Margaret J Grant OAM

I started school at the Woodville Infant School in February 1941. I loved going to school, but I was afraid of the ‘big kids’ I had to pass in the primary school yard to get to the infant school. Because of this my mother walked me to school every day with my little brother in tow. The next year she thought she would have to do it all over again as Donald was starting school, but I said, ‘I’ll take him to school.’

I was honoured by my teachers asking me to hold the Australian Flag on Anzac Day, as my father was in the permanent army and away in Libya in the front line with the 2nd 43rd Battalion of the 9th Division. He was between the Bardia Road and the Mediterranean Sea at Tobruk. We, the young students, had to practise running to a hole in the fence and then into a house in Simpson Street and lie on the floor by the wall. We had something like perspex as a ‘dog tag’ during the war. Mine was green and had my name and address and blood type on it. I suppose they thought the school might be a mistaken target for Holdens. The factory was making planes for the war.

My years in the junior primary school were great. I ran messages for the teachers often. I suppose they thought I would catch up work missed. How wrong they were. At the end of two years my mother said I couldn’t write and spell and I should stay down and do Grade 2 again to learn these things. This year I even ran more messages, many of them for Miss West, the headmistress. I loved all this and it took my mind off the thoughts that I was a failure. For this is what I thought about repeating the year. No one told me the reasons I was kept back, nor did they try to help me overcome any learning difficulties or teach me the fundamentals of spelling. I didn’t learn to spell and I didn’t learn to write as my mother wanted. I got ink all over my fingers. My writing never really improved until the invention and wide use in schools of the ‘Biro’.

In 1944 I went to the ‘big school’ with Fidock the other repeat student, and a class of youngsters who thought Bill and I were failures as we had been kept back. Bill became one of South Australia’s and Woodville’s best rugby players. Like all schools I imagine the word was passed on about the students as they went from one school to another and our teacher, Miss Crowhurst, who was my teacher in grades 3, 4 and 5 never encouraged me to overcome my spelling and writing problems. In fact she took a mark off for each spelling error in all work handed up and needless to say I could get 0/10 easily for every subject. No wonder everyone thought I was dumb and treated me as if I was – even my family. Poor old Margaret, what will she do with her life? Not that it mattered much. I was a girl and they get married, have children and support their husbands in their work.

In grade 5 I remember we had four rows of double desks and from front to back about six: this would mean about 48 in the class. An inspector came to the class one day. He asked how tall he was. He was standing near a ‘hopper’ window on the other side of the room. My desk was near a ‘hopper’ window on the other side of the room, so I stood up, checked where the top of my head came on the window and then worked out how much taller he was and calculated he was five feet nine inches. I wasn’t asked for awhile and when I was asked and gave the correct answer he and Miss Crowhurst were amazed. Poor old dumb Margaret had got this trick question right.

My personal characteristics report was very good in the areas of deportment and conduct, attentiveness and effort, initiative and self reliance and in preparation. My general progress changed from good to fair to good but, by 1947, I was considered to be not worth worrying about.

Along with 16 other grade 6ers and about the same number of grade 4s, I was put into a composite class with a Miss Cousins as our teacher. Our class room was the shelter shed. Bitumen floor, walls made of corrugated iron on three sides and the roof – no ceiling – and open to the north-east. We could watch the trolley buses go along the Port Road to Semaphore and Largs Bay. We used to keep a check on the numbers and the most popular was 404, the newest bus. Miss Cousins must have been more unhappy in this situation than the pupils. It was cold in winter and hot in summer. The north wind and dust blew in. We couldn’t leave anything in the shelter as it was not secure. She did her best and I think I learned something that year but my chances of learning to spell seemed to have gone forever and the handwriting was still dreadful.

I got 83.5% and was third in a class of 16. I was quite poor at dictation as I pondered over the spelling and got left behind. Each spelling error was a mark off. I still ponder over some words and in lectures or at conferences it is always a struggle.

