Petersham Public School

Teachers at Petersham Public School 1956 -1951

The first name most people remember is Harry Baltins, Class 6A and Choir Master. Harry died about 2001, after having been a Principal for the last 10+ years of his teaching career. One of his son’s tells me he was just as serious a disciplinarian at home as he was at Peto Public.

Some the other names that have surfaced during research for our Class Reunion

Miss Traviner: Infants School
Miss Tynan
Mr Limbeck: some Infants classes, including Transition, from memory, and Boys Sport, including Rugby League
Mrs Ridgeway (spelling correct?): 3A, school banking in her classroom at Monday lunchtime
Miss Searle: Girls Sport Mistress, Class 4B, very keen skier.
Miss Pontifex: principal or senior teacher of the Petersham Infants School
Mrs May: 4A
Mrs Penny: 5A, lived in Ashfield
Mr Winston, principal till about 1962
Mr Hill, principal from about 1963, also taught Class 6B in 1963, lived locally in West Street.

Can you add to or correct any of the names on this list?

John Young

Petersham Public School

Class of 1956 – 1963

m: 0407 940 943 | skype: yindisystems

e: yindi1951@gmail.com | twitter: #yindisystems

20-mar-2011

Update on Petersham Public School Class of 1963 Reunion

Boys and Girls

We now have 31 people registered to attend the Reunion Dinner on Saturday 9-apr-2011. This includes 18 students and 13 partners. With a bit more lunch and assistance with “detective” from people in our class group we should be able to pass 40 – the number we need so the restauranter will dedicate their Portuguese restaurant, Divino, to us for the evening.

The number of photos on the photo site is starting to grow now. See http://bit.ly/e9Dbeh

Contact John Young by email to yindi1951@gmail.com or by phone/SMS to 0407 940 943 if you want more information about the Reunion, or to make a booking.

John Young

Petersham Public School

Class of 1956 – 1963

m: 0407 940 943 | skype: yindisystems

e: yindi1951@gmail.com | twitter: #yindisystems

20-mar-2011

Folk Dancing and Lynne Newbon’s Memories of Peto Public

Fig. 1 I can recognize Helen Assaf on far right, and Lynne Newborn, 2nd from right. But who are the other 2 Peto Public folk dancers, seen here at one of several performances we did around the Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park.

Fig. 2 I can recognize Helen Assaf 2nd from right, and Lynne Newborn, on far right. But who are the other 2 Peto Public folk dancers?

Fig. 3 Same view but with the panoramic background retained

I just had this wonderfully detailed email from Lynne Newbon, who was part of our class group from 1956 till about 1960, when she moved to the upper north shore.

John Young

Hi John

How fantastic that you have taken the time to organise this…its very much appreciated, thank you.

Barbara Burnett ( Chessell) contacted me a few days ago, and I wanted to pass on that I will be delighted to attend the dinner. My husband Brian will be coming with me, and I very much look forward to catching up with so many of those fondly remembered faces in the school photos. Barb and I have stayed in contact over all of the years, as we had been friends from the age of 3.

Unfortunately she is the only one and I am sorry but I would not be able to help with the search for any of the others.

Just a quick bit of background…

My Mum ran a haberdashery come woman’s clothing business for 14 years in Petersham on the main road. The shop was called “ Newbons”. I have been told that recently there has been a Portuguese chicken shop where our shop used to be. She was also very involved for years in the Chamber of Commerce in Petersham if I remember, and was one of the organizers of the big street parade that was on each year.

I went along to start kindy with Barb on the first school day of the year, all happy and positive about this big step, only to be told that I was too young and to come back in 6 months (birthday is in September). Starting mid year after everyone else had settled in was a trauma and apparently I cried my eyes out most days! I missed being in the kindy photo also of course.

I remember walking home via a corner store that must have been very close behind the school and buying red toffee frogs on sticks to pass the time while wandering home. All of the things you mentioned in your memories of the school came back to me…it was a weird feeling as you are almost instantly transported back and can even clearly see the colours of the reading cards, and those badges!

I also have vivid memories of us singing God save the queen in different “parts”…I have a feeling I was in the low part with the boys a I could not hit the high notes!

The only teachers name that comes to mind is something like a “Mrs Amm”…or something that sounded similar…I remember she seemed a gentle and fairly nice lady.

My best friend was Barb, but I was also good friends with Angelika, and remember Denise Ryan, Janet, Deidre, Rhonda and Dimity who’s father was my Mum’s doctor. It will be lovely to catch up with as many of them that are able to come. Also when I looked at your photo…did you have to do some of the folk dancing that I have photos of… I have a vague memory of that but am probably totally wrong. I know there were a few boys as well as we girls that were dragged into that event. I have attached the photos in case that is you in them.

My Mum was ill with kidney disease..we sold the shop in the middle of year 4 and moved to St Ives so she could retire, have peaceful surroundings, clean air etc.

