CLASS OF 1959 - THE ORIGINALS
CLASS OF 1959
We have worked, we have played
We have loved, we have lost
We have produced children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren
We have travelled, we have discovered
We have studied, learnt and forgotten
BUT we are here, the SURVIVORS!
Faye (Dreschler) Thornhill
Class of 1959
1959 RECOLLECTIONS BY VAL GRAY
I remember our Year 12 final Matriculation exams in 1959 vividly because I was only 16 and scared stiff! Back in 1959, we had to do external Matriculation exams at The Exhibition Buildings up in Carlton. It was hot that December and we sweltered getting up there on public transport!!
Our subject results came out in mid January in the newspaper and I was so relieved to see my number on the pass list !! That meant I could get into Melbourne University or a Teachers' College!!! Many girls I went through MCKinnon High School with had dropped out in Year 10 or 11 because their parents thought educating girls was a waste of time as we would get married in a few years time and be housewives!! My mother wanted something for me; she didn't get an education and economic independence!!
Another small recollection I have was going up to the school on a foggy, cold winter's evening to sit in a classroom with my English Literature class to watch the movie "Great Expectations," in black and white!! There wasn't any heating either but that's the way it was!
We just did what our teachers and parents expected of us - simpler times.
I treasure my education, have fond memories of very caring, dedicated teachers and made lifelong friends I sometimes get the chance to talk and laugh with as we recall our schooldays together at McKinnon High!
Thankyou for keeping the importance of tradition centre stage. Jill Thompson (Rendall) used to say to me "Well Val, without tradition, what have we got?". Jill was my wise and much loved teacher and friend from those formative days at McKinnon High School
Val ( Valma ) Gray
Class of 1959
THE FIRST YEAR OF MCKINNON HIGH SCHOOL BY PHILLIP TAIG (CLASS OF 1959)
Motto 'Wisdom and Service'
Most of the McK.H.S. cohort sent to Mordialloc High School travelled by train and after alighting at Mordialloc Station then walked almost a mile, via the banks of Mordialloc Creek, to our allocated relocatable classrooms for the first six months of 1954.
These rooms were furnished with individual desks for students and at the front for teachers, just a blackboard.
There was no fraternisation with the local Mordialloc High School students, as our start and finish times were deliberately offset.
As I recall, classes finished around noon each day and then everybody went home for lunch.
Mordialloc High was close to the beach, so one day, for a Physical Education class, we went swimming in Port Phillip Bay.
Although much of my memory of attending school for those first six months has faded, I look back on those days fondly.
Students attending the last half of 1954 were comfortably ensconced in brand new classrooms which included two science rooms, a Reception office, an office for the Principal, Mr. Channon, a Staff room and toilets for students at the West end of the school.
In 1955 McKHS played host to a cohort from Brighton High School, until their school was built.
As Rod Fawns discovered recently, only about one in nine students in Vic who entered year 7 in the mid fifties remained to finish year 12.
Phillip Taig
Class of 1959
1959 CATCH UP
The photo below is of the now 80 year olds McKinnon Originals having one of their regular lunches in March 2023.
Most are McKinnon Originals (Class of 1959) with a couple of extra guests. All originals are now 80 apart from Judi Baird with an April birthday.
Photo from left front: Liz Launder (wife of Ken), Kaye (Butcher) Wood, Judi (Hiscock) Baird, Judith Fricke, David Knipe, Barry Roberts (class of 1960), Richard Blaze (standing - late starter but class of 1959), Rod Fawns, Tony McDonald (another late starter), Phil Taig, June (Cooper) Reid, Neil Tull, Ken Launder and Horst Kayak.