At the start of 1948 the 16 grade 6ers were promoted to grade 7 and rejoined the rest of the class we had been with for grades 3, 4 and 5. Well, only the girls, as the boys were to be in a separate class. The other girls had spent the grade 6 year with Miss Odgers. Now we were to join them but, tainted with ‘ignorance’, we were to be kept apart. We formed a row of our own in the class room in double desks. This room is still on the site and is called the cottage. The rest of the class acted in a superior manner and treated us as if we were unclean. We didn’t get any help with our learning problems. Needless to say of all those who passed their Progress Certificate, I was bottom of the class. I had 71/120 and came 43rd out of a class of 45.

My mother must have worried about my primary school results a great deal and finally she decided that I would enrol at the Croydon Girls Technical School rather than Woodville High School, where most of my class would be going. I suspect she also preferred a school for girls. She has never confided her thoughts to me on this matter. She had had a harrowing time since 1946 when my father asked her for a divorce. She had tried to get to Sydney to see him, but did not have enough money for the fare and, any way, was refused a travel pass as her reasons were not considered to be important enough. She did eventually get a travel pass and get to Sydney but, by then, it was too late. My father had made up his mind that he didn’t want her or us. Pity – as she was a resourceful woman and would have been an excellent partner in his attempt to improve his career path and his position in society. Still it was good for Donald and I in the long run – when you are at the bottom of the heap there is nowhere to go but up.

Meanwhile he was having a good time going to Sydney University taking an Economics course. He had written to her saying that it didn’t matter about the children. Mother had to get jobs to supplement the money father gave her. She worked at Selby’s Shoe Company and Myers Shoe Department. My brother and I helped in the house. He did the shopping and vacuumed the house each week. I cooked tea each night and dusted the house weekly. We all helped with the dishes. I also enjoyed some of the gardening. We always grew some vegetables, strawberries and muscatel grapes.

At Croydon Girls Technical School on the first day there were 153 first year students. We were to go into four classes. We were not tested at this time but simply put into the four rooms on the ground floor of the building in Cedar Avenue with a class teacher. I got the impression that the teachers had picked their rooms by some sort of longevity at the school and we went with them. I was in the third room. We were called 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D. I was with Miss Phyllis Le Lievre in 1C. She was an art teacher who took the class for social studies and drawing. There were 42 girls in the class. We all did the General IQ test and the English and Arithmetic Attainment Test two days later. This resulted in my being moved from the front to the back of the room. This was a mistake as I was a chatty person. No one was moved from room to room.

The subjects I took, recorded in our Student’s Report, were English, arithmetic, social studies, general science, drawing, needlework, dressmaking and home science. The general remarks for the first half of the year said, ‘Margaret seems to be settling down to work very well now, and should increase her position as a result. Her percentage is a good one, but can be higher. Try hard Margaret. Attendance very pleasing.’ P. Le Lievre, Class Teacher. And ‘Good Margaret! Try hard.’ M. D. Watkinson, Head Mistress.

In the second half of the year the general remarks showed the change. ‘Margaret has improved all round this term. She works well and is much steadier than she used to be. Her keen sense of humour is well under control. She should make a very good second year student. B. Sutherland, Class Teacher. ‘Very pleasing!’ M. D. Watkinson, Head Mistress.

This student will be promoted.

I also remember taking physical education and sport on Wednesday afternoons while clubs or hobbies were on Monday afternoons. I was a member of the Friends of the Library Club for four years. We tidied the library, mended books and magazines and learned a little about cataloguing.

After Miss Le Lievre left us the drawing lessons were a struggle. She contracted poliomyelitis and we never saw her at school again, although a small group of us went to see her every term until we left school. We would bring our bikes to school and ride to Torrensville and then home to Kilkenny, Woodville Park or wherever. The drawing classes were object drawing and plant drawing. This was to prepare us for Intermediate PEB. Art has surely come a long way since then.

My reports were good and reflected my feelings about school and my teachers. The teachers understood my learning problems and used different methods to deal with them. They cared and showed it. However I remember one solution that was arduous.

