Chapter 4. The Forties

Mr Thomas Bryant was the headmaster of the school when the name was changed from Dumbleton to Beverly Hills in 1940, He had been appointed Headmaster in November 1939.

Mr Bryant taught 6th class and loved Barcarole so everyone in his class learnt to sing Barcarole.

Mr Arthur Morris taught 5th class and was the father of a well known Australian cricketer. How proud he was he spoke of his son achievement.

On winter mornings he would stand with his back to the open fire rubbing his hands in front or behind him while he gave the lesson -while we froze. Other mornings he would stand at the back of the class and place his hand on someone's head as he gave the lesson and he became most disgusted if that person had used hair oil. He said it was quite unnecessary. He would walk slowly to the front of the class rubbing his hands together and stay there for the remainder of the lesson.

He was a World War I veteran, blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. I was always in trouble for standing on the wrong side when I spoke to him because I could never remember which was his blind side.

Mr. Morris was in charge of assembly, i.e. he spoke to the assembled pupils and made any announcements before we went off to our classes. One morning there was much laughter when his teeth fell out while he was speaking. Every Monday morning we stood to attention facing the flag pole while the flag was raised. The names of other teachers come to mind but none left an impression on my mind as did Mr. Morris.

Of course I won't forget Mrs Mary Loomes. She was the one who smacked me across the knuckles with a ruler every time I used my left hand. My mother went up to the school and put a stop to that. I was told that I could use my left hand as long as I didn't tell anyone else. She said she had eight in her class who were left handed. We would be doing our school work and suddenly there would be a "wack" and someone would start crying.

Beverly Hills was co-ed in those days ie. boys and girls in the same class but all that changed the year after I left.

PUNISHMENT

If a boy talked too much the teacher sat him beside a girl for the remainder of the lesson and if he continued to talk he was caned. Oh I had my share of the cane for talking and other misbehaviour but it never did me any harm. If anything it acted as a deterrent. I was told that there is a punishment register showing who received the cane and why. My name is probably mentioned

On Empire Day we only had half a day at school and then we went home to prepare our bonfire. We would go to school in our scout or red cross uniform on that day and take part in the ceremony.

The school desks were refurbished and woe-be-tide anyone who defaced them. All the initials of past pupils so carefully carved into the desks disappeared together with the ink stains and the tramlines made by broken pen nibs.

There was no infants school in those days, and all classes were held in the old building or when the need arose (eg. by the increased number of pupils) in a weather shed. During my stay at Beverly Hills the infants school was built. I attended the opening ceremony when I was in 6th class in 1951.

Sewerage was unheard of in the early 1940's and the old toilet blocks were against the far fence which meant I had to head off in that direction as soon as I left the classroom. A long walk for small people ! However during my stay at Beverly Hills sewerage pipes were laid and a new toilet block was built closer to the class rooms. That was after a double shed had been moved to a new site in 1946.

The Department of Education had decided to close in that shed so it could be used as classrooms. During this time the students' push bikes were left under the front steps of the old building. The coal bin for the open fires was also under the front of the old building.

The ball point pen came into vogue and gone forever was the messy job of mixing the ink powder and water and filling the ink wells. Sometimes I had the job of cleaning the blackboard and dusters. What a dusty job that was.

Ron Cary's shop was opposite the school and my weekly allowance went there every Monday morning

ENTERTAINMENT

For entertainment we played football, cricket, marbles, wrestled and once a week we could go swimming at Ramsgate Baths. At morning recess some of us stood at the school fence and jotted down the registration of the cars as they drove past.

Cigarette cards were very popular in those days but with the introduction of the flip top pack they became a thing of the past. We slid them towards a wall and the one nearest the wall was the winner. He would pick them up and throw them at the wall and those that came down face up were his.

We also had a game we played with bottle tops. We slid them towards the wall and the one nearest the wall stacked them on his elbow and those he caught in his hand were his.

AIR RAID TRENCHES

Air raid trenches were dug at the school during the war years and these filled with water every time it rained but luckily they were never used for the purpose for which they were intended. I was never allowed to play in the trenches because I wore callipers to aid my knock knees so on the day before they were filled in, the teacher took the whole class down into the trenches for my benefit. They were dug in a zig-zag pattern sloping down hill.

POPULATION INCREASE

Many houses were built in the district during the 1940's which meant many more children of school age came into the area and had to be educated. Mr Bryant requested a new class room in Nov.'41 as the school population was growing, especially infants. The inspector said in view of the war situation no action is recommended towards increasing accommodation at Beverly Hills. In March 1942 Mr Bryant renewed his request noting that the total population of the school was gaining each week. This time the inspector recommended the provision of a portable class room but there was none available.

In 1943 (March) the inspector reported that the enrolment may increase because of numerous new houses near the school. He also noted that Mr Bryant had suggested the conversion of the weather shed into class rooms. Additional accommodation was urgently required. A single portable classroom costing �464 was subsequently built, completed on the 5th of May, 1944.

The school site was enlarged in 1946. In April 1946 the secretary of the P&C, Mrs E. Pickering wrote to the Minister urging the acquisition of two pieces of land. The one adjoining the school (1 acre 1 rood 6 1/2 perches) was owned by John McGregor, father of William McGregor.

The inspector supported the acquisition of the land noting that such an addition would provide ample space for most games for all time. The school would need additions to the present buildings as well as the separate infants building already intended. In its investigation the Department found that these 2 pieces of land were being considered by the Housing Commission for the erection of houses.

