Ivanhoe Primary School Memories 1940s
Extracts from the Supplement to Slab Hut to Red Brick: the history of Ivanhoe Primary School (2004) compiled by Theresa Casteltevetere, Dianne Fox and Louise Ryan, including recollections of former students & staff.
This article continues from the articles "Ivanhoe Primary School Memories".
[edit] Gloria Patterson (nee Firth): 1938-1942
I came to the Ivanhoe State School in late 1938 when I was ten years old when my family came to Melbourne from Queensland. The teacher was Miss Lombard in 4th grade. My name was Gloria Firth. My older sister Enid and younger sister June, and our young brother Bernard also went to the same school. We lived in Valentine Street and like all children we walked to school with a knapsack on our backs containing our sandwiches for lunch, as there was no tuck shop at school then. The school uniform was blue and white check dresses for summer and navy tunic and white blouse for winter. Boys, I think, wore grey trousers and navy jumpers.
The 5th grade teacher was Mr Doak who also taught us in 6th grade. As I was reasonably new to the school I was sat next to Marjories Lees who was told to look after me. To this day she remains my closest friend of over sixty years, and is now Marjorie Macpherson.
Marjorie and I were soon nominated as class monitors. Our duties were to clean the blackboard and put out new chalks for the teacher’s use. Two boys would be monitors for the filling of inkwells in the desks. Boys and girls were in the same class.
There was no sewing or cooking teacher at the school so we went once a week to North Fitzroy School where we became quite competent at sewing garments on a treadle sewing machine, and tried our skills with learning to cook.
On Monday mornings the whole school would assemble in the schoolyard to sing the National Anthem, ‘God Save the King’, then the various classes would have physical exercises. Girls usually played basketball for sport and boys played football and cricket, and occasionally competed with other schools.
I began 7th grade when I was 13, but sadly I was required to leave school in March 1942 as my father died in February. My mother got permission for me to start work to help bring in an income. My younger sister and brother remained at the school for a few years. They were a few short years, but I still have good memories. Norma Hughes and I visited the school last year. She was in our class and we have kept in touch over the years. I still own a treadle sewing machine by choice, still using it.
I REMEMBER …
…the big boxes of footballs and skipping ropes in the quadrangle, and going to school with my pockets weighed down with favourite ‘hoppy’ tors (hopscotch).
[edit] Anon (1940s)
…when I was in grade 4 or 5, laughing too loud and too long in front of Mr Malone. My punishment was to spend a week in the babies grade with Miss Beattie as teacher. I learned how to make paper wind mills and to sing a song while there.
[edit] Judith Montgomery (nee Kaine) (1946-1947)
…when Mr Malone retired [1950]. The school assembled in the front yard where he was presented with an armchair.
[edit] John Miles: 1939-1945
Interviewed by Don Callaghan (8 May 2003)
John: ‘My father went to the school when it was where the Post Office is now and my mum went to the school when it was up on the corner of Heidelberg Road and Waterdale Road, where the beauty salon is now. I had uncles go to the school at the Post Office and they went to the First World War and they had their names on the Honour Board. I think it’s moved – used to be, when you come in the main door it used to be on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
Don: ‘Your family has lived in this district for some time?’
John: ‘Well, all their lives. My dad used to live at the bottom of this street – Livingstone Street – and my mum used to live in a house right opposite, which is gone now, there are flats there now. That’s why it’s Miles Reserve next door and Miles Street next door. My grandfather used to have a dairy farm and all the kids used to chase the cows around and then he went broke and I think the council took the land in lieu of payment of rates. And that’s how Miles Street got its name or that’s what I’ve been told.’
Don: ‘This land marks a reflection of your family’s connection with the district.’
John: ‘Yes and I’ve lived in this house all my life.’
Don: ‘…your mother and father attended both former sites of Ivanhoe Primary. To your knowledge were any other members of your family further back – your grandparents – educated here?’
John: ‘No, I think they were the first. My grandparents on my mum’s side they moved from Fosterville. Mum was born in Fosterville, somewhere near Foster. My grandmother was Irish and my grandfather was English. They started the family up here. All my uncles went to the school.’
Don: ‘So Miles is a prominent name in the school in those days?’
John: ‘I reckon it would be. Me and my two brothers went there and our kids went there.’
Don: ‘Now, what was school like in those days, John?’
John: ‘Pretty good, I suppose. Basically you went to school and sat there all day and the teacher sat there in front of you all day and taught you every subject. The things I remember basically in prep is learning your ABC and counting and then learning to write properly in grade one and then you progressed through.’
Don: ‘What were the subjects that you studied?’
John: ‘There was arithmetic, English, history, geography, drawing. I remember in grade two we used to have the cards with the wool and the needle, we had plasticine too in grade two. Sometimes you lifted the board up on your desk and did drawings. During the war there was no excursions or days out. Five days a week you went to school and that was it.’
Don: ‘You listened to the teacher and behaved yourself? You wrote in an exercise book – blue and red lined?’
John: ‘Yeah, basically the first couple of years as you learned to write and as you got into grade four and upwards you just had the blue lines.’
Don: ‘You were expected to draw a margin?’
John: ‘I remember that at the tech school because in maths you used to do your working out in the margin.’
Don: ‘Did you have your own textbooks?’
John: ‘No. You had to buy your penny School Paper every month from the newsagent. That was hard at times - finding the penny. My dad went to war for three years and we used to sell papers on the street and probably only made a quid to bring home to mum, to keep the fires burning. It was pretty hard and it was quite often, “Have you got your School Paper?” “No, haven’t got any money.” You’d be late getting it, you didn’t have the penny on the right day.’
Don: ‘In the school were there any sporting programmes or excursions?’
John: ‘No, nothing like that. They used to do sport probably only one period a week.’
Don: ‘But there was far more physical education in class, was there?’
John: ‘Well, funnily enough yeah there was in the later years. You’d take the class down and the teacher would be doing all your physical. But with your sport, which was probably – I think an hour in the sixth grade but less in the other grades – you’d go down and play your cricket and your footy and that was the basics.’
Don: ‘And the classroom teachers would take the sport, is that right?’
John: ‘Yeah, that was their class and whatever you did they were in charge. No librarians or special people. Probably, I think, there might have been a shortage of teachers too in those days during the war, especially the men teachers.’
Don: ‘Do you recall the split of gender – male and female teachers?’
John: ‘A majority of ladies because I remember when I went to Collingwood Tech in 1946 it was amazing how many teachers came back from the war. The teachers I had were in prep Miss Childs, one was Miss Brewer, two Miss Greenwood-Smith, three Miss Macleod, four was Mr Walton and Miss Roberts, five was Mr Richards and six was Mr Tilley. Now I know that Mr Walton and Miss Roberts had been there forever’
Don: ‘I must commend you on your memory!’ …
John: ‘The caretaker, Mr Horton, he used to have a fair bit of authority around the place. I think he was an old first war veteran from the English navy and he used to keep the kids in order in the schoolyard especially. He’d be wandering around and if you played up….’
Don: ‘How was punishment administered in those days?’
John: ‘Well, you got the strap if you were talking in class or you mucked up, I suppose, if you did something wrong down in the yard or you bullied a kid.’
Don: ‘They put you back into line pretty smartly in those days. Was corporal punishment administered by male and female teachers? They weren’t past wielding a …leather strap, administered to the hand held up in an upright position? And how many straps were given?’
John: ‘Oh, not that many really. I remember a teacher we never had but we heard about her – a Miss Salter – she was pretty good with the strap apparently but she was a nervous person from what I can gather from the people who had her.’
Don: ‘I guess the students were too!’
