MEMORIES OF OAKLEIGH TECHNICAL SCHOOL

by Max Thomson (July 1996)

  I finished my primary school education in 1944. At this time the Second World War was in progress, and little could have been done by any government to bring Technical Education any closer to my area. I lived in Narre Warren which was very much a rural area in those days. Caulfield Technical School was the nearest such school despite the rationing and shortage of skilled labour at that time the Victorian Education Department, in its wisdom, decided that Oakleigh would be an appropriate site for a new Junior Technical School. Progress on the construction was rather slow, consequently the new school was not ready for occupation until the beginning of term 2, May 1946.

  In the meantime (1945) post primary classes for form 1 students were established at Hughesdale Primary School. This relieved the pressure on Caulfield Technical School and also reduced the distance students of outer areas were required to travel. This post-primary section comprised approximately 230 boys, most of whom formed the nucleus of the first Form 2 the following year at the new Oakleigh Technical School.

  The commencement of the new school year in 1946 found the new school in temporary accomodation until the new buildings were ready for occupation. Centred at the Oakleigh Town Hall, the school, comprising of eight groups of form 2 students and six of form 1, who occupied rooms in the nearby Methodist and Presbyterian Church halls, the RSL Memorial hall and one classroom in the Oakleigh Primary School. The Town Hall was the administrative centre for the school and classes were also conducted there.

  The main hall was divided by an imaginary line into three classrooms, while classes were also conducted in the upstairs rooms as well. Classroom furniture was rudimentary. Blackboards and easels were the only aids available to teachers, wooden table tops supported by folding trestles and creaky wooden chairs were used by the students. Lighting was poor and there was no heating.

  The first teaching staff were all males and were as follows

           Mr.R.F. Ellis                           Principal

            Mr. C. Green                          Headmaster

            Mr. W. Murton                        Mathematics

            Mr.A.Barber                           English & Social Studies

            Mr.G.Lawson                          Science

            Mr.L. Ritter                           Art

            Mr.E.Neville                            Sheetmetal

            Mr. E,Edwards                  Woodwork

            Mr. C.Barks                                   Machine Shop Practice

Physical Training was shared by a number of teachers. Office Staff were Miss Forbes & Miss Adams. Mr. W. Grosvenor was responsible for cleaning & the general maintenance during that period

  The daily time-table comprised of 8 periods of 40 minutes duration commencing at 9.00am and finishing at 3.45pm. A handbell was used to help maintain the daily schedule. Assemblies were conducted by Mr. Green & Mr. Barber with Mr. Ellis often featuring particularly on a Monday morning when he would deliver an update on the progress of the new school buildings.

  Monday morning assemblies were memorable, they were conducted at the side of the Town Hall and included the saluting of the flag & repeating of the oath. God Save the King was sung accompanied by Mr. Barber seated at the piano on the stage inside the hall. Mr. Green beat time and ‘encouraged’ the singing, which must have sounded rather dirgy to the people living nearby.

The difficulties experienced by teachers cannot be estimated, particularly with three classes being conducted in the same open area of the main hall, often a trestle would collapse on the knees of the students conscientiously engaged in their work. In most cases such a collapse and subsequent laughter effectively interrupted the concentration of not one but three classes. A subsequent inquiry into the cause did little to quickly regain decorum and less to prevent a repetition at a later date. Recreation areas were the park next to the RSL hall and a restricted section of the Oakleigh Football Ground. The cemetery was out of bounds, but still remained a favourite yet risky haven for smokers and interim prefects had the unenviable task of patrolling the park boundaries etc, to deter the would-be ‘shoppers’ from roaming off limits.

  Moving to a new school was a very exciting exercise. Everything was so nice and clean and fresh in appearance. At last we had our own rooms not to mention the workshops. It was still some time before all the essential equipment arrived and was installed. During the previous year while at Hughesdale Primary School, which was just across the paddock, I had watched the gradual growth of the buildings, and it was now a matter of enjoying the new surroundings.

  The new school comprised 12 classrooms on two levels in the main block, and two detachable blocks containing four workshops. The main building was heated by a reticulating flow of steam generated by a large boiler located beneath the building

In the workshops it was a case of generating your own warmth until the following year when the system was extended from the existing boiler. Even with venetian blinds the building was a hothouse, especially the upper level. From the upper rooms one could look down on the adjacent market garden, and the paddock of gorse on the far side of North Road became the new haven for smokers although there was the risk of being ‘sprung’ by vigilant prefects and staff who could use the windows of rooms six and seven on the first floor in order to detect wayward students. To the east the tower of the Junction Hotel in  Portman Street was a dominant landmark while to the north on the hill in Poath Road was a small poultry farm, and across Poath Road from the school new homes were being built, one of which became the home of Mr. Stan Allen the school caretaker.