I was miserable in my new school…I started on the day of their half yearly exams and of course all of the work was utterly different, and their handwriting style also. I was told in the first week that my hand writing must have been designed by an alien…and of course totally flunked out in all the tests, so the remainder of primary school was tough. I desperately missed my friends from Petersham, but Barb and I always stayed at each others homes in the holidays so that helped.

I became a teacher and after teachers college taught n the NT for 9 years, moved to Canberra and have lived in Queanbeyan for the past 27 years.

I have been happily married to Brian for 33 years, we have 4 children, and I retired from teaching a few years ago. I now help my husband in his consultancy business, and also manage our holiday property on the South coast. The “Captains Cottage and Lighthouse” that we love, and stay at whenever it is not booked, but those times are getting harder to find as it is very popular.

We are both looking to retire sometime in the next few years, but are not ready to as yet!

So there you have it, a life mapped out in a few paragraphs!

Lastly I just need to mention that my surname was Newbon as opposed to Newborn…otherwise I am happy for you to include whatever details you wish for others to read on the master list. I will try to organise a photo of myself to scan in, and I look forward to catching up with you and all of the others on the 9^th of April.

Thanks again John,

Kind regards,

Lynne

Do you remember at Petersham Public School 1956 -1963…

The coke stoves in the corner of some classroom that were used for heating?

School banking under the supervision of Mrs Wridgway?

The end of school picnic at Parsley Bay in December 1963?

Competing for the Spelling Shield each week?

Was there also an Arithmetic Shield?

Having to march into class in the morning to the sound of a kettle drum and bass drum?

The boys crossing West Street half way through the lunch break to play in the paddock?

Having a simple coloured badge about 35 mm in diameter to show what House you were in?

The alcohol smell of worksheets produced on the roneo machines?

Chocolate spread on slices of bread for “play lunch”?

Doing SRA speed reading exercises, and the big box that the work cards and books were packed in?

Listening to programs on the school radio network, via a speaker high on the wall at the front of the classroom?

What things still stick in your memory from your time at Peto Public?

Petersham Public School Class of 1963 Reunion Dinner

Boys and Girls We are getting together for an evening of nostalgia and lots of laughs at the effects of 48 years since some of us have laid eyes on each other. Saturday 9-apr-2011 from 1800 – 2200 98 – 106 Divina Restaurant Audley Street Petersham NSW 2049 For more information contact John Young 0407 940 943 yindi1951@gmail.com

The Effects of Aging

I am always intrigued about the way some people’s appearance changes dramatically over 50 years, while other people still look the same. Do you recognise these faces from our time at Peto Public?

Face 1


Face 2


Face 3

Face 4

Petersham Public School Badge

Do you remember the very conventional school badge we had back in 1963?

The current school badge is much more interesting. But I suppose both designs reflect the environment that we grew up in. Creating bright interesting graphics is so much easier and cheaper these days.

Free School Milk + Milk Monitors

Remember the 1/3 pint of fresh creamy milk we had to drink every day at primary school?

Were you ever part of the team that moved the milk from the storage place to the individual class rooms, just before play time?

Were you one of the people who gagged on drinking warm, almost curdled milk in the summer months?

Did you take sachets of chocolate or strawberry Qik to school to make the milk more palatable?

Memories of Teachers at Petersham Public School

I wonder if some of you can help me remember the names of some of the teachers we had at Peto Public

Mr Harry Baltins Class 6A in 1963
Mr Hill taught 6B in 1963. He was also the Principal
Mrs May taught 5A in 1962
Mrs Penny taught 4A in 1961
Mrs Wridgway taught 3A in 1960
Who taught 2A in 1959?
Who taught 1A in 1958?
Who taught 1B in 1956?
Who taught Kindergarten in 1956

Who was the very old male teacher with a white moustache who ran rugby league at the school?
Was it Miss Searle who ran netball and softball and PE generally for girls? She also had a normal class. Was is 4B?

Parsley Bay School Picnic, late 1963

Today Ian Andrews brought up the subject of the school picnic we had at the end of 1963. It is something I can remember very well in parts, especially the risque behaviour of some of the girls on the top deck of the bus that took us back to school at the end of the day.

There are snatches of memory of various parts of the day

picnic lunch under the huge shade trees – probably Moreton Bay figs
Mrs Madigan, who ran the canteen, handing out ice creams or bags of sweets for the bus ride home
playing games like tunnel ball
the novelty of seeing teachers dressed casually on Picnic Day
people making commitments to keep in touch after we all went off to different high schools in the next year

Does anyone else have memories of that day in December 1963?

Does anyone have photos of that day at Parsley Bay? The following photos were sourced off the internet, but it doesn’t appear that Parsley Bay has changed very much at all since 1963, unless my memory is playing tricks on me.

John Young
yindi1951@gmail.com
23-nov-2010