Peter Thomas
Reflections on my time at BHS
Overall my memories are positive, though when I compare the opportunities my children were offered at their schools, I see that there were inadequacies at BHS…though that comparison may well, in part, be a function of the different times.
We had some wonderful teachers.
Mrs Miller, my German teacher, was without doubt, one of the finest, most caring teachers you could have. She had infinite time and patience.
John Martin, who was not much older than us, swept through the school like a bracing breeze; enormously popular, a gifted teacher with a fine mind. He made history come to life. I was sad to learn of his death a few years ago.
Mr Prieditis taught me in Modern History in Matric. He was a Latvian, spoke with an accent, and talked about ideas. He ran the Modern History classes more like a university tutorial, which suited many of us but not all.
Nancy Sampson taught me English in 4th form and introduced me to Shakespeare. She was undoubtedly one of the most loved teachers at the school and was so elegant.
I should also add Mr Norman, who without doubt was an iconic English teacher – to this day I think back to some of the rules he instilled, such as never starting a sentence with “Also” – though my memories of him are mixed.
I remember Pop Conlan – how didn’t he set himself alight when he put his pipe, still burning, in his pocket – very kindly. I was sad to hear of his death shortly after we left school.
“Snoop” McCance is someone who is etched in my memory – he provided a wonderful subject when we were asked in English in 3rd form to paint a word picture of someone we knew – my pen picture of Snoop earned the comment from Miss McKane “brilliant, but there is such a thing as charity”.
I also remember Mrs Iris Ingham who taught me English in form 1. She read us the Diary of Anne Frank, many days finishing up in tears. We then went to see the stage production – and I don’t think the book was on the syllabus. It was probably far more worthy than many that were on the syllabus.
The school however did not provide much in the way of music, drama, debating (though we did appear on the Channel 7, Parliament of Youth) or development of sporting prowess, which is a shame. I am sure that has been corrected since we left.
Sport was not well organised and only those who were involved out of school hours, would be likely to make the school teams. As a result, the interschool comps were lotteries, not reflective of how well the schools had developed the talent within.
I remember fondly the final months at BHS which seemed to be a whirl of parties when other schools in the district, including non-government schools, invited us (possibly only the prefects) to their school dances/farewell parties.
I also remember when the Minister for Education came to open the new Matric wing. I think it was Dick Hamer. The day was wet and the area between the existing and the new wing was muddy with plenty of puddles. The school offered no red carpet or even boards for him to walk over and he finished up with wet and muddy shoes and a realisation that there was still much to do. I really liked the Matric wing – it recognised that we were starting to separate from our school lives and move into the wider world…which I think I was ready to do by the end of 1962.
The Prefect system was anything but perfect. Having been appointed a prefect – and I think it was largely an appointment – we were left to our own devices. There was no regular meeting with the Headmaster or other teachers, we had no input to the way the school operated and we learnt nothing about accepting responsibilities. We were, after all, expected to be the school leaders, but as I recall we didn’t lead and we weren’t expected to lead. For this I blame, largely, the system, not the individuals who were prefects.
I note with some amazement that the school houses still bear the “royal” names, though I always had some difficulty with Churchill’s elevation. Surely you would have thought that new Australian names would have been substituted decades ago – I wonder what the school’s position would have been in the 1999 referendum!!
In summary, I think the school provided a good education in rather difficult circumstances. I am looking forward to revisiting the school on 27 October and am confident I will be able to bask in the fact that we were some of the pioneers.
Peter Thomas - 041012(Click on this link to see what Peter did after Balwyn High School)
Overall my memories are positive, though when I compare the opportunities my children were offered at their schools, I see that there were inadequacies at BHS…though that comparison may well, in part, be a function of the different times.
We had some wonderful teachers.
Mrs Miller, my German teacher, was without doubt, one of the finest, most caring teachers you could have. She had infinite time and patience.
John Martin, who was not much older than us, swept through the school like a bracing breeze; enormously popular, a gifted teacher with a fine mind. He made history come to life. I was sad to learn of his death a few years ago.
Mr Prieditis taught me in Modern History in Matric. He was a Latvian, spoke with an accent, and talked about ideas. He ran the Modern History classes more like a university tutorial, which suited many of us but not all.
Nancy Sampson taught me English in 4th form and introduced me to Shakespeare. She was undoubtedly one of the most loved teachers at the school and was so elegant.
I should also add Mr Norman, who without doubt was an iconic English teacher – to this day I think back to some of the rules he instilled, such as never starting a sentence with “Also” – though my memories of him are mixed.
I remember Pop Conlan – how didn’t he set himself alight when he put his pipe, still burning, in his pocket – very kindly. I was sad to hear of his death shortly after we left school.
“Snoop” McCance is someone who is etched in my memory – he provided a wonderful subject when we were asked in English in 3rd form to paint a word picture of someone we knew – my pen picture of Snoop earned the comment from Miss McKane “brilliant, but there is such a thing as charity”.
I also remember Mrs Iris Ingham who taught me English in form 1. She read us the Diary of Anne Frank, many days finishing up in tears. We then went to see the stage production – and I don’t think the book was on the syllabus. It was probably far more worthy than many that were on the syllabus.
The school however did not provide much in the way of music, drama, debating (though we did appear on the Channel 7, Parliament of Youth) or development of sporting prowess, which is a shame. I am sure that has been corrected since we left.
Sport was not well organised and only those who were involved out of school hours, would be likely to make the school teams. As a result, the interschool comps were lotteries, not reflective of how well the schools had developed the talent within.
I remember fondly the final months at BHS which seemed to be a whirl of parties when other schools in the district, including non-government schools, invited us (possibly only the prefects) to their school dances/farewell parties.
I also remember when the Minister for Education came to open the new Matric wing. I think it was Dick Hamer. The day was wet and the area between the existing and the new wing was muddy with plenty of puddles. The school offered no red carpet or even boards for him to walk over and he finished up with wet and muddy shoes and a realisation that there was still much to do. I really liked the Matric wing – it recognised that we were starting to separate from our school lives and move into the wider world…which I think I was ready to do by the end of 1962.
The Prefect system was anything but perfect. Having been appointed a prefect – and I think it was largely an appointment – we were left to our own devices. There was no regular meeting with the Headmaster or other teachers, we had no input to the way the school operated and we learnt nothing about accepting responsibilities. We were, after all, expected to be the school leaders, but as I recall we didn’t lead and we weren’t expected to lead. For this I blame, largely, the system, not the individuals who were prefects.
I note with some amazement that the school houses still bear the “royal” names, though I always had some difficulty with Churchill’s elevation. Surely you would have thought that new Australian names would have been substituted decades ago – I wonder what the school’s position would have been in the 1999 referendum!!
In summary, I think the school provided a good education in rather difficult circumstances. I am looking forward to revisiting the school on 27 October and am confident I will be able to bask in the fact that we were some of the pioneers.
Peter Thomas - 041012(Click on this link to see what Peter did after Balwyn High School)