  The handbell gave way to a siren affectionately known as ‘Wailing Willie’ because of the similarity to an air raid siren, and I recall that Max Howeyward was the first bell monitor, The first pre-requisite of this task was to possess a watch although an electric clock was installed in each room, the second was to be reliable.

  Assemblies were conducted on what eventually became an asphalted quadrangle. Mr Ellis addressed the Monday morning assembly following the loyal ceremony. With the acquisition of the public address system throughout the school and the benefit of having it at assembly, the singing of the National Anthem was replaced by the playing of a record much to the delight of the students.

  Latecomers to assembly joined a special line, had their names recorded by a prefect or teacher and then depending on how well they could make up an excuse usually found themselves on a list for yard duty. This meant maybe a week of picking up papers on a long steel spike during lunchtime or after school.

  A special assembly was held on Thursdays prior to sport and students would line up in house formation, the houses being Batman, Henty, Mawson & Tasman and points were awarded to each house according to how well they were assembled. All houses would then march a couple of circuits of the quadrangle when further points were awarded. A cumulative score resulted in a special trophy being awarded to the winning house at the end of the year.

  Eventually the paddock to the north of the school,which earlier had been a market garden became the sports oval and nearly 40 years later this oval and its turf wicket became the preferred training ground for the Victorian First X1. Other grounds used by the school were Crosbie Park a reclaimed tip and now known as the Duncan McKinnon Reserve, Murumbeena Park and Galbally Reserve near the Hughesdale station.

  The annual cross country run route commenced at the school and followed Mackie Road south to where Deacon Street is now, then turning right and following the line of Deacon Street to East Boundary Road. Here the route turned north to North Road passing by the Australian Tobacco Factory, North Road was then followed in an easterly direction to Crosbie Road which was followed to the north until a track approximately where Wallace Avenue in now located. From here the route was very wet and swampy as it meandered through the gum trees before reaching Poath Road just north of the school. The ordeal was over when the finishing line at the school was crossed only minutes later. As there were no hot showers available at that time we had to be content with a wash under the taps – if you could get near one.

  Boxing was a popular sport at the school, and a ring was set up in the canteen by tying ropes between the concrete pillars, and large tarpaulins were laid on the floor.

  Inter-Tech sport was very much an integral part of the school program with O.T.S competing against Caulfield, Brighton, Brunswick, Richmond, Preston, Essendon Box Hill, Footscray, Swinburne, and South Melbourne Tech Schools. Athletic carnivals were held at Glenferrie Oval and swimming carnivals at the old open air Olympic Pool in Batman Avenue. As a new school O.T.S accredited itself well in inter-school competition, particularly in Boxing.

Unlike today, there was no provision made throughout the buildings for disabled students, consequently it was left to a band of caring students to carry those so afflicted up and down the stairs, and Lynton Reynolds was one who was regularly carried up and down by willing friends.

  Students travelled from near and far to attend school. In 1946 four were coming from beyond Dandenong on the Gippsland line and by 1948 this number had increased to approximately 12. Boys came from Bunyip, Garfield, Nar Nar Goon and Hallam, while on the Sth. Gippsland line they were coming from Kooweerup and Clyde. Travelling by the old steam train afforded a variety of wonderful and some times not so wonderful experiences for us. Our main problem was if you missed the train it meant catching the ‘spark’ to Dandenong and then hitching a ride. In the winter it amounted to doing so in the dark, and on one occasion I, along with David Kirkland from Pakenham missed the steamer at Flinders Street after playing baseball at Preston Tech and by the time we reached Dandenong it was dark and it was not until we reached the top of the hill where General Motors is now that we were given a lift in the back of a furniture van. By comparison with today, the Princes Highway was not much more than a country road therefore very few opportunities for lifts came our way. It was after 9.30pm by the time I arrived home, and Mum was not too pleased at all.