John: ‘Sometimes, if you got six cuts you became a bit of a cult hero, especially if you didn’t cry if you stood there and took it. If you got six cuts - “Oh, did ya? Hurt?” “Nah!” You’d come home and say, “I got the strap today.” “Did ya? What d’ya do wrong?”’
Don: ‘The immediate thing was that you’d done something wrong and you deserved it.’
John: ‘That’s right and that’s basically an honest system. Nobody just got into you because they didn’t like you.’
Don: ‘It was firm and fair, perhaps?’
John: I reckon it was. I think the school system was good. You went there to learn and you sat there and you learnt.’ …’You could get out there playtime and lunchtime and run wild and expend all your physical energy and come back and sit down again.’
Don: ‘And what was the school in terms of physical buildings? You’ve very kindly done a drawing. Tell us a bit about the classrooms and how they were set up.’
John: ‘I remember they were just the bare wooden floor and I’ve got a feeling there were about five rows of desks, about six deep and they were all sort of jammed front to back.’
Don: ‘Are we talking about up to fifty children?’
John: ‘I imagine it was. If you’ve got two rows of six and two in each – there’s twenty-four. I’ve got a feeling there used to be about twenty-five girls and twenty-five boys. Although funnily enough, I went to that reunion in ‘73 and I went into the grade one class and there was a photo on the blackboard and I was in it and I don’t ever remember ever having a school photo taken. But that was the only one.’
Don: ‘1940?’
John: ‘Yeah it would have been. I think because of the war and everything there was no time to take photos. It surprised me because I never remember having it taken and I still recognise a lot of the kids in it….With the outlay of the place, the preps and the kids up to grade two used to use the top half and grades three to six went down the oval, down the bottom. It’s all changed now. The toilets were way down the yard. Because of the change in atmospheres, I suppose, they’ve made the toilets internal now, have they?
Don: ‘Basically internal, just outside.’
John: ‘It’s a shame things have changed like that because everything was sort of open and honest in those days, you could sort of go anywhere you liked. Don: ‘Yes, security was quite different, wasn’t it?’ … John: ‘Right at the back of Tate Street where all those new places are that used to be a horse paddock for the dairy.’ Don: ‘Before the army depot set up shop?’ John: ‘I used to go to that army depot from when it was built almost until it was pulled down. ’ Don: ‘What did you do at the army depot?’ John: ‘I did my National Service in 1955 and that was the C.M.F. unit that I went to. We used to run up through there – there was about a six-foot picket fence… ’ Don: ‘Around the school?’ John: ‘Yeah, down at that bottom corner I used to slide under there just as the bell went or the bugle sounded.’ Don: ‘On the corner where the lane is? Was there always a lane there?’ John: ‘Yeah, always a lane. And you’d slide under there just as the bugle sounded and you’d run straight up into your line.’ Don: ‘Who played the bugle – a student ?’ John: ‘Students, yeah. I remember a kid in our grade, in sixth grade - Dickie Truelaw (?) -used to play a kettle drum to march in to. That was the music. A bugle instead of the bell and a kettle drum. ’ Don: ‘Very militaristic. We should understand I suppose in the context of the times, during the war, it was top of the mark. (?) John: ‘We saluted the flag every Monday and sang the anthem.’ Don: ‘Did you sing God Save the Queen? John: ‘Yes and later Miss Howden (?) used to get someone to wheel the piano up to the top of the stairs and played the piano while you sang. We used to celebrate Empire Day.’ Don: ‘And the school year, was it three terms?’ John: ‘Yeah, ten days holiday in between and six weeks at Christmas. Don: ‘That was changed to four terms not so long ago.’ John: ‘It would be great to go to school nowadays – all those holidays!…Throughout the six years there was nothing outstanding that happened. Probably the exceptional thing was that we got two days holiday when the war ended in 1945, in August. We got the message on the radio. Don: ‘Do you remember the excitement there? What was it? Was it relief or celebration? ’ John: ‘Well when you’re eleven years old it’s really a great occasion. Well we didn’t have newspapers -we never bought newspapers during the war. You really didn’t know what was going on, only what you heard on the radio – news on the radio. Sometimes at that time we used to go to the Saturday afternoon pictures and see the newsreel.’ Don: ‘Where was the picture theatre?’ John: ‘Hoyts used to have a picture theatre in Heidelberg Road, more or less on the corner of Ivanhoe Parade. Between the library and Ivanhoe Parade. That was there for quite a time and then there was a bit of a mini-tornado ripped through there about thirty years ago and lifted the roof off it and blew the back wall of the town hall. If you go up the town hall, you’ll see from the back car park the top parapet, you can just see a different change of colour in the bricks where they rebuilt it. This mini- tornado, we were here and got nothing. It just ripped across the town down through the football ground and blew trees down at the football ground and took the roof right off the picture theatre. Then they pulled it down.’ Don: ‘Did you ever go to the picture theatre in Station Street?’ John: ‘Once. They used to call that a “flea house’. The locals here used to call it the Fairfield flea house.’ Don: ‘Now was Ivanhoe in those days considered to be a suburb that was just a little bit higher on the socio-economic scale than say Fairfield or Northcote or Preston?’ John: ‘Compared to those three yes but then again Ivanhoe was two halves – you’ve got Ivanhoe and East Ivanhoe. … Most of the kids we went to school with in Ivanhoe, they were just ordinary… Don: ‘Working class, middle class families.’ John: ‘I don’t know how many fathers of the kids who went there went to the war. I’m just trying to think because never spoke about that, I suppose.’ Don: ‘Did you ever go dancing at the Heidelberg Town Hall?’ John: ‘Yes, I started there when I was fifteen.’ Don: ‘You had dancing lessons?’ John: ‘I did, yeah. The bloke that ran the dance, they had a dancing class at the Ivanhoe Hall, the Senior Citizens’ Club in Ivanhoe Parade on the side of the park opposite the school. We used to go there when we were fifteen and learnt the Foxtrot, Palmer Waltz …. … ‘I started there in 1939 and went through the war to leave in 1945. Basically all you did was went to school in those days. During the war things were pretty scarce and a bit tough. Sporting equipment there wasn’t much of – your paper footies, you’re your homemade cricket bats.’
Don: ‘So you started there in the 1939, in the ‘Bubs’? John, do you have any recollection of the sizes of the classes or anything like that?’
John: ‘I’m not too sure about this but I have a feeling there used to be twenty-five girls and twenty- five boys and that makes it fifty which is a lot now. I might be wrong but I know that the room used to be jam-packed with desks. Probably about five rows of desks and about six deep or something – I know there was lots of kids.’
Don: ‘We’ve got photographic records of that and, in fact, I think one year and I can’t remember which it was …there was a peak of around eight hundred children in the school.
John: In 1945, my last year, that’s when the Central School really started moving – grades seven and eight.’
Don: ‘And it coincides with the baby boom of course… I think that largest figure was achieved maybe in the early 1950s when the postwar baby boomers were born.’
John: ‘Well that might have been the State School itself but I know that the Central School, just as I left, they had the whole top floor. They had as many Central School kids and primary school kids. And I believe in about 1948 they moved them all across to North Fairfield.’
Don: ‘And the Central School was for the years beyond primary, was it?’
John: Years seven and eight. I was lucky. I went to Collingwood Tech. From sixth grade… In our area you only had Collingwood Tech, Preston Tech and Northcote High. Well, they couldn’t fit them all in …
[edit] Margaret Hendrie (nee Griffith): 1940-1946
My first grade teacher was called Miss Giles, and at that young age of 5 years, I thought she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I have since come to realise that she was a fairly average looking lady of about 25, who had a good figure, lovely face and shoulder length blonde hair.
