Margaret Hewitt (née Baldwin)

When I attended Croydon Girls Technical school very few students continued after third year but I did. I enrolled at Croydon because I had aspirations of becoming a nurse and the subjects available in a technical school seemed most suited to my desire. I was also particularly interested in all types of craft and had been quite successful in needlework and cooking at primary level. My grades in primary school had always been high, and I was among the top five in my class right throughout my primary years.

Our head mistress was Miss Flora McDonald who ruled with a rod of iron, but really had a heart of gold. The headmistress was just that and did not teach except in emergencies.

In first year at this school all students studied a general course consisting of English, arithmetic, social studies, hygiene and physiology, drawing and design, needlework, dressmaking and home science. At second and third year levels students were able to select one of two courses available, general or commercial. There was no general science. Physiology continued as part of the general course and we learned the same subjects as in first year with the addition of millinery. We also were able to take an extra subject which was studied during free lessons and we were not examined on these. I chose typing and have found this to be of great benefit in the age of computers.

I had chosen the general course because at that stage in my life I had no intention of working in an office, but was considering a teaching career (dressmaking or home science) as an alternative to my desire to become a nurse.

The second world war came to a conclusion during my first year at Croydon. On that magical day in 1945 we all attended school, but were granted the day off. I think everyone was in a state of bewilderment and the streets of Adelaide were packed with people celebrating the occasion. The friends from school that I went to the city with decided the crowds were too great and we finished up in the Savoy Newsreel Theatre in Rundle Street. With the conclusion of the war, life became very different with the troops returning home to take up jobs, and housing was at a premium.

This period also saw the arrival at our all girls’ school of a male teacher, Mr George Downs, and what excitement that caused! In hindsight the poor man must have felt most embarrassed at morning tea time, standing with all female teachers, drinking tea, and being snickered at by a group of teenage students who all thought there was no-one on earth to equal this extremely handsome man. He taught physiology, and was very active in sport and physical education. It was during this time that I experienced my first dissection of a frog, quite an experience. We used the darkroom at the boys’ school to develop and print our own photos, another useful lesson which I was able to use in later years.

My brother returned from the war and settled at home with his wife, along with a cousin and his wife who also came to live with us. Our poor house was stretched to the seams, as were a lot of others. There was a building boom at that time and no unemployment, even with the members of the forces returning to their normal employment.

We suffered from an infestation of head lice at school and quite a few students (including myself) suffered this embarrassing complaint, but the worst part was that I took them home to my family and my cousin and sister-in-law also were both afflicted. The cure then was to purchase from the chemist ‘quasher chips’ (can’t remember how to spell this one) which were boiled, the water cooled and the head rinsed in the solution. We had to stay away for a few days until we were free of the lice. This was to prevent further spread.

There were examinations at the end of each year, and after three years, if the marks were good enough, you were awarded an Intermediate Certificate. At the conclusion of third year I was awarded a Junior Technical Exhibition which was the equivalent of a scholarship of £20 to assist with the expenses for the ensuing year.

At Leaving level five subjects were required to obtain a Leaving Certificate. The subjects I chose for my final year were English, economic history, physiology, dressmaking and home science. I gained my Leaving Certificate and received credits in English and dressmaking. English was the most important subject taught, as you were unable to obtain your Intermediate or Leaving certificates if you did not pass English. Perhaps it is a pity that this rule does not apply today, as the inability to spell correctly is very common. I also am not in favour of the lack of the use of full stops when using abbreviations. One excuse for this change which was given to me as a typesetter, was a time and money saver, as there were less key strokes, and the saving in printer’s ink. I personally think it is sheer laziness.

There were only two students in my fourth year class and we really did not need to have a classroom of our own, so lessons were conducted in various parts of the school, such as the library or any empty classroom. My class teacher was Miss Nat Davies, who had also taught me in third year. Lessons were very friendly and contained a great deal of discussion. Educational outings were very much part of that year. One particular outing which has remained in my mind was to see Helen Keller at the Adelaide Town Hall. A remarkable person who overcame the greatest adversities and an example to all people with disabilities. We had a change of headmistresses with Miss McDonald retiring and Miss Mavis Watkinson taking her place. It was at this stage I realised that she was really very gentle and quite human, not the ‘iron maiden’ I had always considered her to be. I do not recall much about Miss Watkinson as my time with her as head mistress was quite short.

