The gymnasium in 1936.
Click to enlarge. (16k)
The gymnasium (no longer with us) was a timber construction near the lower quad -
quite old and dilapidated by the 1940's and located just behind the tuck-shop.
| The boys' and girls' change rooms/toilets were at opposite ends of the gym and access to the gym and tuck shop was "by way of little bridges across an open storm water drain" (In the litigious 90's an obvious occupational/health and safety issue). | The gymnasium in 1936. Click to enlarge. (16k) |
The sports master was "Nicho" who encouraged the boys to dance with an army cane - "the last male to get himself a female will get flogged". The library was located between the girls' change room and the gym with the only access through the gym "a more inappropriate position for a library would be hard to imagine!"
Another student recalls the joy of queueing up at the tuck shop to buy one pack of Wrigley's chewing gum (four pieces) and one Hoadley's Violet Crumble Bar - "when rations allowed" (obviously with Mr Chifley's permission). There were the inherent risks, of course, with purchasing chewing gum - one had to have extracted the last bit of flavour from all four pieces before class because if you were caught chewing you lost that piece and had to turn over all the others. Still - "it was a great treat - we had few if any sweets during the war".
There were of course the school personalities - many still prominent from earlier days,
some beginning to emerge. Miss Mackaness - "She would purse her lips and peer down her
nose through her rimless spectacles, seeming to see right through us and every wicked
thought" continued to loom large as girl's supervisor, still calling uniform
parades at short notice and still "not easily fooled and a shared pair of gloves could
easily be spotted". Miss Crouch continued her sterling charitable work during the
1940's. One of the pioneers of the school from the Macquarie Hall days of 1913 who
continued teaching at the school until her retirement in 1949,
Miss Crouch had organised knitting drives during World War One.
During World War Two, her work with the school's Red Cross Society raised much needed
funds for the prisoners of war - £253 in 1945 alone.
"Gunner" Hodge was still teaching history - not always with success - "We were never quite sure whether he had been a gunner during the war or he had acquired the nick-name because he was always 'gunner' report us to the Principal". We see mention in the 1945 Phoenix of Parramatta High School stalwart—Goodwin Packer as first winner of the Sheridan Memorial Prize for the best pass in History at the Leaving Certificate Examination—who incidentally "also gained first place in the state at the L.C. Examination in History."
The 1940's achieved other notable firsts. Continuing a strong tradition in the dramatic field the pupils of Parramatta presented a series of plays in the first "Play Day" in 1947 - held in the Parramatta Town Hall. Not long later came the school's first Play Night - 11 December 1947, also at the Town Hall - featuring "The Stolen Prince", "People Will Interrupt", "The Knave of Hearts", "The Patchwork Quilt", "Between the Soup and the Savoury" and finally "The Red Velvet Goat
[sic]". The funds raised were "to be used to build a new library and buy more books".
In the sporting field - Richie Benaud was carving up all
opposition on the cricket pitch—with both bat and ball. His deeds became legendary,
leading to his selection for the CHS side and culminating in his playing for the
NSW second eleven while still at school. His coach P.N.Tester
wrote in 1947 - "To Benaud must go the highest praise. He was an excellent captain
and an inspiration to his team... We offer our hearty congratulations and express the
school's keen interest in his cricket career, which appears very rosy."
Sport was played each Wednesday - cricket, tennis or swimming in Summer and in Winter, hockey, basketball or tennis for the girls and football or tennis for the boys.
The significance of uniform was always an issue for the girls even in sport - "our gym tunic (four inches above the knee when kneeling) and sand shoes". Another issue was the lack of sporting facilities near the school - Kings School oval for football, Parramatta Mental Home for hockey and basketball, Parramatta Park and Cumberland Oval for athletics (marching there as a school and marching back again like the grand old Duke of York) and Granville Pool for swimming.
The school was always well-represented at CHS level. The boys achievements are well-documented - Jim Mathers, Ken Kearney, Kevin Macgregor and Bill Webb represented at football, Benaud, Flockton, Quinn and Irwin in cricket and Peter Moore set a record in the 5 miles at CHS athletics.
The performance of the girls at CHS level is not so well covered apart from Jan Holland's recollection that "many of us competed in the Combined High schools Swimming Carnival at North Sydney Olympic Pool and the CHS Athletics Carnival at the Sydney Cricket Ground".
On a final note recognition must be made of another important tradition which features
prominently in affectionate remembrances of the 1940's - the CanParra trophy -
a koala bear sitting on a tall wooden stand with ribbons in the colours of both Parramatta
and Canberra High Schools. The schools would alternate annual visits -
the visiting students being billeted by the host school.
The trophy is shown at left being proudly displayed by Parramatta students during a Canberra visit. (c.1948)
The students would compete in football, hockey, basketball, tennis, athletics and debating.
"The highlight of the trip was always 'the dance' held in Parramatta Town Hall
or the Albert Hall in Canberra."
If anything the spirit shown in contesting the CanParra trophy was indicative of the school's fine and lasting spirit - "I cannot remember which school won overall that year. However, the wonderful atmosphere of friendship and good sportsmanship remain a vivid memory forever... I wonder if that marvellous 'School Spirit' we experienced in those days has stood the test of time?"
Not so in 1943.
Wartime makes people much more tolerant of restrictions to their liberty. Identity cards were issued during the war, and had to be carried by all adults whenever they left their home.
The privations of wartime did not end in 1945. Shortages of staple goods persisted until the end of the
1940s. Ration cards were issued to each family - for items such as
clothing,
meat, even
tea and butter.
These cards were issued in 1948/9 to 1934 prefect Colin Ralph and his family.