Other teachers I remember quite vividly are Miss Helen May Macleod, who taught me in Grade 3, Miss Durham, Mrs Snowball, Mr Malone the headmaster, Mr Jenkins, Mr Richards, Mrs Charles, whose photo is in the picture of the sports team of 1946. There was also Miss Pearson, Mr Pat O'Brien, and Mr Ryan.
The caretakers of the school were a family by the name of Horton - they lived in a house within the schoolyard on the South side, abutting the oval. Mrs Horton used to make the most wonderful toffee, and the children used to stand in line at recess and lunchtime at the window of their residence, and for a penny, you could purchase a piece of this mouth-watering confection wrapped in a piece of white butchers paper.
My Aunt, Miss Ethel Portch was infant mistress at the school in later years - I think probably in the 60s or 70s - the headmaster during that time was Mr Dunstan5. My Aunt who lived in Ivanhoe from 1922 until her death in 1996, lived to be 95. Her sister. Miss Violet Portch still lives in the family home in Kenilworth Parade, and will be 102 this year.
I vividly remember when the end of the Second World War was announced -there was an assembly in the school grounds and many of the girls came to school wearing patriotic red, white and blue clothes, and of course we all waved flags.
I recall when the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited Australia, and I think they must have visited the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital as part of their official duties, because all the children from school lined Waterdale Road outside the school to wave flags and cheer them.
In those early days, during the war, my Mother used sometimes walk from Miles Street (opposite Oriel Road, which wasn't called Oriel Road, it was known as Kitchener Street) to the end of the lane which ran between Livingstone Street and the side entrance to the School, and she would take me to the main Ivanhoe shopping centre to buy a pie with sauce, which cost 6 pence, or an egg sandwich, which cost 3 pence, for my lunch. That was a treat I had about once every two weeks. Other times I walked home for lunch, which took about 20 minutes, gulped down some lunch, then walked 20 minutes back to school again. I remember once I took a short cut over the drain (we called it the ‘dip’) which ran across Livingstone Street at the bottom of the hill between Wallace Avenue and Dudley Street, and I crawled under the fence at the bottom of the oval, in order to get back to school quicker to have some playing time. I managed to get my foot tangled with some brambles, resulting in a nasty gash, and I still have the visible scar to this day. I told my Mother that I had got tangled up in some brambles which were on the footpath outside the Baby Health Centre, which used to be in Waterdale Road just down from the School, and could never understand why she wouldn't believe me! I learned a good lesson, and never did that again. Richard Dunstan was headmaster from 1950 to 1957 (ed.)
[edit] Ailsa Mason (nee Rowe): 1940-1947
I started School in the "Bubs" in July 1940, age 4 3/4, as in those days there was a July intake for children turning 5 between July and December, so we only did 6 months in the Bubs. Our teacher was a Mr Robinson, who must have been quite young, because some time after July he went off to the War and sadly never returned.
In later years I remember the Caretaker's wife (Mrs Houghton) used to make toffees on a Friday and we were allowed to go to their house and buy these toffees. Their house was in the school grounds at the end of the playground near the football oval. I haven't had such good toffee ever since.
Also, in Grade 6, we girls were allowed to go down and swing on the "bars", which were right down the back, at the side of the oval. Sadly, I wasn't very good at it, but some of the girls were excellent, being able to swing right around the bar with one leg hooked over and return to the upright position. Of course these bars weren't like the modern monkey bars, just one straight bar through wooden uprights about 3ft above the ground.
I remember our Headmaster was Mr Malone, I only remember being sent to his Office once, a terrifying ordeal, but I came out again quite unscathed, to my surprise.
Our Grade 6 teacher in 1947 was Mr Richards and I have always been grateful for his strictness as he gave us a very good grounding for Secondary School, despite our resistance.
[edit] Gwen Rogerson: 1940-1950
As a pupil at Ivanhoe S.S., Number 2436, for five years, 1940-1945, and as a student teacher for three years, 1948-1950, I have lots of memories of the place. I started my education at Ivanhoe P.S. in grade 4, coming from a very, very small private school of 20 pupils. When I first saw the crowded school yard I thought there were thousands there.
This was the time of the Second World War and we often organised stalls to raise money for the war effort and knitted mittens, socks and scarves to be sent to the troops. We were encouraged to save paper by using the margins in our note books and ruling two lines at the top of each page to make each page last a bit longer. As the war drew nearer Australia, arrangements were made for the students to be sent to the country for safety. We were divided into groups of assorted ages with a teacher in charge of each group. We each had a clearly named haversack made of strong cotton material but we never did evacuate.
There was no real school uniform although many of the girls wore navy blue tunics in winter and check cotton dresses in summer. No girls wore shorts, slacks or jeans.
As cars were not as numerous in those days and because most of the pupils lived in the area, walking was the main way of getting to school. Teachers came by public transport, bike or also walked. I lived a mile from the school and sometimes even walked home at lunchtime.
School started at 9a.m.- we marched in to the beat of several drums class by class, starting with the preps. Lunchtime was 12.15 – 1.30, there was morning and afternoon recess and the school day finished at 4 p.m.
There were about 40 pupils in each class – boys sat one side of the room, girls the other. We also had separate playing areas outside.
We ate our lunch outside if we had brought it from home or we went up to the shops in Heidelberg Road, as there was no canteen. When I bought my lunch I was given 6 pence (about 5 cents). For that I could get a buttered roll (1 penny), some slices of sausage (1 penny), 2 cakes (1 penny each), a piece of fruit (1 penny) and a penny bag of broken biscuits. Pies cost 3 pence, fish and chips four pence and ice cream 1 penny. As I grew older I was given 9 pence for lunch but of course prices began to rise as well.
There were lovely old gum trees to sit under in the summer and if it was cold or wet we sat in shelter sheds – big wooden, three sided buildings with wooden seats built around the three sides. Sometimes we were allowed to eat in the school but I think the staff preferred us to be out of doors and out of their sight at lunchtime.
Our amusements during recess and lunchtime varied with the seasons – we swapped cards, played hoppy skippy and jacks. A jack was the knuckle bone out of a leg of lamb which we washed and sometimes painted and when we had seven, that was a set. We learnt to do all manner of tricks with a set of jacks, we also made lots of interesting shapes by simply having a long piece of cord or wool joined and twisted around our hands.
We also had our regular sport afternoons when we played basketball/rounders for girls and football/cricket for boys.
All the time I was at the school the cleaner was Mr Horton who lived with his family in a house at the side of the grounds. His wife used to make toffees and toffee apples and sell them at the back door. We would run down there at the start of recess with a half penny for a toffee (a thin, hard slab about the size of a 2 inch circle) or a penny for a toffee apple. We would sometimes watch Mrs Horton pour the toffee onto a greased marble slab and as soon as it was set she’d lift them off and wrap the toffee in a bit of tissue paper. We’d smash the toffee up into little pieces and these could easily be sucked in class. Toffee apples at 1 penny were 100% dearer and were nowhere near as versatile. I also found a grub in my apple once.
I was fortunate to attend the school in grade 7 and 8 when it was a central school. I received my merit certificate in Grade 8. In Grade 8 we were the seniors and sometimes helped out in the infant classes when there were staff shortages.
Monday mornings there would be a longer assembly outside. We would sing the National Anthem, “God Save Our Gracious King”, and with our right hands on our hearts we would say the Oath of Allegiance.
I love God and my country I honour the flag And cheerfully obey my teachers, parents and the law.
There was no TV but we did listen to radio broadcasts of health, music and nature study. It was at this time I first heard of the Oslo Lunch and still eat whole meal bread and lots of fruit and vegetables.
One job that befell the senior girls was to be appointed wash-up monitors in the staff room. We loved that because we overheard all sorts of interesting bits of gossip as we half concentrated on washing up the lunch crockery.
