Stu's Memories: Remembering school days

After the second world war, the Tara school was relocated for the third time and opened yet again. The locality was a corner paddock of Hilton Browns. Our gate in the lawsoniana hedge was alongside Mr Alec and Mac Bowmars cream stand. The community struggled to get the numbers to open. My memory doesn’t recall that number but it was probably 10 as Jimmy Wintle and Bonnie Francis were enrolled on day one before attaining the required age.

Our early teachers were Mrs Baird, Mrs Horrie Singleton and Mrs Charlie Wharfe. The latter two used lollies as an education stimulant. Whether it worked I know not, but maybe that was the start of my dental problems. Mr McMillan was the first male teacher I remember and in hindsight an enlightening change.

After Christmas holidays our playing field was grass to our knees or more, a great cow paddock but no gate to let them in. Hide and seek was played at lunchtime with Mr McMillan joining in. What fun that was having an adult playing with us.

Hockey was on the menu so some sticks had to be organised. We went down to Hilton Brown’s bush where there was tea tree growing on quite a steep slope. It worked this way: When the seed germinated it came out of the ground and turned upwards to the light making the above ground stem at right angles to the root. First we were told to find a tree that would make a suitable handle, then we would scratch around with a screw driver to find if it had a suitable root end for the purpose required. Hockey never really caught on but we did play tee-ball as the younger ones could partake.

Ken Brown and I were in the same class and were the oldest. When in Form one, we went to Auckland on an unaccompanied education trip. We were staying with grandparents. Ken had to cross the harbour on the ferry and I was in Parnell. We met up somewhere each day. We went to the flying boat base and onto a ship at one of the wharves. What sort of ship I don’t recall.

We went to the sugar refinery at Chelsea where the sugar cane from Aussie went up six or seven stories and returned one at a time. At each one it was refined a bit further. Let’s say first out was molasses, then dark treacle, then dark brown sugar, then light brown sugar, then white sugar. Each worker was given a two pound bag of sugar a week. Ken and I were each given one. Then the Auckland Museum in the afternoon.

Our weeks highlight was going to the Avondale Intermediate School where we were on stage in front of several hundred children of the same age. One of the schools teachers would ask us questions about our school and life in the country. He asked me how many in my class, and I was a bit dumb-struck and pointed to Ken, so the teacher said ‘just the two of you’ and I nodded and there was a fair bit of laughter which set the scene for the next question. He asked Ken ‘How many children go to your school?’ Ken answered ‘13’ and the whole hall erupted in laughter. We relaxed a bit after that, telling them if we played out in the paddock we had to dodge the cow plops which didn’t always happen if you had your eye on the ball.

One year we were told our exam papers were going to be marked by Mr Prouting, the headmaster at Kaiwaka, and we were petrified.

Every six months we were taken to the Mangawhai School for dental treatment.

A German mine was washed ashore on the sand hills at Mangawhai and the school went to have a look. I recall it was round with spikes on it about six to nine inches long. There was a line drawn in the sand. NO CLOSER than that. Whether that was 10 feet or 10 yards I don’t know but I hope it was yards.

The highlight of the year was the school picnic at the Heads Domain where we had all the usual races – but the days highlight was the ice cream. It came in a container which was used to carry semen for artificial insemination in the dairy industry. I believe liquid nitrogen in some form was the coolant.

Ken Brown and I were in the same class and were the oldest. When in Form one, we went to Auckland on an unaccompanied education trip.