Peter McGregor, who was another son of John McGregor, wrote to Premier William McKall in 1945:

I would like to ask you to make an urgent request to the State Housing Commission to cancel resumption of land belonging to my father, John McGregor situated at Dumbleton Road, Hurstville. My father who is 94 years of age has owned the land for 56 years and resided there since buying it . Since receiving word from the commission that his property is to be resumed he has not slept and had eaten very little. You may imagine the effects it would have on a person his age who was enjoying the best of health.

As a result of this letter the Housing Commission dropped its plan to acquire the land. John McGregor then received a letter from the Valuer General stating the land was required for school purposes and as the land would not be needed for a long time he could reside on it as caretaker. (The Education Department also intended, when it resumed the land, to allow him to remain in occupation of his cottage with reasonable amount of land until that portion of land was required for school purposes.)

The Department of Education resumed both pieces of land with the notice of resumption appearing in the Government Gazette of 25th January 1946.

ENROLMENTS IN INFANTS DEPARTMENT

In the 1940s the enrolment of new students was quite a problem especially in the newly established Infants, Department. In 1946 Miss Hilda Tate, Infants' Mistress, had been given permission to refuse to enrol children under 6 as there were too many. In May 1947 a senior officer of the Department reported:

The school has a waiting list of 28 students all under 5 and there are 30 homes nearing completion which will probably increase that number. One class is at present in a primary weathershed. If additional accommodation cannot be supplied the Mistress may be forced to limit enrolments during the term.

Some of the teachers stood on the pedestrian crossing and directed the traffic to allow the children to cross safely before and after school.We were not permitted to leave the school grounds at morning recess without permission

NOSTALGIA

Last year the present principal, Mr Dennis Jowett, gave me permission to wander through the old building and soak up some nostalgia.The empty class rooms with their high ceilings looked much smaller than I had visualised but then when I last saw them they were furnished and I was much smaller which probably made them appear much larger. The old press was still in the corner and the open fireplaces had been bricked long ago but I could still picture Mr Morris warming his hands in front of the fire as he gave his lessons.

When I entered the room which had been the Kindergarten I was reminded of an old metal tray standing on its legs, where we used to make our sand castles so many years ago.While wandering down the main corridor I was reminded that the cubs and scouts met there on Friday nights until their own hall was built in 1952. There were very few public halls in the area in the 1940's and the school was used by several organisations as a regular meeting place. It was not only a seat of learning.

The old building was badly in need of repairs which will not be forthcoming because it can never be used for classrooms again. Its close proximity to heavy traffic put a stop to that.

If those walls could speak what stories they would tell. The old building has much sentimental value for past pupils but no historical value so as soon as the Department gives their approval it will be demolished and replaced ed by earth mounds.

A well known land mark in the area will disappear and for many ex-students part of their heritage will be gone.

Garry Shewan (1943 - 51)

RECOLLECTIONS - 1

from (Judge) Harvey Cooper:

...I was there at the time of the School's Jubilee. World War II prevented its celebration. From 1942 until the end of 1943 I was in 5th and 6th grades. The most significant feature of my period at BHPS was that it was during the darkest period of the war....Fund raising functions were held - not for school requisites - but for the war effort. There were slit trenches towards the back of the playground and we had weekly air-raid drill. We were taught to recognise friendly and enemy aircraft, how to put out fires caused by incendiary bombs and what to do in the event of an air raid.....(After) were the years of food and clothing rationing. Each term the teachers would conduct a height and weight measuring of the pupils and give a certificate thereof. If you were over a certain size you were entitled to extra coupons for clothing.

In 1939 I arrived in Australia with my parents as an immigrant from England. For the first three years I attended a school in the Eastern suburbs where the words "reffo" and "wog" were amongst the kinder epithets yelled by my classmates and muttered by my teachers. When I arrived at BHPS I was the only one there who had not been born in Australia. To my pleasure and amazement the initial attitude towards me was one of curiousity, not belligerence. It then settled down to taking me as I was regardless of my funny accent.

RECOLLECTIONS - 2

Mrs. Yvonne Manners (Feeney)
(1939-1946)

Being the war years with shortages in all areas, we have no school photographs to record any classes.Every week we had air raid drill. We filed out of our classes and ran in an orderly fashion to the back of the playground where there were deep trenches (about 6 feet deep) which had been dug. During practice, we had to carry small oblong calico bags which contained first aid equipment. During wet weather the trenches filled with water and could not be used.

The girls and the boys were enlisted to knit squares to make scarves for the soldiers. When peace was declared we had a half-day holiday.Sports were always part of the day's activities during the lunch hour...In 1944 with Miss Norma Cook as coach, the tunnel ball team were State Champions...Miss Cook was so proud of our performance that unofficially she gave us a treat by taking the team on a visit to the Australian Museum on the way home from the game.

One outstanding memory is that the headmaster, Mr. Bryant and his love of Gilbert & Sutherland music-every 6th class learnt songs like (in three parts)-

Night of star and Night of Love,
Water Lillies and Sing me a song o.

Having heard the strains of these songs from kindergarten through to sixth class, Mr. Bryant didn't have too much teaching to do by the time we reached his class. It was Mr. Bryant's habit to sing through the repertoire before letting the class out for recess or lunch...

A school competition was held in 1945 for a design for the first school badge-time was allowed in class time and extra time was taken as homework. Yvonne Feeney was presented with an encyclopedia by the local member, Mr. Clive Evatt.

Because the school enrolment, everyone knew everybody else in the school. We were fortunate at Dumbleton because it was said that we had the largest playground in New South Wales State schools.

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