  I remember the teachers as being friendly, and in general they were firm disciplinarians. We were always addressed by our surnames although I can remember on one occasion when I was about to be punished for not having my name in my cap, Mr. Green addressed my by my first name. Prior to striking he said “Harold there is no malice in this” I doubt that I had ever heard that word before but its meaning has stuck with me ever since. We always addressed the teachers as “Sir” or “Mister” there certainly was no use of first names as there is today.

  Most teachers had nicknames which in most cases originated from the result of some personal idiosyncrasy, and invariably the nickname would, in general talk, be preceded by the word “old”, and a number readily come to mind.

  Mr. R.F. Ellis “Joe” was the Principal and also a teacher of Science. He was a Returned Serviceman who usually wore a dark suit, waistcoat, white shirt and tie. Although short & stocky in stature he impressed us as a competent ‘captain of this newly launched ship’ He addressed Monday’s assemblies and seemed to take delight in using the P.A, particularly just prior to the last bell of the afternoon when he would begin by saying “Attention Please! Mr Ellis speaking” On one occasion there was a loud crackle and thump soon after he introduced himself, and one of the class clowns was heard to say “Strike! he’s swallowed the thing” peels of laughter from the students and even Mr. Halpin the teacher could see the funny side.

  Invariably “Joe’s” message was a reminder to support the efforts being made by the mother’s club or in connection with new facilities being installed in ‘our’ school.

  Mr. Charles Green was a very astute and articulate Headmaster. He was slightly built but commanded considerable respect. He was a crusader for a school uniform which included a maroon cap which he constantly reminded us was almost unique, and when not pre-occupied with his numerous administrative duties he was a very capable English teacher. After only two years at the school he moved on to become Principal of Brunswick Tech. School.

  Mr. W, Murton “Grinner” was a maths teacher of immense dedication and enthusiasm for his work. His dress was immaculate; his voice clear and message specific. His blackboard reflected an element of pride, and his teaching was punctuated by instances of animation, particularly when emphasising the method for solving simultaneous and quadratic equations. “What you do on the right hand side you do on the left hand side” was reinforced by an exaggerated wave of both arms.

  When a student misbehaved to the point where punishment was necessary “Grinner” would take the offender to the rear of the room and forbid anybody to watch as he swung his leather. He was the first housemaster of Tasman & although not generally perceived as an athlete was known to be able to kick a football for “miles”. During one lunch time he demonstrated how to place kick a football, his style & execution were faultless. He toed the ball, which travelled at least 40 metres before smashing through a window in the woodwork shop. Many of us would remember how he would ‘colour up’ when things went wrong, but to most of us he was an outstanding teacher and in later years he became a Technical School Principal.

  Mr. Alan Barber “Ali Baba” was our first English & Social Studies teacher and also Sports Master. He was highly respected, a competent pianist and talented orator. His room was the first to have blackout blinds installed & he was the first to use films as a teaching medium. “Ali Baba” didn’t seem to mind when occasionally the students asked him to read aloud from Kipling’s “Just So” stories. His dramatisation of the line “the great grey-green greasy limpopo River which was in Afri-ca” was one line we all enjoyed hearing. He rode a motor cycle to school unlike his colleagues who either drove cars, travelled train or bus, or walked. In later years Mr Barber became Headmaster of Richmond Technical School.

  Mr. George Lawson, the first Science teacher was a tall angular man with a sharp penetrating voice. He wore grey dustcoats which generally were to large for him, and one could always tell is he was standing behind you as you were seated at your desk, the smell of cigarette smoke was an instant give away. His special friends among the students were those who could pass on to him genuine tips for Saturday’s races. While at Oakleigh Tech. School it did not pay to arrive late for class, although his record in this regard was far from perfect. He belted Hooke’s Law into us as a means of obtaining some regular daily exercise.  When the Technical Teacher’s Association of Victoria was formed after the break away from the Victorian Teachers Union he became its foundation president. He was also the foundation Principal of Northcote Tech. School.

  Mr. L.C. Ritter “Ritzy” was the first Art Teacher. He designed the school badge and in the first year of the school was responsible for setting up the clay modelling room. “Ritzy” was short in stature and at times had difficulty maintaining class control.

  Mr. Edwards “Old Ted” taught Woodwork and Solid Geometry. An Englishman from way back or so it seemed, he was a good deal older than the other members of staff. He was prepared to relate to us some of his experiences as a joiner in the joiner’s shop & took pride in the fact that he had made so many doors used in the renovation of the Melbourne Town Hall.  “Old Ted” was a constant source of encouragement and rewarded our efforts accordingly. He was a firm believer of excursions & arranged many for us, he was also the housemaster of Batman.

