Vivian C. (Viv) Veale

From 1948 to 1952 I taught at Kadina High School. I was transferred to Darwin Higher Primary School in 1953, the first manual training instructor to teach in the Northern Territory. On my return I was appointed in 1955 to Thebarton Boys Technical School along with its new headmaster, Mr Hartley Searle of the Searle and Jones mathematics text book fame.

The headmaster and the president of the parents’ and friends’ association approached me to take over as Flight Commander of the No. 10 Flight Air Training Corps Cadets and this was accomplished by my transferring from the Army Reserve to the Air Force Reserve.

The duties involved spending each Tuesday and Thursday from 4.00 pm to 5.15 pm helping the cadets with air force type subjects assisted by members of the permanent RAAF. In all some 60 or 70 students were involved which saw, in 1958 and 1959, ceremonial parades held on the Thebarton Oval reviewed by the Commandant of the South Australian Squadron Air Training Corps and a departmental representative, mainly Mr M.H. Bone, Superintendent of Technical Education. The parade was followed by afternoon tea put on by the parents’ and friends’ association.

As Wednesday sports afternoons were in full swing I took charge of the swimming group which journeyed to the Henley Pool each Wednesday for practice. Once the interschool carnival was over in the first term and again in the third term I commenced Royal Life Saving Society (RLSS) instruction with selected members of the squad and we again trained on Saturday mornings allowing a number of students to receive Bronze medallions in Life Saving while two ultimately gained Silver Medallions or Awards of Merit.

Mr Searle resigned as headmaster to take up a post with ETSA as the Coordinator of Technical Training and was replaced by Mr Syd Harvey formerly head of Nailsworth Boys Technical School.

The Education Department took pity on the poor woodwork teachers and the equipment was removed to the now vacant commonwealth building while the corrugated iron workshop was lined and equipped with some power machinery including circular saws, buzzers, bandsaws and wood turning lathes. Alas the asphalt floor remained but the water drops on cold winter mornings disappeared. But the metalwork sections were not so lucky.

Although night classes conducted by and taught by School of Mines staff existed in the fitting and machine shop, adult night classes in woodwork did not commence until 1959 with me being responsible for one of the classes which resulted in a novel experience. In 1960 Mr M. MacPherson, my first year teacher from the Goodwood days, was appointed headmaster to replace Mr Harvey who had retired because of poor health. At the end of the year the School of Mines’ students sat for their certificate exam on the Tuesday evening when I had a night class and, as the completed exam papers were to be collected by a courier next morning, the teacher approached me to be the custodian of the exam papers. However my plan to lock the papers in the woodwork filing cabinet was not accepted but a request was made to place them in the school safe.

To accomplish this Mr MacPherson gave me his keys to the foyer, his office and the safe so that the papers could be secured. This I did. Imagine my surprise when, next morning, Mr MacPherson asked me if I had completed the task and when I replied that I had he replied that the papers were missing as thieves had entered his office during the night and made off with the safe.

The thieves later broke into Brighton High School and left live detonators scattered dangerously about the book room. The safe was later blown in a paddock and the mud-stained papers were retrieved. Later Mr MacPherson and I spent a whole day in the Supreme Court just to give about 10 minutes’ evidence in the witness box.

Probably the highlights of each year was the display night when students’ work was put on display. A great deal of time was spent in arranging students’ models and craft shops were magnets drawing large crowds to the display.

It was at this time that I became secretary for the Boys Craft Teachers Association (no longer manual training instructors – MTIs) and later its president and overtures were commenced with the Education Department for the supply of protective clothing and later for ear muffs and respirators for teachers.

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