In home science in the first term I got 29% for theory and about 95% for practical. As a result I was asked to stand by the big pillar every Monday night for the next term and learn my theory. The teacher, Mrs Park, took me for home science in first, second and third year. She was an older woman who had trained at the Emily McPherson College in Melbourne and she had a family and children of her own. She knew how to get good work out of me. She never accepted anything less than my best. She was always fair and kind but firm.

My thoughts about physical education are very vague except for the rigours of what we wore. We had navy blue shorts and white shirts. The tails of the shirts were not to come out of the shorts and I had an additional 10 inches stitched on the bottom of mine. If it was cold we had our school jumpers to put on. I only remember playing games, mainly vigoro, netball and tennis. We had to walk one mile north, near the boys’ school and, in later years, one mile south to the Port Road at Croydon to the courts. In third and fourth year Miss Joan Young took us for tennis and I remember one season when she brought Helen Angwin to the courts to train us. She was a top player at the time. Joan Young also took us once to the Memorial Drive to watch part of the state titles. Joan was also my history teacher in Intermediate.

For the first time I felt successful at school. I was doing better than most other students. I was popular with staff and students.

Each year we were asked in the spring on a certain day to bring flowers to school. These were used by the Flower Day Committee to make the floral carpets along the lawns of North Terrace. This is now done during the Festival of Arts in February.

The next year most of the girls chose to take a commercial course. I chose general. I wanted to be a teacher. No one had told me this would be impossible. There was no mention that I wouldn’t be able to matriculate for university. Nor that we would not be doing any mathematics or foreign languages and that our only science would be physiology and we would have to pick up economic history to make up our five subjects. I went blithely on not knowing any of this, keeping my goal in sight. I was encouraged in this by many people one of whom was Inspector Ruth Gibson.

In second year general, I thought I was in the top second year class as we were in a composite class with the third year generals who had one commercial girl with them – Judith Gill. This year Joyce Ternan was our class teacher and she took us for English. She had a sister who wrote and worked occasionally for the ABC. It was really English literature not language. Miss Ternan loved it. I hated it. Mainly because I could not spell, write neatly and my efforts at analysing any of the literature were very poor. I liked reading and I borrowed books often from the library at school and the Woodville Library, so I don’t really know why this was a problem for me.

Miss Ternan meant well, but I can see now that her continual disapproval of my efforts affected my confidence and my work went steadily, if slowly, down hill in English. I don’t think I equated reading with English. It was all written stuff in my mind.

The general remarks in my second year reports read:

In first term, ‘Margaret is progressing splendidly, showing interest and intelligence in all branches of her work. A capable worker. Home work Very Good all year. V.J. Ternan Class teacher. M.D. Watkinson Head Mistress. For the second term – ‘These results are very satisfactory. Margaret has a pleasing personality and is always cheerful. Greater attention to detail in technical subjects will bring even better results.’ V.J. Ternan Class Teacher. ‘Aim high Margaret,’ M.D. Watkinson Headmistress. In the third term, ‘Margaret is always keenly interested in her work, and is an obliging, efficient helper. But watch neatness and spelling, Margaret!’ V.J. Ternan Class Teacher. M.D. Watkinson Head Mistress.

This student will be promoted.

I had really enjoyed this year and was keen to return to school and continue. We had a change of head mistress. Miss Zena Williams took over and Miss Watkinson went to Thebarton before going to the Adelaide Teachers College as the Women’s Warden. I also had a new class teacher, Miss Marie Brandwood. She was a commercial senior mistress. Heaven knows why she was given the third year general class. Status I suppose.

My reports told their stories. In first term ‘Margaret is progressing very satisfactorily and is genuinely keen about her work. Congratulations on being appointed as a Prefect, Margaret.’

Second term – ‘Margaret is a tower of strength in the Intermediate class room and in the ‘Friends of the Library’ Club.’

Finally, ‘Margaret has completed a most successful three years at our school, and it is with pleasure we look forward to having her for a fourth year. She will make a fine teacher.’

This student will be promoted.

At the half year report I was exactly on the class average, 66.4% and my homework was good. At the second half year I was fourth out of 15 and scored 71.5%. Even in those days teachers could not make up their minds about assessment. Subject-based percentages or class averages – neither of which told us much.

