Education Week

To celebrate the theme of Education Week ‘150 years of Public Education’ we asked parents, teachers and our local community members to describe what school was like back when they attended all those years ago. 

The response was excellent and it was so interesting for us to read of parents and teachers experiences. I shared many of these with students and watched their mouths drop at some of the differences between school here today at DPS and the schoolings experiences of our community. FASCINATING!

Here are  few snippets and things to share: 

Adrina's Mum Elaheh, wrote that she was a fast-learner and excellent student who was good at art and sports. Did you know that she made and directed different theatre or musical bands and brought many winner certificates and honours to her school. How impressive!

Benita’s Mum, Rabeh went to school in Iran where the school had two shifts: morning shift 7:30 am to 1:00 pm and the afternoon shift from 1:30 pm to 7:00 pm. Girls and boys went to school separately. That is so different to school here at DPS. Did you know the picture at the top of this page is a real picture of Rabeh's classroom and was taken 33 years ago.

Ellein and Keilen’s Dad, Kein went to school in Singapore and remembers having about 40 students in his class. He also remembers teachers using chalk to write on the chalkboard as there were no whiteboards. His teacher used to tell him spooky ghost stories in between lessons, which he really enjoyed. 

Evelyn’s Dad enjoyed history classes and remembers that his teacher’s desk was always at the front of the class. He says that he enjoyed interesting and fun lessons and thinks technology is the biggest difference between his schooling and DPS.

Mika’s Mum went to school in Singapore in the 80’s. When she was in Primary School, she did not bring her lunch from home. Every student had to buy their own lunch at the school canteen. There were food stalls that catered to the student’s different cultural backgrounds and dietary requirements. 

Victor’s Mum loved spending time with her friends and playing chasey, elastics and four square. She noticed that there were less electronics in her classroom than what we have in our classrooms at DPS. When Victor’s Mum went to school, she used to eat her lunch outside as part of playtime. We are lucky we get to eat inside at DPS.       

Chloe and Chanel's Mum Erina went to a convent school in Orlim- Goa-India. She loved 

Maths and PE and was good at her times tables. Some of her teachers were lovely and some were very strict, especially the nuns. The strict ones used to punish the children if they did not do their homework, got the answers wrong or if they talked to their friends during class time. Forms of punishment were writing a sentence 100 times and getting it signed by their parents. Can you imagine that?

Violet's Mum, Georgia went to  Caulfield North Junior College and enjoyed subjects such as Athletics and French.  Playing sports was always her favourite as she was very competitive and would give everything a go. Georgia especially loved Athletics Days and would compete in every event. Her favourite teacher was her Prep teacher as he was a really kind and funny man. He also used to bring HUGE bags of popcorn to school because he worked at Village Cinemas as a second job. I wonder how many of the teachers at DPS have a second job? 

Lexie's Mum, Natalie went to Bourchier Street Primary School in Shepparton and Wangaratta West Primary School and music was her favourite subject. Her school had a big music program led by a passionate music teacher, with classes every week and also mini orchestras for the junior and senior students.  She had a guitar teacher come once a week and she loved this class. Did you know Natalie kept learning the guitar until she finished high school? Natalie had an brilliant Art teacher who taught her pottery, canvas painting, paper mache and sewing by hand.   

Mrs Fava, a Prep teacher at DPS began her schooling journey in the 1980’s. In Prep, she had a rabbit called Apricot that her and her classmates used to look after.  At the beginning of each school year she would have to find her name on the door of her new classroom. She says it was very scary not knowing who your teacher was before the first day of each year. Mrs Fava says that computers were MUCH bigger back then and Ipads were not even heard of! Her highlight of each week was being allowed to play a game called ‘Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego’ on the computers or a game of rounders on a Friday afternoon. Have you heard of that game?

Mrs Coumaros, a Level Two teacher at DPS went to Merri Primary School in North Fitzroy and when she started school, she was not able to speak English. Mrs Coumaros feels grateful  to the teachers at her Primary School as they discovered she needed reading glasses as she was unable to see the chalk written on the blackboard. Mrs Coumaros  feels that she can relate to many parents and students at DPS, as they come from various cultural backgrounds and when they arrive are sometimes unable to speak English.