My Story continued:
In 1982 I started full time work again after being a stay at home mum for ten years. I went to night school to upgrade my qualifications. Bill had to come home from work and feed the girls and put them to bed while I went off to lessons. I was really nervous about standing in front of a class again and hoped that it would all come back but teaching methods had changed. Luckily, I had volunteered at the girls' school so I watched keenly what was happening in education.
I was posted to Marsden State School, it was a new school in the outer suburbs of Brisbane where the population was growing rapidly. Already the school was too small. There were not enough classrooms so my first class was a Year 7 Class squashed into a withdrawal room, a small room between two normal classrooms, used for teaching a few children, not a full class of 30+ in those days.
It was a trying time. Soon new classrooms were built and I was given a Year 4, which I was happy about. It is my favourite year level. I soon got into the swing of teaching again. It was when team teaching was all the rage and I shared a double classroom with a male teacher. His style was different to mine but we did get on okay. I can't believe how many kids were in the class then 34! When I retired we were down to 25 thank goodness
I had to balance working life with family life. I tried to switch off work and turn on family life as I drove home from school quickly so that the girls weren't home by themselves for too long. They used to walk home from school just a few blocks away. It was at this time that Bill took over cooking duties so that I could help the kids with homework and get then bathed.
We also entertained overseas visitors at the beginning of the year. My Uncle Gil and Aunty Win visited us from England. It was the first time they had been to Australia.
First, they had spent some time in Sydney with my Mum, Dad and Aunt Ada. Gil was my mum's younger brother and Ada was their older sister. It was the first time they had been together for many years.
Mum (Florrie) 76, Gil 72, Ada 92 in 1982.
Florrie 6, Ada 22, Gil 2 in 1918.
There were eight siblings all together. Ada was the second eldest and Florrie and Gil were the youngest two. Ada trained as a nurse and she helped her mother look after the younger children.
We took Gil and Win to Lone Pine Sanctuary, where there were koalas, kangaroos, emus and other animals.
Not long after, we had visitors from Switzerland, Eddie and Erica. Eddie was from Swiss Radio International and was a friend of Bill's through his volunteer work at Radio 4EB in Brisbane.So once again we were off to the Koala Sanctuary.
When I think that we were 80 pupils in a class sitting at 3 together of an old bench made for two, because the school had been bombed and they had put containers as classes. As there was not enough room for all children, there were two shifts one part from 8 to 1 pm the other part from 2pm til 6 pm. Strangely we learned of course I didn't care about the teacher who was a dragon ! I have always worked whole day but in Belgium it wasand is very common. There are lots of public and private day cares from baby age on. Dario went to high school when he was 12 I guess and then they stayed at school making homework or playing until the parents picked them up. Later I worked half days, but he wanted to play with his pals and stay at school so I picked him up at 4 or 5 !
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting time of your life. Busy times, teaching and being mum. Good to see visitors but a lot of work for you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos Diane, many happy memories for you :) Thanks so much for sharing these.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos of what sounds like a great time in your life
ReplyDeleteGood memories but I guess it wasn't all plain sailing. I wonder how many student names you can remember.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a long time ago, but then I remember I was teaching at Logan Uniting '85-'87! I also taught Year 4, my favourite, after starting with a composite class, in a demountable with no eaves, as the school was only in its second year.
ReplyDeleteWonderful memories and good times I have no doubt about that. Great to see your photos. Large classes back then as it was when I went to school.
ReplyDeleteour classes here are still crowded, unless a person can afford private school. loved all your photos and dipping into the past. I must have missed team teaching or maybe it was never here... God bless you and all teachers, something I could not do.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThat is a large class size. Wonderful memories of your teaching days and your family photos. Take care, enjoy your day!
Good memories Diane and wonderful photos to capture them. I seem to remember 25 to 30 children in classes when my two went to school. It is astounding how much we can squeeze into a day when our children are young .😉
ReplyDeleteSo interesting to read about your return to teaching. Mine in the U.S. was similar, in similar years. I had a makeshift classroom one year that was in a small meeting room with a busy hallway on three sides and floor to ceiling windows. No curtains, either! Another year I was in an ancient mobile classroom with a deteriorating floor. One day I was teaching, moving around, and one leg went right through the floor!
ReplyDeleteDiane I had over 60 children in my class all through first to eight grade. We sat in rows of ten. Nuns were our teachers and they were very strict. If we did not behave we got a ruler smacked across our hands.
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