Ivanhoe Primary School Memories 1940s

Extracts from the Supplement to Slab Hut to Red Brick: the history of Ivanhoe Primary School (2004) compiled by Theresa Casteltevetere, Dianne Fox and Louise Ryan and Ivanhoe Memories (2004), including recollections of former students & staff.

MARGARET HENDRIE (nee Griffith): 1940-1946

My first grade teacher was called Miss Giles, and at that young age of 5 years, I thought she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.  I have since come to realise that she was a fairly average looking lady of about 25, who had a good figure, lovely face and shoulder length blonde hair.

Other teachers I remember quite vividly are Miss Helen May Macleod, who taught me in Grade 3, Miss Durham, Mrs Snowball, Mr Malone the headmaster, Mr Jenkins, Mr Richards, Mrs Charles, whose photo is in the picture of the sports team of 1946.  There was also Miss Pearson, Mr Pat O’Brien, and Mr Ryan.

The caretakers of the school were a family by the name of Horton – they lived in a house within the schoolyard on the South side, abutting the oval.  Mrs Horton used to make the most wonderful toffee, and the children used to stand in line at recess and lunchtime at the window of their residence, and for a penny, you could purchase a piece of this mouth-watering confection wrapped in a piece of white butchers paper.

My Aunt, Miss Ethel Portch was infant mistress at the school in later years – I think probably in the 60s or 70s – the headmaster during that time was Mr Dunstan[1].  My Aunt who lived in Ivanhoe from 1922 until her death in 1996, lived to be 95.  Her sister. Miss Violet Portch still lives in the family home in Kenilworth Parade, and will be 102 this year.

I vividly remember when the end of the Second World War was announced -there was an assembly in the school grounds and many of the girls came to school wearing patriotic red, white and blue clothes, and of course we all waved flags.

I recall when the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited Australia, and I think they must have visited the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital as part of their official duties, because all the children from school lined Waterdale Road outside the school to wave flags and cheer them.

In those early days, during the war, my Mother used sometimes walk from Miles Street (opposite Oriel Road, which wasn’t called Oriel Road, it was known as Kitchener Street) to the end of the lane which ran between Livingstone Street and the side entrance to the School, and she would take me to the main Ivanhoe shopping centre to buy a pie with sauce, which cost 6 pence, or an egg sandwich, which cost 3 pence, for my lunch.  That was a treat I had about once every two weeks.  Other times I walked home for lunch, which took about 20 minutes, gulped down some lunch, then walked 20 minutes back to school again.  I remember once I took a short cut over the drain (we called it the ‘dip’) which ran across Livingstone Street at the bottom of the hill between Wallace Avenue and Dudley Street, and I crawled under the fence at the bottom of the oval, in order to get back to school quicker to have some playing time.  I managed to get my foot tangled with some brambles, resulting in a nasty gash, and I still have the visible scar to this day.  I told my Mother that I had got tangled up in some brambles which were on the footpath outside the Baby Health Centre, which used to be in Waterdale Road just down from the School, and could never understand why she wouldn’t believe me!  I learned a good lesson, and never did that again.

[1] Richard Dunstan was headmaster from 1950 to 1957 (ed.)