{"id":528,"date":"2019-01-24T12:58:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T01:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coffscoastheritage.wordpress.com\/?p=528"},"modified":"2021-01-30T02:21:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T02:21:01","slug":"memories-of-coffs-harbour-high-school-1958-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/2019\/01\/memories-of-coffs-harbour-high-school-1958-59\/","title":{"rendered":"Memories of Coffs Harbour High School 1958-59"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was written by Neil Bonnell recalling his time as a teacher here in Coffs Harbour 1958-59, I’m sure current students would be surprised to see how much has changed but also how much has stayed the same.
\n\"pic
\nPicture from the “The Beacon” 1958, the Coffs Harbour High School magazine, Neil Bonnell is in the third row.
\nSixty years ago, Coffs Harbour was a small seaside town whose main claims to fame were its extensive banana plantations and its role as a major stop on the Sydney to Brisbane railway line.\u00a0 The population was just 7,000 hardy souls who had to frequently visit Grafton for goods and services which were not available in Coffs.\u00a0 The Pacific Highway south was liable to flooding or just closure at Nambucca Heads.\u00a0 The twelve miles (we were not metric yet) north of the town was winding and in poor condition. There was no library or public swimming pool.\u00a0 We did have a Woolworths and a Coles and the relaxed lifestyle made up for any deficiencies.\u00a0<\/em>
\nThe High School (the only one) at the Jetty catered for secondary students from a wide area.\u00a0 Those who came furthest were the remaining Macksville students who travelled to and from school on the North Coast Mail.\u00a0 Others came from Nana Glen in the north-west and Woolgoolga, known as \u201cWoopie\u201d even then, from the north.\u00a0 Enrolments from both Bellingen and Macksville ceased after high schools were established in those towns.\u00a0 Bicycles were the most popular mode of transport to school for local students.\u00a0 Mr Eric Silk, the new Headmaster, used much of his time at school assemblies instructing students in road safety and warning against riding side by side on the road between the centre of town and the Jetty.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>
\nI was regarded as extremely lucky to be sent to Coffs Harbour for my first teaching appointment, as the North Coast was a popular location.\u00a0 My personal record at Head Office showed that I was qualified as an English\/History teacher and was a lieutenant in the CMF.\u00a0 It so happened that Mr G.A. Paterson who ran the Cadet Unit and taught English and History had been appointed English\/History Master at Bellingen.\u00a0 Someone at Head Office had made an informed choice. I had heard that the Cadet Unit was being run by a World War II Lt-Colonel and I was looking forward to working with him.\u00a0 It was with some dismay that I learned that Lt-Colonel Paterson had filled that role and that I was expected to be CO in his place.<\/em>
\nThe Cadet Unit which numbered just under 120 boys conducted an annual camp, paraded in uniform on Anzac Day, provided the bugler to play the Last Post mounted an annual Passing Out Parade and possessed a band which participated in the town\u2019s Anzac Day parade and service.\u00a0 The signals platoon also provided communications for an important golf tournament at the local course.<\/em>
\nCoffs Harbour High was in the process of rapid expansion.\u00a0 In 1958 there were just over 670 students at the school.\u00a0 The following year the total stood at about 760 if the records in The Beacon are correct. It was possibly over twenty more. \u00a0Only two extra staff were appointed. Relationships between staff and students were generally relaxed and congenial, although there were problem students and some difficult classes.\u00a0 One of the most eccentric students was Alvin Murray.\u00a0 He lived north of the town and during one holiday period he amused himself by placing a cardboard box on the highway and climbing inside.\u00a0 He had poked eye-holes in the side facing the traffic, leaving the open side facing the side of the road.\u00a0 At the last possible moment he would scuttle out of the box into the bushes.\u00a0 Another was a boy in my roll call class, whom I privately called \u201cPedro the Fisherman.\u201d\u00a0 With a deep knowledge of the truancy laws, he would stay away from school until the last moment when the truancy inspectors would come looking for him. He told me that he spent his time fishing and offered to bring me a crab or two.\u00a0 Recognising conflict of interest, I politely declined.<\/em>