Homework was an essential part of the learning process, and comprised set lessons to be completed at home, including essays for English and practical exercises for dressmaking (bad luck if your mother did not possess a sewing machine).

Sport and physical education were important parts of technical school education with inter-school basketball being held at various schools each week, and a very large inter-school sports day each year on the Adelaide Oval or University Oval. Our uniform for sport consisted of a white blouse and navy blue shorts which we all made for ourselves in our first year of dressmaking. We drafted the pattern to fit ourselves and took great pains to have the garment fit properly. School uniforms, including hats and gloves, had to be worn, with disciplinary action being taken if you were caught out of uniform. We were required to wear a white overall and cooking hat during home science lessons.

In 1946 I gained a Mothercraft Certificate and my first grade Invalid Cookery Certificate with credit in 1948. The Invalid Cookery certificate was needed for a nursing career. The knowledge gained at technical school certainly prepared us for the future.

One of my brothers attended the Croydon Boys Technical School which was situated on the same ground as the girls’ school, on the other side of the playing area and it was a complete no-no to be caught fraternising with the boys. A very great challenge to do so and not be caught. A fun pastime was to stand at the windows of the third year class room which was upstairs and throw notes to the boys who dared to come close to our building. Yes, I was caught out and my punishment was the customary 100 lines, ‘I must not talk to boys at school.’ My brother was at the school five years before me and he became a design engineer in later life. He studied drafting and had his own business as time progressed. He was very much involved in the car manufacturing industry, sub-contracting to the main car firms in Adelaide.

Sliding down banisters was considered dangerous and unladylike and frowned upon at all times. I suppose like all youngsters we were unable to see the dangers until a student fell from the banisters and died – a lesson that had to be learnt the hard way. The death of this first year student certainly put a stop to that activity, at least for the rest of that year and the next.

At the time of taking my first position I still intended to take up nursing but, by that time, I had reached the required 18 years of age and was enjoying my job and did not relish the thought of shift work. It was at this time that school teachers were in short supply and the Education Department introduced a short term ‘pressure cooker’ course to increase the numbers. As I had obtained my Leaving Certificate I was eligible for the course but, being young and inexperienced, I did not want a drop in salary for the three month period of training, a decision I have sometimes regretted. I have been delighted with the fact that our eldest son is a high school teacher in maths and science and his son has begun his studies in teaching the same subjects.

I did not follow my chosen field, and actually finished up in an office as a cashier which was followed by bookkeeping. The first position I took on leaving school required someone with Leaving standard. I learned to use a comptometer, and ledger machine, so I suppose the use of a computer has automatically followed. With the advent of computers, and spending the majority of my time in voluntary work, I have been able to master the art of typesetting, and have been responsible for the production of many books and magazines on orchid growing.

There was a common fallacy that the students who gained the lower marks in primary school attended technical schools, while the brighter students went to high schools. This certainly did not apply to the people I went to school with, as the majority of the top students attended Croydon and many became successful in later years.

Technical schools were an important section of the education system depending on the type of career a person wished to pursue. The subjects learnt at Croydon Tech have certainly been useful to me over the years. I have been able to make all my own clothes, and those of my children and grandchildren. I learned cake decorating in home science, and that has been a real asset. We were encouraged to enter our craft work in the Royal Show and I had a few successes with embroidery, dressmaking and cake decorating. With the ability to perform these tasks, I was able to supplement my income during the time when the boys were young and mildly expensive to clothe and educate.

We held our teachers in awe, and were taught to respect our elders, although in senior school some of our teachers became true friends, and we were able to ask advice and were treated as equals. If I had my time over again I certainly would not change the type of education I received as it has served me well throughout my life.

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