  Mr. E. Neville taught Sheetmetal and Solid Geom. His approach to his work was generally quiet & at timed he must have felt frustrated with his lot as materials were in short supply & very basic in variety. Goodness knows how many scone cutters & pin trays of different shapes were produced in his workshop, but with all the soldering iron furnaces in use it was a good place to be on a cold winter’s day. Some years later Mr. Neville returned to O.T.S as its Vice Principal.

  Mr. C. Barks “Clarrie” was a very popular teacher. He was a perfectionist in his field of Fitting & Machining, but one who recognised any difficulties which befell his students, he was firm but a fair disciplinarian and in my four years at the school I do not recall him resorting to the strap. In Sheetmetal materials were basic & a lot of time was spent draw-filing, models? including key labels, dowel plates, drill gauges & things that made holes in pockets or rusted through lack of use. For many years “Clarrie” was very involved in the school cadet unit, and would surely hold the record for the longest service teacher at the school having retired in the 1970’s.

  For each of these last three it must have been more difficult motivating and instructing students while in temporary accommodation. It was also a relief for the students to get away from  the theory & enjoy practice in a real workshop situation.

  After a year or two & as times of austerity passed more equipment arrived and facilities improved. Students graduated to using more sophisticated apparatus in the science labs. The boring, but essential, practical workshop skills of Forms 1 & 2 were now applied in making small but useful models. How many of us still have spanners, G clamps, Tee Squares, Pencil Cases, Money Boxes, etc.

  Clay modelling in the first year or so concentrated mainly on coercing and pummelling an unco-operative lump of clay into a small base with the aid of three wooden rods. Upon this a relief shape was deigned and moulded with the aid of a modelling tool. More often than not it took the better part of the lesson to form the base, consequently little time was left to be artistically creative and at the end of the lesson our efforts were unceremoniously returned to their original indefinable state. The lucky few whose efforts warranted it were allowed to proceed with their project during subsequent lessons when plaster casts could be made. In all practical areas white aprons were compulsory.

  With the increase in student numbers additional staff arrived:-

  Mr. Colin Roche the quietly spoken science teacher specialised in E.M.C (electricity magnetism & chemistry) and an increase in the variety of pungent odours emanating from the ‘stinks’ department was most noticeable & probably not always appreciated by the office staff on the other side of the corridor. Mr. Roche was an active commissioner in the scouting movement, and in later years he became the Headmaster of Burwood Tech and later Vice Principal of Ferntree Gully Tech.

  Mr. L. McDonnell “Macca” was the first fulltime Solid Geom & Tec Drawing Teacher, and he like Mr. Barks was a perfectionist, his diagrams on the blackboard were always precise and such things as X-Y lines, vertical & horizontal traces caused by all sorts of cutting planes were all that much easier to understand because of his blackboard illustrations. We must not forget the many struggles with intersecting & sectional solids, Di-hedral angles & lobster-back bends. His chalk sharpener which was obviously made in the sheetmetal shop was an open rectangular tin with a piece of flywire soldered across it. By rubbing the chalk across the wire a chisel like point could be obtained while the dust fell into the tin.

  It was important to use different line strengths and to use them in the right places, and woe betide any student who did not use guidelines for lettering. Understanding the need for different line strengths and using the correct pencil to achieve them was very important to achieve the quality of work expected.

  Mr. Hart “Froggie” was a Maths Teacher. He was very short in stature and in earlier years had played football for Richmond, this automatically qualified him to be coach of the school football team.

  Mr. L. Halpin “Old Leo” taught English & Social Studies and devoted much of his time and effort to establishing the school library in Room 11 which was also his classroom. “Old Leo” had the habit of standing with his hands in his trouser pockets while he was teaching, and his dustcoat was invariably open from top to bottom even though the belt was tied.

  Mr. V de Hugaard “Saltbush” seemed to be a teacher of anything that came his way, but I believe that his subject was English, although he spent more time teaching maths. “Saltbush” was a lot older that the other members of staff and it was believed that he had retired from Mildura High School some years earlier. He was very sincere in his efforts, but was taken advantage of by the more disruptive students.

  Mr. R. Spencer “Spanner” was a woodwork Teacher not long out of teacher training following service in the armed forces. He was an energetic man and was responsible for building and fitting out the school canteen in the basement beneath the Machine Shop. Many students Co-opted for this project and gained valuable practical experience.  Spanner was also very involved with the running of the school cadet unit.