I sat for the PEB Intermediate Examination at Wayville Show Grounds and passed English literature, arithmetic, history, home science and, in the year 1952, in physiology. The latter was thanks to some intensive special tutoring by Elma Gerny at my home.

I was really pleased and proud to be appointed a prefect as there were not many who became prefects in Intermediate when the school had a Leaving class, even if it was only six or eight students. I was the House captain of Kolbardi – the Red House – and was very proud of this. During this year at the combined inter-school sports I won the long softball throw on the Adelaide Oval.

In fourth year I was appalled to be asked to leave my House and change to Nyonga – the Orange House. They had no prefect and we had two. I didn’t want to do it but was ordered to change. This year I was deputy head prefect. This was also a bone of contention. I was called to Miss Williams’ office with Naomi Masters. I was told privately that the students had voted for me but, as Naomi had been in the school a year longer than I, she would be the head prefect. This was a major blow. I really wanted the position and could not believe that they would be so unfair. I don’t know what other staff knew about this, and it was never spoken about again. I had learnt an important lesson – the world is not always honest and fair.

There were six in our fourth year class and our class room was a converted cloak room, halfway up the stairs. Two of the class had done fourth year before in the previous year. They were Dorothy Pratt and Naomi Masters. Naomi, Dorothy and I became home science teachers. Naomi was deputy principal at Kidman Park Girls Technical High School for many years. I finished my career as principal of Woodville High School and President of the National Australian Association of Principals.

We had Joyce Ternan for English, economic history and modern history; Marie Brandwood for arithmetic and Elma Gerny for physiology. Miss Gerny was new to the school and a very good teacher. Joyce Ternan was a lecturer and directed us to the books and assessed on the written work. She marked and we corrected. She never really explained how to write the answers she required. It would have been useful to have been taught how to write critically and to analyse literature and poetry. I never did understand the stocks and shares section of the arithmetic and this was my downfall in all examinations.

The general remarks of my last report said, ‘Margaret has worked hard to gain her Leaving Technical Certificate and we hope she does as well in the PEB. We will be sorry to lose Margaret as she has endeared herself to us all. However we are confident she will be most successful in her future career.’ Marie Brandwood Class Teacher. Z.V. Williams Head Mistress.

In the Leaving Technical Certificate I gained an English Q, arithmetic, modern history, economic history and physiology. In the PEB I passed modern history, economic history and physiology. I failed English and arithmetic. I repeated English with a tutor my mother found for me. We would meet once a fortnight to discuss the material and my work in the rooms in the Refectory Building at the University of Adelaide. I passed. It was embarrassing to have to sit behind my brother Donald in 1953 at the Wayville Show Grounds for the examination. He had been in 1A, 2A, 3A and 4A at Woodville High School. He was a very good student.

During the year we were allowed to eat our lunch in the class room and sometimes we would hide people’s lunches in the ceiling through a manhole immediately above my desk. Speaking about the desk, when I was in first year we received new lift lid desks which we unloaded from the trucks. Mine had a beautiful red streak of timber through the centre of the lift lid. Mum made me a cover of dark pink silk which I used every night before I put my chair on it. Each year I took my desk with me to the new class room. I was sorry to leave it behind.

At the end of the year, after the PEB examinations, we set up our room for beach tennis – all the books in the centre as a net. We enjoyed this game for some time and then started throwing things, including ink. We began cleaning this up and were caught by Miss Williams who came in and said, ‘Spring cleaning girls?’

During the four years at Croydon Girls Technical School I was absent 1.5 days. One day when mum was sick and a half day when I had bands put on my teeth.

My memories of the teachers are that they really cared about us and wanted us to succeed. They were mostly geared up for the Technical School Certificates and courses. When a few of the students wanted more, for example PEB, so that we could go to Teachers College and The University of Adelaide, teachers were not prepared for this except, I must say, Elma Gerny. We were the guinea pigs for the Technical Education Branch getting fourth year classes as was the class the year before us. When we would not go to Woodville High as suggested they were forced to teach us.

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