I attended school in Germany where I only went to school from 8 am to 12 noon. I had a hot lunch at home and a bit of homework and private activities in the afternoon. Lukas' mum

I did Correspondence School in Queensland and I had to do certain tasks each day under my mum's supervision. I was sent library books but we couldn't get awards for neat work. Angus & Thomas' mum

The first school I went to in Adelaide was Forbes Primary School
in 1960. That was the year that the first supermarket opened, it was near
our school and we all received a free soap sample. I then moved to Paringa
Park School in 1965. We had ink pots in our desks and wrote with pen and
nib. Some naughty children would dip the end of the girl's plaits
sitting in front of them into the ink pots. Sometimes when a pen and
nib was sticking out of our busy bags you would catch it on your leg as
as you were walking down the aisles of the class.
Laura's mum

In 1966 I was in second class. My teacher's name was Mrs. Congreve. She was old and crusty. When we misbehaved, she would whack us on the hands with a feather duster. Every morning we would sing "God Save the Queen", recite the Lord's Prayer and then say our number tables. I sat next Virginia Kensey. I thought she was really pretty and very nice but I was always too scared to tell her......Hugo's dad. I was the ink monitor at school and I used to have to fill the ink pots regularly. Annie's father.

One of the most wonderful rituals imparted by our teacher (Mrs. Walsh) in 2nd Class was story time to bring the schooling for the day to an end. Mrs. Walsh would sit on a little chair and we would sit on the floor around her while she read a story and showed the pictures to us. Sometimes her son, Simon, would arrive in class in his school uniform and carrying a big bag. If he put his bag on the edge of his mother's desk, his visit would be short. If he put his bag by the side of the desk it meant that he would stay to read the afternoon story to us instead. Genevieve's mum

I remember the first day at Kindergarten, clinging to my mother's
legs, in tears at the doorway and being encouraged and cajoled to go
and stand with William Matthews, a family friend, in the boys' line.
We sat cross legged on the floor near the piano stool as the
Kindergarten teacher literally thumped out songs. Some children
were too nervous to ask to go to the toilet and there were
wet puddles on the floor as a result.
Oscar's mum

Heydon's Family Remembers

When I was in Primary School we had a swimming pool built in our grounds. I used to swim there often and I obtained my Silver Medallion there. Heydon's grandfather My younger sister and I attended a primary school in a country town in the 50s. My sister was in Kindergarten and they had a very proper German lady as their teacher. Every morning the girls in Kindy would have to curtsey as they said Good Morning to the teacher. Heydon's mother

I was in Primary School from 1917 to 1923. The summers were very long and no children wore boots, shoes or socks. The asphalt would get almost too hot to walk on and we would then put our feet in the drinking trough. In class we used steel pens and ink. Heydon's grandmother When I was at Primary School we had to recite our times tables and every morning at assembly we had to show that we had a clean handkerchief. Heydon's father

At my Primary School we had separate playgrounds. K-2 had one, the primary girls had one and the boys had another. Why??? We also had to drink warm milk every day - torture!! And once a week we spent the afternoon marching around the playground to stirring music. I don't remember any band or choir or any of the fun things at Glenmore Road - could my memory be going in my old age? Maisie's mum

1965 - what a great year!! It was the year we arrived in Australia. School was very different for a little Pommie girl. To sum up my first year of school in a sentence .....heat, mozzies, warm milk, fibro classrooms and Captain Cook. To a little Pommie girl, who was this man called Captain Cook??? Those hot mornings at assembly, fainting in the heat. I'm a long way from that now - but I remember it so well! Hugo's mum

I lived in the country on a sheep, cattle and wheat property. As we were not close to a school I had correspondence from the age of 7. My father's aunt was a school teacher at Bega so she used to send me her class lessons weekly and I did them weakly!! I spent most mornings mustering, helping in the shearing sheds, rabbiting to feed the dogs - who consisted of the rabbit pack - about 20 in all, lopping trees for fodder in drought and feeding the animals. During the afternoon we would do our lessons for about two hours at the kitchen table, supervised by my mother. We found it difficult to do the lessons at night as we only had the light of kerosene lamps. When I was fourteen I went away to boarding school. It was difficult to adjust to a structured day and living away from home. T.T.'s Grandmother

In second class back in 1967, Miss Richmond, the headmistress was our teacher.
She was extremely fierce. Sick notes were read out to the class and you were
never allowed to go to the bathroom and you were ridiculed for not doing
something properly. One day she wrote "littel" on the board in a spelling list.
The next day Miss Richmond told us that "they" (the mysterious they)
had changed the spelling of "little" to "littel". Naturally we
Knew that she had made the mistake. My friend Susan and I still laugh about it!!
Jemima and Charlie's mum

I was at school in the USA. I enjoyed square dancing in our school cafeteria. We learned to respond to special calls. Julia's mum When I was in second class we to drink warm milk at recess. YUK!!!!! My headmistress never played in the school band...... Mrs. Koffel is a wild woman!!! Jackson's mum

When I was at school we had flavoured milk - chocolate, banana, strawberry and mint. They were all disgusting! We sang hymns every morning and had to recite the Lord's Prayer. There were no computers and the highlight was to watch Armstrong walk on the moon. The whole school watched all day at a fuzzy black and white TV. Alexander and Imogen's mum

At School in Monaco

My favourite part of school in Monaco was the three months summer holiday. Otherwise it was hard work. We had school all week, including Saturday morning, but not Wednesday afternoon. School used to start at 8 am and finish at 4.45 pm with 2 hours break for lunch. I used to eat a three course meal at the school canteen. At other times I would go back home for lunch. I went to three different school, all co-ed, all in Monaco. It was good to change and make new friends. There were no uniforms except for the first few years when we used to wear a navy skirt, a white shirt and a beret. After a long day at school we still had a lot of homework to do. In Primary School if you were good or got top marks for your work, you were given a medal with a red ribbon that you could wear for a day. Every end of the year there used to be a big presentation with all the kids and their parents. All the best kids of every class would go up and receive a prize...........But I much prefer your school!!!! Jackson and Ryan's mum

Music Now Playing : Those Were The Days

        

Go LEFT to the Contents Page - Go RIGHT to "Arthur's Story".