My first school....

is still there after all these years!

There have been additions.  We did not have the roof over the steps, nor the handrails, nor the paving stones or garden seats nor that planter at the right, nor the bell, nor the covered in piece to the left.

Look at the neat lawn and the path way to what I reckon is weather sheds.  Yes we did have one of those, it was built about two years after I started school at five years old.  The weather shed then had open fronts with seats all around the walls and it was here we ate our packed lunch which our mothers prepared for us.  Where the neat lawns and paving areas are here,  we had just gravel. 

And today the school and shed are kept painted.  I remember the weather boards on the school with paint peeling.  It looks quite smart now. 

The school was founded in the 1800s - Can't remember exactly, 1876 comes to mind, but not absolutely sure.  I thought it was printed under the apex of the roof, but that looks more like a window now.

When I started school at five years old , I could actually stand under the school - you see that space at the front beyond the flower bed?  Thats how small I was, the floor above was at least 1" from my head.  The school was on the side of a small slope so it was only this space that I could stand.  

In those days we  had about 26 in the school, but only one teacher.  Each class (7 rows)  was given some work to get on with whilst the teacher taught one class at a time.  How he managed to give a one lesson to everyone in a day I shall never know. 

There was Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th class and the 7th was one person who was secondary school but was doing a correspondence course at our school.

We had a brilliant teacher.  Two actually, one left soon after I started.  The second made such an impression on my life, that I will never forget.  He made learning such fun.  He was so artistic - his creations littered the walls and floors and all to do with learning.

Our teacher even took us all on nature walks - we walked for miles gathering leaves, twigs and insects in jars to bring back to the school to look at.  He taught and joined in with rounders and tennis too. 

His wife taught us to embroider and to sew simple garments.  Can't remember what the boys did whilst we were busy with sewing.  I remember we also did weaving and cane basket making too.

You see the steps at the front -  we had plants in painted tin cans on either side on alternative steps.  We used to call them the "poisoned steps" and to rush out the school door and down the steps you had to take two at a time to avoid the poisoned ones.

In those days there was no flush toilets.  There was three buildings up the side of the hill, a little walk from the school.  The first one was for the boys, the second one was for the teacher and the third was for the girls. 

 The toilet consisted of a "screen" which led to a shed with concrete floor and a boxed in piece with three holes (three could use it together) which was built over a dark pit.  No windows, no door.  As children we were scared of red back spiders lurking on the underside of the wood  when you sat your bottom onto the holes.  Absolutely terrified we were, still had to use the toilet properly otherwise if you didn't, we were punished.  It was the cane then.

I don't think there is many pupils at the school now, but it is still thriving none the less.  The small rural town is bypassed by a highway, and many of the places are no longer there.  

Those were great days never to be forgotten.