School Days

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Those School Days

The images on this page serve to remind us that serious learning was conducted at the school in-between the recesses, lunch breaks, excursions, sporting and other events, inter-school visits, interaction, visits to the swimming pool and going home time at 2.30 pm.

> Official
> In Class
> School Days
> At Play

Official

The First Assembly

(Courtesy Mike Gibb)

1962
Prefects holding the Australian flag during assembly.

New Headmaster

1966
Mr B.J. Boyle is welcomed by Air Commodore Townsend, Officer Commanding, RAAF Base, Butterworth on his arrival at RAAF School Penang. Mr Tye, Deputy Headmaster and Sqn. Ldr Tom Johnston, former Senior Education Officer at Butterworth are also present.

In Class

1961
Jan Barnes

(Courtesy Mike Gibb)

1962
Correspondence class

(Courtesy Steven O'Malley)

1962
Grade 6 Singing

1963
Grade 3 - Verse Speaking

1963
Woodwork class.
John Outhwaite in front far right.

1964
SRA

1964
5, 6M in class

1965
Grade 3

1965
Visiting inspectors, Mr McKibbin and Mr McLellan in the Science room

1966 Geometry
Marilyn Throup, 5T

1967
Grade 3E Reading

1967
Form 3 in class

1969 Home Science
Carol Smith

(Courtesy Peter Jarrott)

1969

Classroom of 5S

(Courtesy Cathy Campbell)

1972
Form 4 Geography Class
Richard Farrell, Philip Adenbrooke, Stephen McIver, Paul Saunders, Kerry Cragg, M Robertson, Russell Kelly
Frnt: Roger Bates, David Sinclair, Debbie Williams, Mr Barry Hall, Cathy Campbell, Lyn Sullivan (obscured) Julie Sproule, Sheree Smith

1973
Under pressure!

(Courtesy Barney McMahon)

1974 Science Lab
Sue Nielsen, Michelle Riley, Kerryn Pinches, Murray Jorgensen and Colleen Garbutt

1975
Science class

(Courtesy Linda Thomas)

1975
Empty Classroom

1979

(Courtesy Robynne Bates)

1983

Headmaster Mr Ingram with Olivia Bates and Kristy Riley. Students of Miss Goodwin's KG class at the Annex

School Days

Transport
Below is a collection of photographs to remind us of the days of going to school in Penang. Students living on the mainland travelled for an hour each way by bus and ferry - quite a long hot journey, especially for youngsters. The senior students would have made the most of the trip - maybe by swapping "21" bus tickets with favourites. As school finished at 2.30 pm there were still some daylight hours left by the time they got home.

Uniform
The uniforms worn were appropriate for the climate, being crisp white dresses for the girls and blue shorts and white shirts for the junior boys and white shorts and shirts for the senior boys. These were made either by the local tailors, or by clever mothers - and then washed and ironed by our amahs.

(Courtesy Kevin Cragg)

1969
Primary students at bus stop

1976
School buses at RSP

1978
Annexe buses

1981
Buses

(Courtesy Martin Black)

1975
School bus picking up students for the Annexe. Jalan Bunga Rampai, Penang

The School Bus

Waiting at the bus stop here.
Waiting for the bus to appear.
Brrmm Brrmm, crackle and pop.
It finally comes to a stop.
People going, here and there
Some coming in as a pair.
Playing, talking, reading pool
as the bus chugs off to school.

Onto the ferry as it hums away
Chugging out into the bay.
When we get into the gate
We all hope that we are late.
But then someone looks at his watch
And we find, it's eight o'clock!

Michael Straughan, 5G
1981

(Courtesy Rob Vermay)

1981
Hmmm - not always a safe trip.

First-hand account of what happened: The annexe bus was in front of the RAAF School bus. The bus lost its brakes going down the hill as it was habit of the drivers not to turn their engines on, which sometimes meant the airbrakes no longer worked. The actual driver disappeared never to be seen again!
Being an old bus, all the chairs were at an angle and the students were either put on a bus to go on to school or to the RAAF hospital. One student was actually thrown out of the window, but amazingly no-one was seriously hurt.
(Thanks Jackie Ktisti)

1976
Bus escorts. Some of our very special mothers who helped out as bus escorts

1978
More bus escorts

1983
Buses at the Annexe

1965
Susan, Rosemary, Bill and Julia Park

1965
John and Peter Snow
Jalan Azyze

1965
David Martin, Veronica Matthey, Glenn Martin.
Starting School Class KS

1965
Maureen, Anne and Jane Matthey

Jan 1966
Patricia Spinks, Peter Spinks
Bernadette Spinks
(Bernadette's 1st day at school)

1966
Annette and Michael Preece

1971
Michelle Harvey in school uniform.

1974
Michelle (2nd Form), Christine (1st Form) and Stephen Riley (6th Grade)

Michelle is now an author with a BA and Dip Ed and travelled through the Middle East and the UK. Lives in Rye, Victoria. Christine has 2 children and a grandson and lives in Newcastle. Stephen was a refigeration mechanic and died in Cairns 9th December 1994 aged 32.

1975
Jenny Smith in school uniform

1977
Jennifer McKenzie, Kevin Hartigan and Anthony Condron: Outside 3R. The photo was taken to record the fact that all three were born in Malaysia.

1979
Jason Magro, Erica Polglase (neighbour) and John Magro

1979
Russell Cole in school uniform

1987
Brooke Patman at Kindy

1966
Jalan Azyze
Home from School!
John Snow, Peter Snow & others

At Play

We're comin' out of school today
and we're so happy, yes, to be alive...

Some photos from the Austral magazines of students enjoying out-of-class activities.

1962
Freedom

1963
Folk Dancing

1964
Butterfly Club

1965
Singing Games - 1D, 1G and 1L

1967
Singing Games at the Annexe

(Courtesy Sue Langsford)

1969
On the right is Bill Johnson. Left - unknown.

1973
Out of Uniform!

1973
In the school yard

1973
At play with hoops

1974
Play Ground

1975
Some students of the Annexe.

1976
School yard

1975
Terry Fuller
"His bell in his hand, his eye on his watch,
He poises ready, to let the world know
That the children in school, are ready to go!
Come out, come out, it's time to play
Come out, come out, it's the end of the day."
Written by Sonya Stott, F2

1978
School yard play

Year 1

The annex is part of a very big school,
which starts at Prep and goes through to Two.
There are over four hundred girls and boys,
who stay for two years this school to enjoy.
We're all from Australia far over the sea.
Brought here by R.A.A.F - that's the reason you see.
We travel to school on buses with escorts
and sit in our seats and behave of course.
To get to our room we climbed many a stair,
A beautiful view from our window is there,
Coconut trees that reach to the sky,
And far in the distance the water we spy.
We go on excursions all the year through
Aquarium, hatchery to name just a few.
So when we go back from Malaysia to Australia,
we'll be two years older and much, much wiser.

Unknown Author
Grade 2M


Who can say - Why today Tomorrow will be yesterday? Who can tell - Why to smell The violet recalls the dewy prime Of youth and buried time? The cause is nowhere found in rhyme. (Tennyson - Early Spring)