When I returned to the school in 1948 as a student teacher very little had changed. Grades 7 and 8 had gone but the student and male staff toilets were still half way down the hill, at the end of the asphalt. Fires were still lit in the large, open fireplaces only giving warmth to a teacher if he or she stood right in front of it. Free milk had been introduced, a half-pint (300ml) bottle per student per day. However in summer time milk went “off” very quickly and in winter many found it too cold to drink. It ended up that some robust pupils would drink more than one bottle, as the weaker ones didn’t want it.
The corridors were still concrete and there were bare boards in the classrooms.
As I was a student teacher at the school for 3 years I had the opportunity of teaching every class level at various times, sometimes with a qualified teacher and sometimes by myself. So, I really had a lot of experience before I went on to do teacher training at university. I then decided I’d prefer secondary teaching so never had the pleasure of returning to the school for a third time.
NORMA J. HEATH (nee Baddeley):1940-?
I commenced school about 1940, which was during the 2nd World War years (1939-1945). We used to have Air Raid Drills. When the warning bell went we all filed out of school in our classes. My class used to go down the lane near the tennis courts and we would have to stand in single file both sides along the wooden fence. In our bag we carried a cork which was to be placed in our mouth to stop us shattering our teeth if a bomb went off!
We had rationing and had tickets for clothing, sugar, tea, etc. The children over a certain height, I think it was 5 ft. 6in. (there were not too many of us) were called down to the office where Mr Malone (Headmaster) would measure us, fill out a form and issue us with extra clothing coupons as we required more materials for our clothes!! All children were supplied with free milk (which I hated). One class at a time would go out into the cloak room and the milk was ladled out of big milk cans into our enamel mugs.
When I was in second grade my teacher was Miss Giles. We used to have drawing every Thursday morning and I couldn't draw for nuts. Miss Giles used to slap me across the knuckles every Thursday and tell me I could do better and to try harder. One morning I was walking up Ford Street on my way to school with friends when Jean Ingram mentioned that it was Thursday. I stopped dead in my tracks, burst into tears, turned around and ran all the way home crying. I told my mother I wasn't going to school because Miss Giles would smack me. So mother duly dragged me back to school and spoke to Miss Giles who didn't smack me that day - but she did the next Thursday! I am still no good at drawing - especially snowdrops.
We had Miss McLeod in 4th Grade. She used to call me Norma Goodly (instead of Baddeley) when she was particularly pleased with something I had done.
Mr Jenkins our Grade 5 teacher was a favourite for most students. However, one day Glenda Loach and I were sitting at our desk and Glenda asked me something whilst we should have been attending to our teacher. I replied and got caught! He made me stand up and gave me the strap. What made it worse was that I was in my Brownie uniform for Empire Day and Brownies always behaved!!
Mr Richards was our Grade 6 teacher - he was very strict as was Miss Green. She lived in St Elmo Road near the Town Hall and we were always on our best behaviour when we went to the Library at the back of the Town Hall.
The school Janitor was Mr Horton. He lived in the house on the school grounds near the oval. Mrs Horton used to make toffees and toffee apples and sell them at morning recess. If we were lucky enough to have been given money to spend we'd rush down to the back door of their house and form a queue and hope there were enough for us all.
Normally we would walk home at lunch time. It was a big treat to have a cut lunch at school if it was raining or mum was going into Melbourne shopping.
In Grade 5 or 6 we had to knit a tea cosy. Now I wasn't the fastest or best knitter and preferred to play sport. However, the craft teacher declared that all tea cosies had to be finished by our next lesson. I remember feverishly finishing knitting my grey and red tea cosy on the way home for lunch and sewing it up on the way back to school. However, I sewed it up right side out! The teacher said she didn't take off any marks as it proved that I had sewn it up myself!
We used to travel by bus to Heidelberg Railway Station and then walk down to Heidelberg School for swimming lessons. Mr James, father of my school friend Judy, was the Headmaster there. The concrete surface of the pool was very rough and we'd return with cuts and scratches. I didn't like swimming - always seemed too cold and it took me ages to get under.
If you were a good runner in Grades 5 & 6 you were trained by Mr Malone to run for the Central School in the Sports Carnival. We used to be taken out of class for training and had to run around and around the oval until we were nearly dropping. That was better than doing school work!! We also used to race and train up and down Ailsa Grove as there were hardly any cars on the road in those days. Among the Grade 6 people who represented the Central School were Nora Bebbington, Joyce Nye, Margaret Griffiths, Yvonne Clark, Val Sparrow and myself. I won a couple of certificates in the District Carnival - I was quite good at the Skipping Race and Relay. Nora Bebbington was an outstanding runner.
[edit] Norma J. Heath (nee Baddeley):1940-?
In Central School our school houses were Bird (Green), Elsworth (Yellow), Scott (Blue) and Wilkins (Red) -I think I have remembered the colours right. I was in Scott. We got Plus and Minus marks every day and the sporting results all added to the total.
We spent First Form of Central School at Ivanhoe and then the school was moved to North Fairfield. We travelled with Mrs Pearson and Mrs Charles by school bus. My sister, Jean Baddeley, went to Ivanhoe State School and then had to go to East Ivanhoe to Central School where she was Girl School Captain. She is nine years older than me.
[edit] Margaret Willison: 1941-?
I started school in 1941. We had drilling for air raid practice. The shelters were dug in the next street. During the war there were no sweets in the shops so the caretaker would make toffee apples on Monday morning for the war effort.
There was no tuck shop and if I didn’t go home to Ford Street for lunch, I’d go up the shops and buy chips wrapped up in newspaper. My brother and I would sell newspaper to the shop for pocket money.
I was kept in for wrong spelling and the teacher, Mr Jenkins, sat on a desk and talked to me about my white pony.
Donaldson Creek at the bottom of the schoolyard had lovely willow trees to climb and we got lots of yabbies.
The dogcatcher rode a big horse and had a long whip and I was really frightened of him. He used to sit in Waterdale Road.
My brother later played the drums for assembly and we would all salute the flag each Monday morning and sing ‘God Save the King’.
[edit] Colin Anderson: 1941-1947
I started school as a five year old. My first teacher was Miss Giles. We started out as the Bubs grade then became part of grade 1. I remember counting red and blue beads on a type of frame that was free standing. We also had slates with slate pencils.
The war had started and invasion and being bombed was a real threat. We were drilled in case of emergency. We would run onto the oval and lay flat in the long grass. There were trenches both sides of the oval also. My father decided we may be safer away from Melbourne so we had a market garden at Kyabram. We returned to Melbourne early 1943.
My next teacher was Miss Beater. I called her Miss Wackem. She was very strict.
Monday mornings at assembly we would salute the flag and recite the Oath of Allegiance, ‘I love God and my country. I will serve the King and cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the laws’ (I see nothing wrong with doing this today).
My next teacher was Miss Durham. She taught my mother at school where the Post Office is now. We had sport Friday afternoon for about one hour. Unlike today we spent most of our time doing school work, arithmetic, English, geography, poetry, drawing, woodwork, music. This was via a speaker in every room from a wireless in the Headmaster’s Office. The Headmaster was Mr Malone. The music came on about mid-morning. It was broadcast via the A.B.C. We would learn a new song evert week.
In the fourth grade we started writing with pen and ink. No more pencils or slates. When a boy had been naughty through the week he had the job of cleaning the ink wells Friday afternoon. If a student was caught talking he or she was punished – the strap for boys, the ruler for girls. There wasn’t a lot of this. During this year the war ended. I remember around morning recess the school bell rang to tell us that the war had finished and we could all go home. The teachers were crying and everybody was yelling, jumping up and down. A picnic was held at the Ivanhoe Football Ground for all the students from the Heidelberg Shire. Fee ice-cream, lollies and foot races in age groups, etc. Two students’ fathers in my grade were prisoners of war, one in Thailand and one in Burma. They were very happy about the war’s end.
