TV in the school library and we wouldn't have all fitted.

In Form 4 I went on an excursion to Broken Hill.  More of that in another post methinks.

Esperanto!  As stated on Ivan T's headstone, he was an Esperantist, with grand ideas about the value of the so-called International language.  I still remember the first line of Waltzing Matilda - Kai lee kantis kum lee kushas apud billabong - not sure of the spelling though.  Just found this on the net - my line doesn't appear exactly as I remember it (should be the line "And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled" - although on reflection billy boiled and billabong are two different animals!)
Gaja vagabondo kampis apud bilabong
kie la Coolabah ombris por li
kaj li kantis atende gxis bolos en la billipot
Vi vagas valsa Matilda kun mi

Venis sxafido por trinki en la bilabong
kaptis vagulo kun gxoj` plena kri`
kaj li kantis sxovante la sxafon al la mangxosak`
Vi vagas valsa Matilda kun mi

Aperis farmisto sur pursanga al cxeval
Venis gxendarmo unu, du, tri
"Kies bela sxafo, tiu en la mangxosak"
Vi vagas valsa Matilda kun mi

Tuj la vagoulo saltis al la bilabong
"Vi vane kaptas vi min," diris li.
Kaj fantomon vi auxdos pasante cxe la bilabong.
Vi vagas valsa Matilda kun mi.

A.B. Paterson
Trad. En Esperanto: Ralph Harry
 Here's an audio version. 

Trouble was, Ivan had to cajole other teachers into taking the classes - he taught them the lesson one day,and they taught it to us the next!  We had one text book, and we began at page 1 in Form 1, and began at the same page 1 in Form 2.  It is the only subject in which I ever 'cheated' - as did most of the class.  Sorry Ivan, but we thought it was a bit of a joke.  It was a compulsory subject in Form 1 and 2, in Form 3 if we took French we also had to take Esperanto.  In Form 4 I opted out of French because although I enjoyed the subject I didn't particularly like the teacher - but guess what, that year if you didn't take French you had to take Esperanto.  I was finally free of it in Form 5.  But in four years we only ever used the one text book, and always started from page 1!  It was a small tan coloured soft covered book.
Learn more about Esperanto here.

Another innovation of Ivan's - for which I bless him - was his belief that everyone should know how to type.  In those days once you got to Form 3 you began to specialise depending on which direction you were heading.  For those (usually girls) wanting to go into commerce such as the bank or as secretaries they took the commercial subjects like typing and shorthand.  Those wanting to go into the professions took the professional subjects like English Literature, Geography, History etc.  But we all got to do Personal Typing.  We weren't expected to become proficient touch typists, and only had one lesson per week instead of many like the Commercial classes but we were taught the correct fingering and could attempt speed tests if we wished.  I remember I achieved 25 words per minute.  I don't use all the proper fingering, but I am not a hunt and peck typist, and do use both hands.

In those days we had Prefects who had certain responsibilities, but also privileges, such as the Prefects Room where we could store our books and go for quiet study when we had a free period.  I was a Prefect, and still have my badge in a box in the spare bedroom.  Also have my prefect ribbon that was sewn onto our blazer, and my school badge.

Playing School

From a very early age I wanted to be a teacher.  I guess it must have started after I actually went to school, but I know that a lot of my games revolved around teaching my dolls.  I was in 7th Heaven when Maisie and Harold Fullarton moved into Livingstone Street.  Harold was a policeman, and he boarded with us for a few months when he was first stationed at Morwell.  His wife Maisie was a teacher, and she joined him, at the end of the year I suppose and they moved into a house further down our street.  I used to visit Maisie all the time to talk about teaching.  She showed me what a teacher's Work Program looked like, and I used to write up my own programs just the same.
The playhouse was the perfect place to play school.

