Sylvia Garnham (Geddes)
I have found it hard to write about my experience as a student at Balwyn High School in a balanced way and am very grateful to Brian Stagoll who has expressed so eloquently and graciously what I have been struggling to say. I have other similar memories such as standing in the baking sun while listening to the seemingly endless views of Councillor Standford and school expeditions using fleets of trams which travelled on non-standard routes.
My experience differed from Brian’s in that I did not come from one of the feeder primary schools and knew only one other person when I started at the school in 1957; she had attended Doncaster Primary School and we had competed against each other at inter-school sports meetings. I had spent just over half the year of Grade 6 at East Doncaster Primary School, a most unpleasant experience after coming from a country school - Rosebud Primary.
From mid first form I lived at Templestowe. Travelling every day to and from school didn’t make it easy to engage in activities with friends out of school hours. Those of us who “caught the bus” often shared more in common with other Templestowe and Doncaster kids who travelled to schools in Blackburn, Box Hill, Camberwell, Hawthorn and Kew. “White’s Corner”, unrecognisable today as the location of Doncaster Shopping Town, was the common meeting ground where we often had to change buses and spent time together while we waited for that elusive next bus.
The other difference was that although my final year at Balwyn High was 1962, I was in form five not six. This is because I missed a year in 1961 when I had to accompany my parents to England because of a death in our family. I found it hard to return to school after working for a year and being overseas and because remaining at school was a financial challenge for my parents I decided to leave at the end of 1962. Despite coming dux of form five that year I don’t recall the school making any effort to persuade me to stay on to matriculate.
My warmest memories of the school are of the friendships I shared there and of some of the staff, particularly Mrs Miller (who taught me German which I was able to use) and Mr Ronan (who taught me English in 1962).
(Click on this link to see what Sylvia did after Balwyn High School)
My experience differed from Brian’s in that I did not come from one of the feeder primary schools and knew only one other person when I started at the school in 1957; she had attended Doncaster Primary School and we had competed against each other at inter-school sports meetings. I had spent just over half the year of Grade 6 at East Doncaster Primary School, a most unpleasant experience after coming from a country school - Rosebud Primary.
From mid first form I lived at Templestowe. Travelling every day to and from school didn’t make it easy to engage in activities with friends out of school hours. Those of us who “caught the bus” often shared more in common with other Templestowe and Doncaster kids who travelled to schools in Blackburn, Box Hill, Camberwell, Hawthorn and Kew. “White’s Corner”, unrecognisable today as the location of Doncaster Shopping Town, was the common meeting ground where we often had to change buses and spent time together while we waited for that elusive next bus.
The other difference was that although my final year at Balwyn High was 1962, I was in form five not six. This is because I missed a year in 1961 when I had to accompany my parents to England because of a death in our family. I found it hard to return to school after working for a year and being overseas and because remaining at school was a financial challenge for my parents I decided to leave at the end of 1962. Despite coming dux of form five that year I don’t recall the school making any effort to persuade me to stay on to matriculate.
My warmest memories of the school are of the friendships I shared there and of some of the staff, particularly Mrs Miller (who taught me German which I was able to use) and Mr Ronan (who taught me English in 1962).
(Click on this link to see what Sylvia did after Balwyn High School)