My next teacher was Miss McLeod, grade 5 and 6. She was very strict but she was very fair. About this time we had swimming at the old concrete pool beside the school at Cape Street Heidelberg. The water was dark green. You could not see your own feet when you looked down. We thought we were very lucky to have swimming lessons. Our sports were rounders and basketball (not netball as it is now known) for girls, and football and cricket for the boys. School sports for boys and girls once a year against other schools at the then Fitzroy Football Ground.
I must mention that my young sister started her netball victories here. She was captain of Australia in two world championships and coached Australia to two world championships. Her name is Joyce Brown…
I remember classes going on bird rambles along the Yarra at Heidelberg. There were all sorts, not just sparrows and magpies and mynors. Looking back on the years I spent at school my time was a happy one. I was lucky to have a good mother and father and a good home life with an older brother and young sister. Unlike today most of the students in my grade went to Sunday School. We had religious instruction one hour a week at school. The classes I was in had between 30 and 40 students.
I left at the end of grade six. I went to Collingwood Technical School to do a trade. My father was a builder and I was his apprentice. I was a carpenter for fifty years.
[edit] Beverley Montgomery (nee Kaine): 1943-1944
I remember coming to Ivanhoe Central School from a small two roomed school in Tecoma and finding 30 odd children in my class, most of whom talked and threw spit balls on the ceiling if our teacher left the room briefly. At Tecoma my teacher taught four grades in one room, prep, grades 1, 2 and 3. And the principal taught grades 4, 5 and 6 in the other room. With up to ten pupils per grade it must have been some job and no talking or messing up in class was allowed. I found Ivanhoe somewhat daunting for several weeks.
I remember my excitement when I managed to get a penny to spend on a toffee from the caretaker’s wife and my utter desolation if they were all sold before I reached the window.
I remember Albert or Alfred facing up to Mr Richards when about to receive his cuts, and knocking Mr Richards to the floor with one punch (1943).
I remember Robbins Street was a War Savings Street with a sign on the light pole at the top of the street.
I remember the Guides ironing and re-rolling bandages and slings, and knitting navy blue spiral socks for the navy.
I remember going up to stand along Waterdale Road to cheer and wave as truckloads of wounded servicemen were taken to the Repat. Hospital. And I remember not enough butter and that awful white margarine as well as all the other rationing.
I also remember a slit trench in our backyard that was mostly a foot deep in water. We never wanted to have the need to use it. And the A.R.P. warden checking each night to see whether any light shone from windows.
I remember Mr Richards’ own son was in grade 6B in 1943 and he did not dare misbehave too much as he was treated far more severely than any other pupil.
Although I only attended Ivanhoe School for two years they were two happy years and it was really great to return for a brief memory trip. The organisation of the reunion was excellent and through the numbers there were large I was able to see and read all the memorabilia and I thoroughly enjoyed my day there.
[edit] Mrs Lynette E Franklin (nee Moate): 1942-1946
It was Ivanhoe Central School catering for pupils up to grade 8 when I began there in 1942 and remained so till 1946 when it became Ivanhoe State School terminating at grade 6. This was caused through the influx of pupils from the new housing commission area which had begun at West Ivanhoe at that time. Houses were removed in Kitchener Street (a ‘blind’ street) to make way for the beginning of the new main thoroughfare, Oriel Road, through the housing commission area. Following the war there was a population explosion and many underprivileged people were housed in ex-army huts at Camp Pell, near the Royal Melbourne Zoo, and many of these people were transferred to this new housing. By 1948 there were so many pupils for single grades 5 and 6 that a composite grade 5 and 6 was formed to cater for the overflow. Mr Evans was the teacher.
After grade 6 pupils then mainly went to the following schools for further education: Fairfield Central or Westgarth Central in preparation for entrance into University High School, Northcote High School or Preston Technical School for boys and Preston Girls School or Camberwell Girls Secondary School for girls.
We were privileged to be able to go to Heidelberg State School for swimming as part of our education. That school had its own pool - not a nice glistening blue pool of today’s standards but one full of, ‘green’ water, no doubt caused by some algal bloom with the added attraction of leeches. I believe we went in ‘crocodile formation’ from Ivanhoe School to Ivanhoe Station, then by train to Heidelberg, and once again a walk to Heidelberg State School.
There was an ‘Opportunity Class’ consisting of all ages above prep school age for under-achievers which was housed in the only school room on the third storey of the building --oh sooooooo high up! Miss Campbell was their teacher.
One of the teachers I remember missing from the enclosed list was my 4th grade teacher, Mr Honig or Honing - a little dapper moustached fellow who always wore a dark grey suit with white pin stripes who loved teaching us play-acting.
Very, very occasionally I was given 3~d. as a treat to buy a pie at lunch time at the Ivanhoe Cake Kitchen in Upper Heidelberg Road. With the addition of an extra ~d. one could have sauce added but of course that was out of the question for a working class family.
I believe the correct list of pronouns in the little ditty which Mr Malone, the headmaster, had great delight in teaching us (on the enclosed list) went this way:
‘I, my, mine, me; We, our, ours, us; Thou, thy, thine, thee; You, your, yours, you; He, his, his, him; She, her, hers, her; They, their, theirs, them’
Miss Snowball was remembered for eggs to the military hospital, she took a class to the city by train to see ‘The Overlanders’ (quite an adventure for that time) she took classes for nature study walks around the houses to observe the flowers. Her subject writing (essay) was quite often on flowers one of our
number used to take flowers to school for her (always collected from gardens on the way) her response
was ‘you must have a beautiful garden’.
Each Monday we assembled in the play ground and had the unfolding of the flag -reciting:- ‘I love
God and my country, I honour the flag, I will serve the king/queen and cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the law.’ Reg Dart played the cornet and we had a kettle drum and a large drum to march into school.
Miss Mcdonald introduced us to the ‘Gould League of Bird Lovers’ and took us on walks to see birds.
We queued for toffee apples and toffee at the caretaker’s residence (his wife, Mrs Horton sold these) and passed them through the broken wire in the back door. ‘on butcher's paper’. Girls were not allowed on the oval (only boys). Swinging on the monkey bars. And skating on the practice cricket pitch (which was wet mud when it rained)! 50 children in each class (girls one side & boys the other). Bike racks to hang bike (lots of children cycled to school). Monday lunches were introduced (so as to have the shelter shed (so much for ‘food safety’)) We took briquettes to school for the fires in our classrooms. Girls were rapped over the knuckles with a ruler and boys received the strap if we misbehaved. Free ‘warm’ milk was available during morning play -time (warm from sitting in the sun) -this was available around and after the war years! We played tunnel ball, cross ball for inter-school sports along with athletics. Craft work for girls - knitting woollen baby singlets, bed socks, huckaback guest towels, cotton face washers. Wood work for boys - in the sloyd shed (near the incinerator). Each class had an ink well monitor (very difficult to get all the ink in the well - you can imagine the mess). We carved our initials into the timber desks. Cloak room housed all classes. Red concrete corridors and pale green walls. Pictures in room (ballet dancers and autumn scene). At Christmas we made paper rings for decorations.
[edit] Jan Mosley: 1943-1954
One teacher chewed chalk. We had writing competitions (with pen and ink in grade 4) - preps & 1 & 2 slates. If you had Derwent or Staedtler pencils -you were ‘rich’ . School case was ‘globite’ and leather school bags. School uniform was not compulsory. School choir came third in a competition at the Heidelberg town hall (Mr Evans was the teacher in charge) - we sang ‘Road to Mandalay’, ‘Eton Boating Song’, ‘Rose bud, Rose bud, Rose bud Red’ etc.
Marching team.
