Other things I can remember about Wadestown School...

Prompted both by my recent school visit, and by the book Windows over Wadestown by Debbie Monigatti which the school was kind enough to send me afterwards, here are a few more memories I have of my days at the school, when English was called "Written Expression" and we covered our books with wallpaper, not duraseal:

• Lining up in the top playground for outdoor assembly, and the boys always trying to be last in line


• Learning to swim in the freezing cold outdoor swimming pool


• Being allowed to move from pencil to fountain pen (which was supposed to be a privilege, but involved a lot more mess)


• Being tested on our spelling levels


• Doing folk dancing in the bottom playground, to the accompaniment of wobbly music from a record player, and putting on a performance of A midsummer night's dream for parents in the area outside the pool


• My wonderful Std 4 and Form 1 teacher, Mrs Kroell (you can see a photo of her on pg 65 of Debbie Monigatti's book) who took us on a school trip to Mt Egmont (as it was then)


• Going to the "murder house" on the bus to be practised on by student dental nurses


• Going to "manual" on the bus - cooking and sewing for the girls, woodwork and metalwork for the boys Now called 'technicraft' and under threat from the current government. Here's hoping this important tradition continues.


• The rows of bike racks - now there is a shed full of scooters


• The local minister from St Lukes who used to come in and give us religious instruction lessons once a week (and once a year we would go to the flower show with our sand saucers and flower arrangements)


• Barbara, Susan, Kirsten, Katrina, another Barbara, Michelle, Sally, Michael, Jonathan, John, Paul, ....