I only briefly thought about being anything other than a teacher - when John was talking about going into the Navy I thought that sounded rather exciting too.  I was in Form 4 at the time, and seriously investigated the Navy as an option.  But I also applied for a Teaching Bursary and decided that if I got a bursary I would be a teacher, if I didn't I would join the Navy.  Needless to say I got a bursary for Form 5, and another for Form 6 so I went to Teachers' College.

As a bursary recipient I was obliged to apply for each and every course that would lead to a teaching career.  In those days, Primary Teachers went to teachers' College, while those aspiring to be Secondary Teachers went to University.  There was no way I wanted to be a Secondary Teacher, nor got to Uni, so I only applied for a place at Teachers' Colleges.  I figured that if my marks weren't good enough to get me my first preferences then they wouldn't be good enough to get me a Uni place anyway, so why waste time (and money?? can't remember if there was any cost involved) applying for Uni places.

I obtained a place at Geelong Teachers' College - but that is for another post.

Games People Played

Thinking about primary school made me think about some of the games we played.  One I particularly remember was called "Two Ball".  It basically involved juggling two tennis balls in a series of manouvres.  You also required a flat vertical surface.  The inside of the 'shelter shed' at school was ideal because the wall was divided into perfectly sized spaces by the frame.  It was a game you could play by yourself, or in competition with others.  If in competition it was your turn until you dropped a ball or made some other mistake.  The idea was to see who got to the end of the sequence first.  Let's see if I can remember it:
10 = underhand throws
9 = overhand throws
8 = under / over
7 = up
6 = up / under
5 = up / over
4 = hmm - that's about as far as I can go, and 5 might not be correct.
Strange thing is, I NEVER met anyone else who had played it.  I did find a reference to it on the internet one day, but a search just now has failed to turn up any reference, except a wikipaedia page that has since been removed.  But I know I even added to the information I found so it was some sort of forum.
Aha -  I just found this:

Two Ball is a very good game. You sing a rhyme as you throw two balls against a wall.

Here is the rhyme:

   Please miss, mother miss,          

   Come to tell you this miss,        

   I miss, won't miss,                

   Be at school tomorrow miss. 

The rules are that you are throwing the balls in a sort of juggling way and if you drop one, then you are out till it is your go again.  You can have any number of people playing but it is wise to have 3 as a maximum.    

This from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-516000-294000/page/15      

We never sang a rhyme that I remember.

Real Knucklebones

Plastic Knucklebones

Another favourite was Knuckle Bones, or Jacks.  We often used real knuckle bones from the roast lamb, but you could also buy a set of plastic knuckles which came in five different colours.

The plastic ones I had were the same size as real ones, but later versions were smaller and had less weight.

 Knuckle Bones

The other favourite schoolyard pastimes were skippy, hoppy and swap cards. 

 

I had quite a large collection of swap cards - some had even been my mother's when she was at school.  I know I had (still got them in a cupboard somewhere!) the middle top card, and the bottom right card in my collection. I still regret swapping some of the cards that were my mother's.

Skippy was played with either a short individual rope, or one or two long ropes.  Most skipping games had rhymes that went with them.

Hopscotch was NEVER called by that grand name - it was always Hoppy we played.  Usually the grid was drawn onto the path or asphalt with chalk, but at school there was a favourite grid that had been deeply scored into the clay at the top of the oval.  There was always a race to get to it first. 