Coloured groups for sport.
We gardened at the front of the school –.rose bushes
We stuffed chalk in the board duster so that when the teacher tried to clean board!
Roll call at start of day - we replied ‘present’.
Lunch could be purchased from Sloan’s milk bar (bob) we had a pie and cream bun We remember three boys at school - Barry Fry, Russel Beetles and David Hill -and chanting to them "frying beetles on the hill" - some-times we were horrible.
Because of her good project work one pupil was given 10 minutes extra play time -the only problem was that it was more like punishment because there w as no one to play with. We all have happy memories of Ivanhoe and the lasting friendships we still have.
[edit] Margaret Strickland: 1944-1950
The Ivanhoe State School was erected on the present site in Waterdale Road in 1923. Built of red brick and two stories high, with a large front garden and an impressive entrance. The Head Master’s office was located on the right. If you were a good scholar you were picked to do odd jobs in the head master's office when you reached 6th grade. The younger grades began their schooling in the lower rooms. Grade 4, 5 and 6 were conducted in the upper level and a class for those that had fallen behind, an opportunity class, was conducted in a small room up another flight of stairs. The stairs were concrete and wide enough to take two classes marching side by side to their rooms.
During the war years and just after, an intake of children were taken every six months. I started in the January. Half of the grade was a new intake and the other half had started in the July of the year before. My first classroom was large with folding doors down the centre, so that it could be made into a large room. There was a sand tray, and an Eskimo village made out of eggshells and cotton wool. The alphabet was written in different coloured chalks on the blackboard with capital letters and small letters beside. Children bought along their own slate, duster and chalks. Lessons were learnt by rote; the tables could be heard by anyone passing by. The names of the children in the class were written on one side of the blackboard and your name was highlighted when it was your birthday. The playground was divided into two areas by the toilets. The top area was asphalt, the lower half had a football ground and basketball courts, monkey bars were situated in the far right hand corner. On arrival at school we would place our schoolbag on the ground to save our place in the line for our class. When the bell rang we would go to our places and march into school in classes. The class room was governed by the temperament of the teacher. Some teachers should never have been put in charge of young people, others were real gems.
Mr E. W. Malone was the head master until the Ivanhoe Central became a State primary school. Other teachers were Miss Salter, Miss Snowball, Miss Macleod (she drove a baby Austin with spoke wheels and lived in Livingstone Street), Mrs Christie, Mr Jenkins, Miss Suzy Campbell, Mr Evans and Mr Pringle. Miss Campbell and Mr Pringle were married while teaching at Ivanhoe.
The school sports were always a big day. They were held at the Ivanhoe Recreation Reserve in Lower Heidelberg Road. I competed in the tunnel ball, cross chase, running, relay races, and the marching team. I loved the marching our blue tunics had to be pressed to perfection. White long sleeve shirts, blue ties, white socks, black shoes and navy ribbons in our hair. I think we gained a place each year if we didn't we should have as we were the best - Ivanhoe Central.
14/05/2003
I REMEMBER… …Mrs Snowball ate grapefruit most days.
[edit] Ian Daly (formerly Squirrell): 1944-?
The School song.
It's Ivanhoe School, it's Ivanhoe School, to which we're proud to belong,
We do our best our motto to keep, duty will make our lives strong.
So ever we strive, so ever we strive, to keep our school's good name.
Higher ever, higher yet, to the goal our faces set,
Many a worthy battle fought, in our lessons and our sport,
We have every right to claim, ever upward is our aim.
The music teacher's name is lost somewhere in an alzheimic deepfreeze, but sixty years on, the melody still lingers in my mind. She composed the song in 1945, which we mangled with our raucous untrained voices.
Enrolment
I was enrolled in the 5th grade at Ivanhoe Central in November, 1944, at the age of ten. We had recently returned to Melbourne after eight years in Auckland, where I had undergone my previous schooling. World War II was moving closer to a conclusion, with the allied victory in Europe.
Barefoot Days
Accustomed to bare feet, I found the requirement to wear boots and long socks in the hot Australian summer a considerable hardship. My bare feet in N.Z. had withstood the rigours of frost, rugby, soccer and bitumen, but never the constraint of a wool layer encased in leather. However~ anything was better than the pitying looks I endured from students, when I made my barefoot entrance to the playground. It seemed as though all eyes were turned in my direction. There was much tittering and pointing - I felt like a circus freak. My next problem was my birth name - Ian Squirrell, which for a short while created some amusement (at my expense) amongst my peers. A few bloodied noses behind the shelter shed, soon sorted this out and I condescended to accept Squiz as my nickname.
Assembly
Morning assembly on the parade ground and marching off to the beat of the kettle and bass drum, was a daily ritual at Ivanhoe. It was many a lad's ambition to be a drummer, but only a few attained this exalted position.
The Games We Played
Playtime, depending on the season, was taken up with football, cricket or ‘alleys’ (marbles). Big ring, little ring, and follows, were the three main marble games. The better players locked the lower thumb with the third finger, positioning the marble on the thumb knuckle, which in turn was held in position with the index finger. Pressure was built up against the 3rd finger with the thumb which unleashed the power to fire the alley to its target. An extraordinary degree of skill and accuracy was developed by some players, who would attract quite a crowd of spectators when they played one another.
‘Tippity-run’, was the name given to the brand of cricket we played on the concrete pitch on the lower oval. It required any batsman to run if he made contact with the ball. This led to a lot of players getting run out and thus giving more players the opportunity to bat. There was a fiery red headed fast bowler in the school named Clark. When he took a turn with the ball, ten or more boys would line up behind the wicket keeper to fetch the ball which frequently eluded all of them because of its sheer speed. Clark later played district cricket and V.F.L. football with Collingwood. Two other lads later played football with V.F.L. Clubs which, considering the size of the school, was unusual.
Being the macho little 10 year old I was, I'm not sure what the girls did, I think they played ‘skippy’, ‘hopscotch’ and other sissy games!
Love’s Young Dream
In fact girls didn't figure much in my youthful scheme of things, though I must confess I did discover ‘V.S.’. A spunky 10 year old blonde, who aroused in me a highly protective attitude and an ill-defined yearning. I became her self-appointed bodyguard, following her home and back to school on occasions, keeping at an unobtrusive and respectful distance, in the hope that some ruffian might accost her and give me the opportunity to come to her rescue. Alas, there were no dragons it seemed, nor ruffians in 1946 Ivanhoe. With no distress in sight for my damsel, the need for protection waned along with my desire. I had intended to charm the socks off my beloved, with my brilliant impression of Adolf Hitler, but it didn't transpire, in fact I don't think we ever even exchanged words. Eventually, I abandoned the chase and returned to the more important business of ‘Big Ring’ and ‘Tippity Run’, to occupy my lunchtimes.
Teachers
Classroom routine at Ivanhoe Central consisted of lashings of ‘chalk and talk’ reinforced by much rote learning. Each student occupied (or shared) a desk complete with its inkwell, lift up lid and book storage beneath. Ink monitors were appointed to keep the inkwells topped up. We wrote with pen and nib, frequently replenished from the inkwell, blotting the wet ink on the page as we progressed. Blots, smudges and scratches were common, but discouraged by teachers, who deducted marks for blemishes.
During teacher distractions, we contrived to doodle on our blotters. Today these blotters would provide an interesting insight into the preoccupation of World War II for students. Large armadas of battleships roamed inky seas, bombed from above and torpedoed from below. Fierce dogfights between spitfires and messerschmidts filled the skies with machine gun bullets and bombs (often accompanied by sound effects). Caricatures of Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo, in abject surrender to allied tanks and infantry bayonets, underscored the ‘blotter battles’. Teacher forays into these ‘war zones’ were frequent and vengeful. Sentences ranged from 100-600 written lines stating: ‘I must not doodle on my blotter in class’. But the ‘blotter battles’ raged on, and an armistice was never negotiated.
