{"id":1969,"date":"2020-05-30T19:43:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T09:13:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1969"},"modified":"2022-08-19T15:12:10","modified_gmt":"2022-08-19T05:42:10","slug":"memories-of-crafers-primary-school","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=1969","title":{"rendered":"Memories of Crafers Primary School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Text: John McGregor<\/em>
Images: SLSA, John McGregor<\/em>, ridgewayhistory.org.uk<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The “new” Crafers Primary School at its opening in 1928<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I began grade 1 In February, 1946. The school\u2019s enrolment was\njust over 110 students, taught by three teachers.  Miss Dangerfield taught\ngrades 1 & 2, and to us who were 5 or 6 she seemed old. How wrong were we!  At the end of the year she left to get married.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In those days it was common to change left-handed students to right-handed ones by tying their left hands behind their backs.  There were three of us who were left handed and, luckily for us, we were allowed to stay that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every morning we all lined up in class groups to march into school accompanied\nby the drum and fife band. The only tune that I can remember them playing is\nnow the tune for the Adelaide Crows\u2019 song. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The School as seen from Piccadilly Road in 1933<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every Monday morning we saluted the flag, (you can see the flagpole at the far right of the photo above) saying, \u201c I am an Australian, a member of the  British Empire. I salute her flag, the Union Jack. I honour her King, King George VI, and I promise cheerfully to obey her laws.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we thought that last line was \u201cI promise Chifley to\nobey her laws\u201d, because Ben Chifley was the Prime Minister at the time.\nOnce we got into school and the roll had been  called, we all sat on\nthe  wooden floor (no luxuries like carpet then) and recited times tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Crafers Primary School, Grade 1, 1946. John McGregor is at back left.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For our work we sat two to a small table which had a groove cut into it to support a small black board. I only remember using the blackboard and chalk a few times – we then graduated to paper and pencils. The students came from Piccadilly, Stirling, Crafers, what is now Crafers West and The Eagle on The Hill. Everyone walked to school, and so in winter there were many shoes clustered around the open fire to dry out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


Grade 3 in 1948 was exciting for me – a move into another classroom, and my first experience of a male teacher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As was the situation for my whole time at primary school, I went home, only across the road, for dinner at 12.30. In those days the evening meal was always \u2018tea\u2019, and because dad was doing manual labour that midday meal was a hot one.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grade 4 in 1949 brought with it something I always remembered. Again, a new teacher, and again a man and he lived in Blackwood with his two sisters who ran a lolly shop. His method of encouraging students to perform was based not on punishment but on reward (ie do well and you can reach into the lolly jar). So soon after the war when materials had been in short supply and lollies had been a luxury, this was indeed an incentive to do well in the spelling or mental tests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n


That classroom was home to grades 3 and 4 and the grade 5 girls, and so in 1950 when I became a grade 5 boy I joined the other grade 5 boys in the only other classroom along with all the grade 6 and 7 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Having been a teacher myself, I can but marvel at the skills of these dedicated teachers I had – none of them ever had fewer than two grades to teach, and it was even more complicated than that. The only woman on the staff, 2 afternoons a week not only had her grade 1s and 2s to supervise, but also had some of the senior girls doing sewing and others doing cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Similarly, the head teacher was out with half of the senior boys tending the gardens while the rest of the boys, mostly unattended, did woodwork. The thought of leaving boys of that age unattended with saws, chisels and the like doesn\u2019t bear thinking about. It is of interest that Crafers was the last Primary School in the state to offer woodwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Primary School Woodwork Class; (not Crafers)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n


We had exams every year starting from grade 1 and had to pass the grade 7 exam to be eligible for high school, and also tests in arithmetic and spelling were held every Friday.\u00a0 \u00a0
I can truly say that those days for me were very happy.


Do you have memories of Crafers Primary School as a student, parent or teacher, or as a local resident or can you identify the students in the class photo? Contact us at mldhsgateways@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au<\/a> or drop into the History Centre at the Coventry Library, 63 Mount Barker Road, Stirling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More about Crafers Primary School<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Text: John McGregorImages: SLSA, John McGregor, ridgewayhistory.org.uk I began grade 1 In February, 1946. The school\u2019s enrolment was just over 110 students, taught by three teachers.  Miss Dangerfield taught grades 1 & 2, and to us who were 5 or 6 she seemed old. How wrong were we!  At the end of the year she … Continue reading “Memories of Crafers Primary School”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"spay_email":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PaNLq6-vL","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2913,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2913","url_meta":{"origin":1969,"position":0},"title":"Crafers Girls’ Club","date":"April 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John McGregor and Janet Chambers Image: Janet Chambers Crafers Girls Club badge In the early 1950s, Peggy Cossick (whose husband Arthur owned and operated the Crafers grocery store) convened a committee of women whose daughters attended Crafers School with a view to forming a club to give the girls\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/20220314_185457a.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2415,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2415","url_meta":{"origin":1969,"position":1},"title":"Crafers Primary School – History and Mystery","date":"December 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John McGregorImages:\u00a0John Nielsen David Francis Whibley was a well-known member of the Crafers\/Stirling area a century ago, especially for his horticultural knowledge. Employed for a time by the Stirling Council, he did much work on the gardens along the Main Street, helping to give Stirling its reputation as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/IMG_3148.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2347,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2347","url_meta":{"origin":1969,"position":2},"title":"Mount Lofty (Crafers Summit) Railway Station","date":"October 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text : Chris Chardon Images: MLDHS and as described THE MOUNT LOFTY RAILWAY STATION The Mount Lofty Railway Station was originally named the Crafers Summit Railway Station. The Act of Parliament, to provide a line of railway from Adelaide to Nairne, was assented to on 30th November 1878. Below is\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/crafers-summit.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2839,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2839","url_meta":{"origin":1969,"position":3},"title":"Crafers Institute & Library","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Chris Chardon Images:\u00a0Chris Chardon, SLSA, denisbin (Flickr) It has been a long-held belief that Arthur Hardy, who held significant land holdings in the Mount Lofty region, donated the land on which the Crafers Institute was built. Evidence that Hardy owned any of Section 19 has not been sighted and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Image1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2039,"url":"https:\/\/mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au\/?page_id=2039","url_meta":{"origin":1969,"position":4},"title":"David Whibley & Crafers Primary School","date":"June 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John McGregorImages: xxx David Francis Whibley was a well-known member of the Crafers\/Stirling area a century ago, especially for his horticultural knowledge. 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