Tobruk Street State School

Tobruk Street Primary No. 4680
Approval for the construction of a third Morwell Primary School was given in June 1951. The school was planned to cater for the children who would be living in the 300 home Housing Commission area known as the "Hourigan Estate".
When discussing the issue of the "Churchill Road School" as it was then referred to, the Shire Council resolved in May 1952 to ask the Education Department to call for tenders for a "built on site" building in preference to a pre-fabricated unit. Cr. Hourigan believed that " a local job would be better, cheaper and completed earlier".
The Department had earlier advised that a pre-fabricated unit could be ready by February 1953. Cr. Hare stressed the need for the school to be erected as soon as possible.
Tobruk Street Primary School was eventually established on 2nd. February 1954, at a site on the corner of Churchill Road. The initial pupil enrolment was approximately 500. Meetings were held in February to establish a Mother's Club, at one of these meetings it was decided that a Father's Club should also be formed.
The following were elected as office bearers:
Mother' s Club President: Mrs. Jeffrey Vice Presidents: Mrs. Milligan and Mrs. Cummings Secretary: Mrs. Scicluna
Father's Club President: Mr. Little Secretary/Treasurer: Mr. Scicluna Committee: Messrs. Judge, Cash, Bakker, Cook and Jeffrey
The school committee was formed at a meeting held on Monday 15th March. The office bearers elected at that meeting were:
Chairman: Mr. Woolley Correspondent: Mr. Baker Treasurer: Mr. Sawyer Committee: Messrs. Cook, Bakker, Millett and McKay
The first head teacher was Mr. John Evans.
From: http://www.morwellhistoricalsociety.org.au/motmschools.htm

The Tobruk Street school was at the end Livingstone Street - easy walking distance from my home.  I remember my first day at school so clearly - as if it were yesterday rather than more than 50 years ago.  I remember wondering why some of the new kids were crying - this business of going to school was so exciting.

I completed Bubs (Preparatory) and Grade 1 in the same year (1959).  This was common in those times - 'clever' children were 'promoted' half way through their first year when a second intake of Bubs began school.  I can't remember the name of my Bubs teacher, but I think my Grade 1 teacher was Mrs. Buchanan.  In Grade 2 I had Miss Tucker, but I think she left to get married and I don't remember who replaced her.  In Grade 3 I had Mr. McQualter.  My favourite teacher was Mr. Louis Lowe in Grade 4. He was special.  We had a lovely old wooden gramaphone in the classroom and he used to play records for us.  He also put lots of things like spelling rules on the windows in window paint.  And in the middle of the top of the blackboard was a quote I have never forgotten - "Good, Better, Best.  Never let it rest.  Till your Good is Better, And your Better is your Best".

Mr. Lowe was also our Horticulture teacher in Grade 6.  How I loved his lessons.  I remember a poem he taught us to help remember the parts of a flower.  For years I could only remember the first few lines, but in about 2009 I finally discovered the rest of it.

The Calyx is outside the cup

That holds the flower snugly up;

Its sepals have been woven stout

To keep the cold and dampness out.

Corolla is the colored part

That gladdens every childlike heart;

Its petals wave on the breeze

To summon butterflies and bees.

The stamens next within the ring

Their anthers set on magic spring –

These anthers store a generous meed

Of pollen needed to make seed

The pistil’s in the centre fair,

For it must have the greatest care;

The stigma’s catch the pollen beads

Which turn the ovules into seeds

                                                         -- Ruth Chandler

(as communicated by Major Wilson)

Lucky Toffees and Umbrella Lollipops

When we went to the Rintoull Street shops we used to buy Lucky Toffees and Umbrella Lollipops.

The lollipops looked just like these, but they were different colours and if I remember correctly they were more opaque and sugar-coated.

The Lucky toffees cost 3d each, and if you were 'lucky' the one you bought had a sixpence in the bottom of the toffee.  I don't think they had coloured sprinkles on top - maybe coconut, but they were in little patty pans like these.  Oooh!  They were yummy - even if you didn't get the 6d!

Other favourite lollies - but strangely I only remember really buying them from the shop near Wattle Park in Melbourne (near Nan's house) - were Big Boss chocloate cigars and Fags.  Fags are now called Fads!  I must admit we used to pretend to smoke them - even though no-one in the family was a smoker.

Fags

Big Boss Cigars

 Also liked Choo Choo Bars!  Don't think the wrappers were exactly like this though - think this is a more modern rendition.

And while I'm on treats - something else I loved when I was growing up was a Lime Spider!  Nowadays they are usually just not the same - they should be made with lime flavouring, lemonade, and icecream.  But today they are usually made with lime flavoured softdrink and icecream, and they are just NOT the same.