  Mr. D. Dickson “Dicko” was a quietly spoken gentleman who taught English and Soc Studies. He drove a beautifully maintained black Wolseley and his distinctive grey moustache, rimless spectacles and navy blue pin striped double-breasted suits made him a conspicuous member of staff.

  Mr. R. Fricke “Fricker” succeeded Mr. Ritter as the head of the Art Department. He was a very skilful artist who contributed to the Victorian Education Department School Readers and Monthly Schoolpaper. In later years he became Headmaster of Heidelberg Tech. School.

  Miss J. Ogilvie was the first lady to join the teaching staff as a member of the art department. She was young and attractive immediately winning the hearts of all the boys and probably many of the males on the staff too.

  Mr. C. Waters was another Fitting & Machining teacher who together with Mr. Barks set up the machine shop. He was O.C of the Cadet unit and spent a lot of time assisting students who had difficulties in one sort or another. In later years he was a Lecturer at the Technical Teachers College.

  Mr. L. Garner “Gandhi” (because of his totally bald head) succeeded Mr. Green as Headmaster. He was friendly but firm and one of the first to call the students by their given name. He often, of necessity attended the music class where he joined in the singing, he had a fine baritone voice which vibrated around Room 10, particularly when singing Shenandoah.

  Mr. J. Brown had the unenviable task of trying to teach music and encourage us to sing, alone he had very little hope, consequently Mr. Garner spent considerable time in the music room. Singing scales was a chore for the boys and in fact was often a disaster, it was more enjoyable singing “The Road to Mandalay” or “Old Father Thames”

  The office staff of Miss Forbes and Miss Adams were always friendly and helpful. They undertook many tasks which were outside their normal field of duty, if you lost your locker key or left it at home Miss Adams was the person to see.

  Mothers staffed the canteen on a voluntary basis. Twice a month my mother took her turn which like myself meant a journey by steam train from Narre Warren. For some time Mrs Eva coordinated the roster and supervised the canteen until a permanent manageress was appointed. As there was a shortage of many essential ingredients for lunches my mother would take homemade butter and fresh eggs from home to supplement supplies, this also helped alleviate the need to water down the butter in order to make it go further.

  In the playground there were groups playing kick to kick, students would wax (share) while short passing and ‘picking out’ were taboo. Other students would play miniature football using a stuffed foot of an old sock as the football. Hand tennis was popular on the concrete pavement adjacent to the toilets. When the quadrangle was asphalted, courts for bat tennis were set out and this became an inter- house sport as well. Hand cricket was also very popular with teams comprising of seven players, and the pitch was approximately 7 paces long and the stumps were made up of two or three school bags propped up on end. A tennis ball was used and only underarm  bowling was permitted, fast bowling was not allowed so spin was the order of the day.

  When concrete practice wickets were installed it was not uncommon to see members of staff joining with the students at lunchtime. Marbles was usually played during the winter and a game requiring each player to follow a track or a winding groove in the ground had been devised.

  Detention and yard duty were popular forms of punishment, but those of us living beyond Dandenong on the Gippsland line dreaded being kept in for fear of missing that train. By leaving school on time and running all the way to Oakleigh station it was possible to catch the 8 past 4 train. This saved us waiting another 20 minutes for the next.

  One detention that I remember in particular was for the whole class and it was not really appreciated at all. During afternoon recess some wag had placed cherry bobs under the legs of the desks in Room 11. It was customary on entering a room to remain standing until told to sit by the teacher. When Mr. Allison “Pinhead” gave the order to sit the resulting crunch and subsequent laughter triggered a major enquiry. The culprits were not discovered and it was suspected that the previous class may have set us up. Detention until 4.30 was endorsed by the headmaster and I along with others missed the train resulting in another hitchhike from Dandenong.

  The students represented a good cross section of the working class, and many students excelled in their studies while others toiled for minimum reward, but generally there was a bond between all typifying that established in the wider community which was as a result of the recent Second World War.

  The original school buildings formed an attractive and impressive landmark, which at that time seemed indestructible.

  I believe there are many who have so much to thank the teachers and other students for. 

  We were indeed fortunate to be a part of a wonderful school, unfortunately we now possess nothing more valuable than the many happy memories of the experiences we shared.

                                                                       Max Thomson

                                                                        July 1996.

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