Our teachers were an interesting mix of veterans, student teachers, and returned servicemen. ‘Ivan the Terrible’' ruled the 6th grade, his reptilian strap 'Black Mamba' lay coiled on the table, ever ready to strike. Many a wretch suffered the dual insult of being hit about the head or body with chalk or strap hurled with deadly accuracy, then having to return the missile to ‘Ivan’, to be strapped publicly and mercilessly. His violence knew no bounds. On one occasion he savagely slapped ‘stinkie’ across the ears because her homework was below standard. Even in that era, when the attitude to corporal punishment was more liberal, we were horrified at this unwarranted attack. Poor ‘stinkie’ was both hurt and humiliated and sobbed uncontrollably. This unfortunate girl suffered with a body odour problem which had led to her offensive nickname. Eventually the headmaster took steps to put a stop to it, after the parents complained. Yet there were no repercussions, after the excessive punishment she had suffered at Ivan’s hands. Ivan’s attack on this girl stretched the common law defence of lawful chastisement beyond legal limits. Such behaviour today would place him in double jeopardy for both criminal and tortuous assault. He was indeed a vicious tyrant, ill suited to his vocation.
In contrast we enjoyed our 1st Form mentor, the ‘Sar Major’, whose unorthodox methods were nonetheless effective. Appearing suddenly in the doorway to our classroom for the first time, he shouted, ‘Pens and pencils -DOWN!’ His parade ground roar shattered the convivial classroom chatter, and petrified the skylarks. Taking advantage of the stunned silence that followed, he introduced himself. ‘My name is Webster. I am your arithmetic teacher. In future when I enter the room you will immediately put your pens and pencils down, and give me your full attention’.
Webster repaid our full attention by guiding us through the mathematical labyrinth. Many a time he sat beside me to patiently explain some problem beyond my grasp. His clipped moustache and martial bearing belied his kind and patient manner.
‘Cosmetics’ (Miss Pearson) was another interesting character, so named for her tendency to spend a lot of her classroom time painting her nails, powdering her nose, or plucking her eyebrows. She got away with this by using the old ploy of occupying us with a lot of written work in class. When she did engage in a debate about the hypotenuse theorem or the intricacies of the Isosceles Triangle she displayed a thorough knowledge of her subject and the ability to impart it.
Mr O'Brien (known as 'Four Eyes' , because of the thick lens glasses he wore) was a very earnest and serious young man, whose difficult task it was to resurrect for us a dead language - Latin. ‘Ubi est Brittannia?’ (where is Britain?), he would inquire of us hopefully. A question that may have concerned Julius Cesar when he set off to cross the English Channel in 55 B.C., but didn't remotely interest Aussie school boys in 1945.
‘0 - S - T - MUS - ns -NT, I -THOU - HE, SHE, OR IT - WE -YOU - THEY," he would intone, and we would parrot back until we knew the verb endings by heart. We never did get to talk about the conquests of the legions or about Nero fiddling whilst Rome burned.
Then there was Mr Ryan, ex-airforce, and Essendon V.F.L. footballer; big, breezy and energetic, he was a popular and competent P.T. and English teacher.
There were others whose names and idiosyncrasies, escape me, but my biding impression was that most of them had the best interests of the students at heart. I hope I have been fair in my assessment of those that once assessed me.
Conclusion
Ivanhoe Central School in 1944 provided students with their first eight years of schooling. It gave them a firm grip on the ‘3Rs’ (reading, writing and arithmetic) instilled discipline, and offered the Merit Certificate to those who passed their 8th grade exams. The Merit Certificate was the basic credential for job entry and 14 years the minimum school leaving age. Even then central schools were becoming obsolescent as more high schools were being established to cater for secondary schooling from 1st - 6th Form inclusive.
Ivanhoe churned out its share of Merit Certificates and provided a basic education that could be built on.
Although it didn't have the computers, equipment, or facilities of its modem counterparts it had a core of dedicated teachers and an ideal for which to strive.
Indeed, we have every right to claim,
‘Ever upward was our aim’.
[edit] Heather Maxwell: 1949-1954
My very first memory is of being very upset and crying because I had to leave Mum at the side gate and start my first day in Prep grade, while my sisters could go back home. A group of children from our street would all walk to school together, up Livingstone Street, and the older ones would look after the younger ones until they were able to manage on their own.
Memories of cold, wet, wintry days - arriving at school, hanging up coats and changing from wet shoes into slippers, and then doing a set of exercises to warm up and get the fingers to write, in freezing cold rooms with just an open fireplace for heating. And, believe it or not, watching snow flakes fall one very cold winter's day - the flakes disappeared as soon as they touched the ground.
Faint memories of using a slate and pencil before we were allowed to tackle pen and ink. We had to be very careful with our pen nibs and not make any ink blots on our pages, or marks would be deducted from our work.
Memories of hot summer days and being made to drink the free warm milk that had been sitting in crates at the school gate since the milkman delivered them early in the morning - 'because it was good for us'.
Lots of fun playing down the back of the oval, making pretend houses amongst the trees, but having to watch out for snakes which appeared from time to time. Also great excitement when the visiting circus would make its temporary home on the land behind the school oval and we could wander around and look at the animals in their cages on our way home.
Remembering the announcement over the loudspeaker from the headmaster's office that England's Queen Mary had died, and being suitably impressed and saddened. Also remembering the great excitement and preparations for students to take part in the big welcoming ceremony at the MCG put on by all the Melbourne schools to honour the visit of the Queen and Prince Phillip.
Memories of each Anzac Day ceremony at which Matron Vivien Bullwinkle, the sole survivor of one of the war's most well-known atrocities, and then in charge of the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, would come and address the school assembly held in every year in memory of the fallen.
Remembering being quite envious of the boys selected to be the drummer for the weekly assemblies, where we sang 'God Save The Queen' and recited the loyal oath with our hands on our hearts while watching the raising of the Australian flag.
Being ‘egg monitor’ - each week pupils would be asked to bring along contributions of eggs that would be donated to the nearby hospital for the patients meals. Also being selected to go into the staff room, as well as headmaster Mr Dunstan's office, to tidy the rooms and generally run errands for the teachers.
I cannot recall many of the teachers' names -I think Miss Prescott was my 5th and 6th grade teacher. Classes of 45 pupils were the norm. We had a weekly Religious Instruction class, taken by a visiting minister or church elder - held for all denominations - and those children who were not allowed to attend would have to bring a note from their parents.
I remember my Ivanhoe Primary days with great fondness.
[edit] Nola Buzza (nee Booth): 1949-1954
I have very happy memories of my years at Ivanhoe Primary School. My name when I attended was Nola Booth. The school was then called Ivanhoe Central. I started there in Grade 1 in 1949 and left at the completion of Grade 6 in 1954. My parents and I lived at … Beatty Street, Ivanhoe and in my first year I walked down Waterdale Road to the school with my mother. For my first few weeks during the hot weather. Mum would bring my lunch down to the school and we would go across to the little park opposite the school to eat. The park entrance was rather narrow, (near the school traffic lights) opening up to the area which still fronts onto Ivanhoe Parade.
We received free milk which was never refrigerated. We would sit in the shelter shed to eat our lunches. We were allowed to go out of the school-grounds and I often went to a friend's place for lunch or went to my home with a friend.
I remember Mrs White (a wonderful teacher); after she retired from teaching she had a little gift shop called "Juanita's" in Seddon Street. Mr Cummings and Mrs Snowball were also my teachers. Mr Dunstan was Headmaster.
One year (possibly about 1952) we had a talent quest as a fund-raising activity. It was held in the school grounds during school hours.
