First started to learn to write using pencils at the age 5 years old
Talk about pencils moving on to pen and ink
Show ink and pen and talk about boys dipping the ends of your hair in the ink pots
Teacher used black board and chalk to teaching the class, we used paper, pens and books did not have computers
There were 45 children is my grade
I was part of the school choir and we had competitions between other schools. In the photo my school choir won the shield for the best choir in the area. The shield was displayed in a special glass display cabinet for all of the school to look at.
My house that I grew up in was in England. It was a small 2 bedroomed house and I shared my bedroom with my grandparents. The house only had electricity in 3 rooms which were the kitchen, lounge room and the main bedroom. The toilet was separate to the house and you had to go outside to use it. When I had to have a bath, the water would be warmed on the stove and my bath was a tin bath in front of the fire place in the lounge room. Water to the house can from a well and there was only one tap in the house that only had cold water.
As a child I grew up during war time, so we had to be very careful with using the lights in the house, we were not allowed to let light shine from the windows, we had heavy curtains and used candles for lights. Streetlights were not allowed, When the war ended, I was 8 years old and I remember being frightened when the streetlights were switched on, and I said to my dad – “tell them to turn the lights off.”
My mum and dad both worked at an airplane factory during the war time, building aeroplanes.
This book was a present for Christmas from my mummy and daddy when I was 10 years old. It was the first book that I owned.
Dollhouse was made by my dad and my mum decorated this house inside. It was a present and when I woke up on my birthday the house was lit up with special little light is each room. It was a big surprise!!
Show little ceramic house furniture and pencil box for colouring.
Knitting and sewing/embroidery. Show old embroidery.
In summer played outside in the woods and used our imagination to make up games
We did not wear uniform to school, in the cold winter weather with snow I wore thick coats, boots and knitted woollen hat over my clothes. The clothes were often made from knitted wool, like the jumper I am wearing in this photo. The clothes were often given to other children when you have grown to big for them. My mum used to make my clothes, often having to resize clothes from the grown up clothes.
My first dress that I was made for me from new material was a dress for my brother’s wedding when I was aged 11 when I was a bridesmaid.
My first dress that was made for me from new material was a dress for my brother’s wedding when I was aged 11 when I was a bridesmaid.
This is my primary school. When I was at school the children used to have milk to drink and we had hot lunches at school which were served in the dining room where we sat and ate at tables and chairs.
If you were naughty at school, the teacher would use the cane, I was a good girl at school and didn’t get into trouble with the teacher.
At school we went outside to play, but the school had separate play ground for girls and boys. When outside I played skipping and bouncing a ball against the wall. When I was older I was a bell monitor, I had to watch the clock and then ring the bell for the end of play time. The bell was very heavy and I had to use two hands to hold it.
Me on the first of day of school in England aged 5
I started school in England when I was 5 years old. My family moved to Australia on this ship called the Fairsea. I had my 6th birthday on the ship. It took 5 ½ weeks to travel from England to Australia, we arrived in Melbourne in 1968.
I went to school on the ship and this is a certificate to show that I attended the Fairsea School.
I started school in Australia and this is my school report.
It says that “Jane is a pleasant, obedient girl who works hard in all subjects”
The school report is hand written by my teacher, there were no computers when I was is Grade 1
Can you find me in this photo?
My teacher’s name was Miss Mitchell.
How many kids, let’s count.
This is my primary school, called Southvale Primary. When I first started at the school, I had to walk from my house which would take 30 minutes. Later there was a school bus which I could take to school with my friends.
Miss Shannon also went to this school.
Each day at school the children would have milk to drink. It came in small glass bottles, delivered by the milkman. Sometimes the milk would be warm after sitting in the sun. I did not like drinking the milk when it was warm.
The milk that we had at my house, was be delivered by the milkman using a horse and cart. I could hear the clippety clop of the horses as they walked up the road in the early morning before the sun was up.
At playtime, I loved playing on the monkey bars, my favourite thing to do was to hang upside down and swing. I also liked to play chasey games with my friends. At school I liked to play hopscotch which was lots of fun too.
I loved playing a game called Elastics. (demonstration)
My house had 3 bedrooms, one for my mum and dad, one for me, and my 2 brothers shared a room. We had a telephone, but no mobiles, the television was in the lounge room and we used to sit and watch television together. There were no computers, or internet.
Granny Margaret still lives in this house.
Do you know what this is? Hold up the record
My first baby doll was called Susie and she I got her when I was 6 years old. I used to push her in a doll’s pram. I had one Barbie doll, who was special because her legs could bend, and she had pink sunglasses and a yellow beach towel.
I used to collect Swap Cards and I loved the pretty pictures and bright colours. My favourite cards were ones with cats on them. I love cats.
I liked riding my scooter, and my brothers had a small car which they shared. I spent a lot of time playing with my friends outside in the street, we would play cricket, tennis and other balls games.
I loved playing dress ups and pretending to be a princess. I am with my brothers dressed up for a fancy dress party.
When I was growing up, the televisions had black and white pictures. I can remember at school sitting in the corridor was man landing on the moon on the television.
One of my favourite TV shows was HR Puff n Stuff, and I would have to imagine was colours the characters might have been.
I can remember when I first watched colour television!
I went to visit my grandparents house to watch my favourite television show, and to my surprise the pictures were in colour. I had always imagined that Puff n Stuff would be green, to my surprise he was yellow and orange. And I thought the policeman uniforms would be blue, not green and red. It was very special and amazing.