\nOne result of my military connections was a message from Mr Silk asking me to go the office where the police were waiting to interview me.\u00a0 It seems that I had assumed the title of Senior Military Officer in the district, a grandiose title for a mere lieutenant in charge of a small army depot catering for two platoons who paraded once a week.\u00a0 I think that Mr Silk was considerate enough to mention that the police wanted advice on a military matter.\u00a0 They had found in the garage of an unoccupied house an \u201caerial bomb\u201d.\u00a0 Could I please go and investigate?\u00a0 As our Regular Army Warrant Officer was in town, I took him with me to see this bomb.\u00a0 What we found was a 3 inch mortar shell seemingly intact and with a full set of propulsion charges in place around the fins.\u00a0 We agreed that it was safe to move and took it back to the depot with us on the front seat of the army ute.\u00a0 The one thing we didn\u2019t want to do was drop it.\u00a0 Further examination showed that the explosive material had been removed by means of small holes drilled into the side of the shell.\u00a0 The detonator was still active and we gave that to the local council to destroy.<\/em>
\nThe staff at Coffs was reasonably stable, as an appointment to Coffs was not lightly given up.\u00a0 The second most senior teacher in the Commerce Department was content to remain top of the list for promotion to Subject Master rather than be promoted and have to leave Coffs.\u00a0 The majority of the teachers were well-qualified and experienced.\u00a0 Most country secondary schools of any size were expected to provide a full curriculum including preparation for tertiary study, the trades and office work.\u00a0 Furthermore, the teaching staff was refreshed periodically by the promotion system which encouraged upwardly mobile teachers to take their first promotion at each level in the country.\u00a0 Occasionally, one could also find a pre-war graduate with first-class honours teaching in a secondary school.\u00a0 Tom Byrne, English\/History Master was one such example.<\/em>
\nSeveral of the teachers had bought a few acres where they grew bananas.\u00a0 Colleagues often helped them to \u201cchip bananas\u201d, which I think meant to remove weeds from around the trees.\u00a0 If they were paid they had to be careful to keep records and declare their income, as inspectors from the Tax Office made frequent visits to the district.\u00a0\u00a0 Banana growers, it seems, were reluctant to fully declare their income.\u00a0 Another unusual hobby for a teacher was lobster fishing in the harbour by the P.E. teacher who used to pop down there at lunchtimes.\u00a0 Freshly cooked lobsters, by the way, could be bought for 2\/6 (25 cents) at the Co-Op on the jetty.<\/em>
\nIf some readers are irritated by the sexist terms being used in this memoir, please be consoled by the fact that this was the language of the day.\u00a0 It was a time when female teachers were fighting to be paid 75% of the male wage.\u00a0 Equal pay was not to be achieved for several years. The senior members of the teaching staff were the Headmaster and Deputy Headmaster.\u00a0 Teachers in charge of subject areas were classified as Subject Masters or Mistresses.\u00a0 The heads of English\/History, Mathematics and Science were all male, as were the heads of Commercial Subjects, Modern Languages and Manual Arts.\u00a0 Female teachers were allowed to run the departments of Classical Subjects (Latin), Art, Home Science and Music.<\/em>
\nIn the classroom there were some quaint customs.\u00a0 Boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the room. Boys were called by their surnames and girls by their Christian names.\u00a0 I don\u2019t remember total segregation in the playground, what there was of it.\u00a0 There was, of course, no mixed sport with the exception of tennis.\u00a0 Inter-school visits from Grafton and Macksville were highlights of the sporting calendar.\u00a0 Boys and girls were part of the same team in athletics and swimming, but competed in separate events.\u00a0 There was a High School cricket team organized by Don Tom which played in the district B Grade competition.