Grandad attended a small, one-room country school with no principal or hall. There were 24 students and one teacher. Students shared long desks and sat on benches without backs. Grandad enjoyed English and writing with pen and ink, though he and his friends would sometimes stab flies with their pens. For lunch, Grandad brought sandwiches from home as there was no cafeteria. Playtime consisted of making their own cricket pitch since there were no playground structures. Punishment was administered with a cane. The school had an outdoor toilet called a thunderbox and no sick bay, so ill students had to sit in the shade.

1. Grandad’s School
By Matthew

2. What was Grandad’s school like?
 It was very small and in the country
 There was one room
 There was no principal or school hall!

3. What was the classroom like?
 There were 24 students and one teacher.
 There was a small library in a storeroom next to the
classroom.

4. What was the desk like?
 You shared a long desk with 4 or 5 people
 You could lift up the lid on the desk
 You sat on a long bench with no back on it
 You couldn’t swing back on your chair!

5. What did Grandad do at school?
 Grandad’s favourite subject was English.
 There was a class reader for each year.
 100 pages long
 Stories and poems suitable for your age
 Grandad wrote with pen and ink
 Grandad and his friends stabbed flies with their pens and put
them in the ink well! They got smelly!

6. Playing at school
 There was no play equipment in the playground!
 There was a wall for practicing tennis on.
 Grandad and his friends made a cricket pitch and
played cricket.

7. Lunch at school
 Grandad took roast lamb and tomato sauce
sandwiches.
 His Mum made nice cakes and apple pies too!
 There was no canteen!

8. Toilets at school
 There were no flush toilets!
 There was a thunderbox up the back of the school
yard.
But this isn’t it.....!

9. Being naughty at school
 They had the cane at school!
 Grandad got the cane a few times – but some people
got it every week!
 Grandad probably got the cane for talking in class.

10. Sick Bay
 There was no sick bay!
 So.... what did you do when you were sick?
 Did you run to the thunderbox to be sick?
 Grandad said you just had to go and sit in the shade.

11. Thank you for listening!