When I joined the Junior Red Cross we sent parcels to Korea for the victims of war. Mrs Snowball had some Korean students at her home one evening and I remember going there to meet them. Mrs Snowball also organised for some Korean pen-pals and I wrote to a boy called Myung Tok Pae. We exchanged photographs and wrote to each other for more than a year but then his letters stopped. I believe he was a victim of the war.
I always looked forward to school holidays - we often went to stay with friends who had holiday houses - one at Seaford and the other at Mt Martha! We had an Austin 7 car and would be able to go for lovely drives.
I was an only child, my father worked for the City of Melbourne and my mother was a full-time Mum. My mother still lives in our family home.
In 1955, along with a number of other Ivanhoe Primary pupils, I went to Heidelberg High School. We were the foundation pupils there.
I left school in 1958 after completing my Intermediate Certificate and went to work in local government for the City of Melbourne.
[edit] John Bishop: A Parent And School Committee Member 1947-1966
Interviewed on Thursday 23rd January 2003 by Louise, Owen & Edwin Ryan.
On the 7th July 1945 John Bishop came home from the war after 3 years in England. He returned to his wife Enid and two sons, John & Frank. They bought a house in Eaglemont on 26th October 1946. When Enid took 5 year old John to enrol him at Ivanhoe Primary School, their local school, the then headmaster, Mr Malone, told her that there was no room. She was very upset, and Mr Malone took pity and enrolled John. There were something like 860 pupils in the school – 70 per class.
Enid and John had 5 children who all attended the school: John, Frank, Harvey, Alan, and Rosemary. The youngest left the school in 1966.
John was very busy in his work and serving on a number of committees, but in 1950 Enid felt that it was time that he did something for his children and nominated him for the school council, without telling him. He stayed on the council until just before 1966. 1954, the year of the celebrations of the 101st anniversary, was John’s first year as chairman.
In those years the government provided the basics for a school (building and basic furniture) and paid for teachers and a caretaker, and left the rest to the community. In John’s view the council had three major achievements in his years.
The first achievement was heating. In 1954 each classroom had a small fireplace for heating, and it was often permanently blocked by the teacher warming himself in front of it. The children at the back of the room were very cold. The school council raised the funds (supplemented by a small government grant) to install a gas radiator in each room. This was done mainly by a fete (which had not been held before), which raised over ^1000 (a similar effort to raising $25,000 in 2003 money), and activities of the newly reformed Mothers’ Club.
The second major achievement was the creation of a proper oval. The oval was in a terrible state. The children used to fall over in the ruts. The grassed area was levelled and could then be used for interschool cricket and football.
The re-forming of the Mothers’ Club for fund raising and social support was another major achievement. The mothers of that era worked very well together and in fact continued to meet for lunch on the first Thursday of the month for many years after their children had left the school. (Mrs Nell Knorr (pronounced Nor), of Waterdale Road near the railway bridge, was one of the stalwarts of that group. The Knorrs were a prominent Ivanhoe family. Enid Bishop was also involved.) One of their proudest achievements was the tuckshop, financed with a small government grant and lots of fund raising. Before then, the children would roam about the shops of Upper Heidelberg Road at lunchtime if they had to buy their lunch. A wooden tuckshop was built on the north-west corner of the building. It can be seen in the photographs in the back of the history booklet published in 1954. It had just been completed then and the building materials in the background of the photographs are from that. The tuck shop was staffed entirely by volunteers.
A school library was also established during this period.
One disappointment John has regarding that period was concerning a rare attempt to influence the curriculum. Usually the Council and Mothers’ Club did not interfere with curriculum matters, but there was great concern that children were no longer been taught to memorise work (poetry, literature, tables etc.) and the committee felt that this was important. They took a motion to the Conference of School Committees and Mothers’ Clubs, which was held in the city, and John spoke for the motion. The vote was tied. Unfortunately the chairman decided against it with his casting vote.
One of the reasons that the school was so crowded were the massive new housing developments in West Heidelberg which the government built to house returned servicemen. All they did was build houses and had little thought for things like schools. Parents would try to enrol their children at Ivanhoe but there was no room for them. Mr Harold Carter formed a committee that included representatives from the school council. This led to the building of Bellfield School and eased some of the pressure on Ivanhoe.
There was not so much pressure from the Alphington direction, the creek formed a barrier.
John Bishop can remember two headmasters: Mr Malone and Mr Dunstan. Both were very good and John developed a friendship with Mr Dunstan who also lived in Eaglemont. He also particularly remembers a teacher named Mr Culhane, who was at the school for many years.
In those days children walked to school themselves with the eldest taking responsibility for the younger ones. John’s children walked along Studley Road. There were no pedestrian lights to help them across Upper Heidelberg Road so they would wait on the corner for their older cousin, who lived in the house on the corner, to come out and cross with them. The school had a “lolly-pop” man (probably employed by the council) to help them across Waterdale Road. Parents did not bring children to and from school in cars. There was no after school care. The mothers were at home. Tradesmen home delivered milk, meat, etc. Despite having five children, Enid still found some time for leisure and social activities.
Patriotism was encouraged. On Monday there was an assembly for the whole school where children sang the national anthem (‘God Save the Queen’), took the oath (‘I promise to obey my parents, the teachers and the law’) and saluted the flag. Children in the upper grades where taught civics and patriotism. Every Anzac Day there was a special service. 98% of children in Australia were Australian or British born.
Discipline was firm. Corporal punishment could be administered by any teacher. They all had a strap.
The children spent the vast majority of their time at school, there were no camps and few excursions, and no curriculum days. There were three terms in the year.
There was probably one teacher designated to teach special subjects like art and music, but they did not learn languages.
When young John started school he had a slate to practice writing on. Older children used nib pens and ink wells, they did not have biros.
The school employed at caretaker who was responsible for maintenance and cleaning. He lived in a house in Lowe Street where he could keep an eye on the school at all hours.
The school in those days existed in the red brick building, three stories and just about every room used as a class room. The office was on the right as you came in the front door. There were no portable classrooms but there was a shelter shed and a toilet block. John is not sure what the grounds were like. ‘It was always dark when I went there for meetings.’ Parents were not as involved in schooling, they did not attend their children’s football matches etc., and there were certainly no parents helping in the classroom.
It was the district inspector, Mr John Lyall, who discovered that the school had missed celebrating its centenary. He came across the original school minute books, which were kept in the Heidelberg Town Clerk’s department. He wrote most of the booklet that was produced in 1954. Unfortunately, John does not remember a great deal about what was done to celebrate the 101st year. There was a children’s ball, but that was an annual event.
Unfortunately John has difficulty remembering many things that happened in the period: ‘It was a very busy time in my life’. He recommends that the old minute books be located and read, “You may find that half of what I told you is wrong.”
His children were very happy at the school. Their parents affirm that they owe a great deal to the influence of Ivanhoe State School, giving their children good training and a happy childhood.
John, a retired company secretary for G.J.Coles & Co. & K-mart Australia now lives in a unit at Strathallan Village in Macleod. After his involvement at Ivanhoe Primary ceased he served on many other committees for church, business and the community. Enid is in poor health and lives at Leighton Nursing Home in Bulleen. John and Enid have 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
John junior was a very good footballer who played for Northcote and the Fitzroy reserves. He was a company director in Sydney before his early death at age 30.
Frank owns his own electronics business.
Harvey is a Youth Director with the Baptist Church.
Alan uses his engineering skills as a prototype fabricator in the automotive industry.
Rosemary was a computer operator before having a family.
John’s brother, Samuel Herbert “Bert” Bishop, and his wife Beryl also had children at Ivanhoe State School, including Peter, who was a school teacher and ultimately became a district inspector.