\u00a0 As it was an adult competition, teachers were allowed to play, as I did.\u00a0 I believe that Don was elected to the Coffs Harbour Cricket Association Hall of Fame.\u00a0 In the winter, girls were allowed to play the murderous game of hockey instead of the merely bruising game of Rugby League football.\u00a0 No one had heard of soccer. Boys\u2019 basketball teams as well as girls\u2019 hockey teams not only competed in town competitions, but also won premierships in 1958.\u00a0 These victories were won despite inadequate sporting facilities, as outlined by Sports Master R. F. Jarvis in The Beacon in 1959.\u00a0 The swimming carnival, for example, had to be held in a branch of the creek opposite what is now the Botanical Gardens.<\/em>
\nWednesday afternoons were given over to sport which was held at various venues around town.\u00a0 The school had no playing fields, just a small area on the railway side of Camperdown Street, which was large enough for softball.\u00a0 Incidentally, both boys and girls had softball teams.\u00a0 There were some students for whom Wednesday afternoon was the highlight of the week.\u00a0 Unfortunately, during February and March particularly, it was liable to rain in the afternoon.\u00a0 This seemed to happen on Wednesday more often than on other days.\u00a0 When it was too wet to conduct sport, Wednesday morning\u2019s timetable was repeated.\u00a0 Disgruntled students and teachers presenting hurriedly prepared lessons was not a happy combination.\u00a0 I dreaded wet Wednesdays.\u00a0\u00a0 To make up my quota of lessons, I was given five periods of P.E. per week in a school without a gymnasium.\u00a0 In fine weather, I arranged softball matches on the Camperdown Streeet playing area. When it was wet, P.E. lessons were held in a cramped basement with no room for gym equipment.\u00a0 Three of these periods were on Wednesday mornings when I had to resort to party games and quizzes such as buzz-buzz which was a counting game which required participants to say buzz whenever the number three or a multiple occurred.\u00a0 Twenty questions and Chinese whispers also featured. When the afternoons were also wet, six periods of parlour games were a strain for all concerned.\u00a0 It was the job of \u201cSnow\u201d Turner to make a weather forecast at about the time of morning break and declare sport on or off.\u00a0 On more than one occasion, the weather cleared after the cancellation had been issued and it was too late to restore the sports afternoon.\u00a0 Snow was not popular when his weather forecast was wrong.<\/em>
\nOne of the two classes I remember best was 2E 1959, with whom I fought for most of the year but then many years later taught the son of one them. The other was 3A 1958 which contained some very able female pupils.\u00a0 Frank Walker, who later gained prominence in politics, could only come fourth in English.\u00a0 He was, however, a most proficient debater.\u00a0 I often wonder what happened to Bronwyn Phillips, Jill Nelson, Robyn Roche and Marilyn Haworth and what use was made of their talents.\u00a0 What would be totally unacceptable today was the regular advertisement in The Beacon of The Bank of New South Wales. It offered jobs and training to \u201cyoung ladies\u201d (who would join the nicest girls) as a stenographer\/typist, clerk\/typist or in general clerical duties.\u00a0 Judy Henderson (3A 1959 and Hall Of Fame) obviously didn\u2019t take one of those jobs. Junior males were told that every new junior was regarded as a potential executive.\u00a0 One of the great successes of the 1959 cohort was Diane Russell, who topped the State in English in the Leaving Certificate.<\/em>
\nIt was a different world. I had a busy two years in Coffs and gained very valuable experience.\u00a0 There are those who would say that I was stupid ever to leave.\u00a0 <\/em>
\nNeil Bonnell\u00a0 2018.<\/em><\/p>\n

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This article was written by Neil Bonnell recalling his time as a teacher here in Coffs Harbour 1958-59, I’m sure current students would be surprised to see how much has changed but also how much has stayed the same. Picture from the “The Beacon” 1958, the Coffs Harbour High School magazine, Neil Bonnell is in … Continue reading “Memories of Coffs Harbour High School 1958-59”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":980,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528\/revisions\/980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}