OLD GOLD ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
BENDIGO HIGH SCHOOL
BENDIGO SENIOR SECONDARY COLLEGE
BENDIGO SENIOR SECONDARY COLLEGE
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Edith Lunn was born in 1907, and thus celebrates her hundred years of life in the same year Bendigo Senior Secondary College celebrates its Centenary. Edith is a published local historian and attended Bendigo High School (as it was known in her time) in 1921. In this wide-ranging interview with Rod Fyffe, Edith remembers past teachers and principals like Mr and Mrs Oliphant, George Freeman, and Mr. King. She recounts in a series of personal anecdotes, school life and life in Bendigo generally. Edith remembers for example, her history teacher, 'Judge Jefferies'. "as soon as he came in the room for his history lesson, he'd point his finger at some student and ask them a question and if you answered it wrong he'd make you feel like you'd like to crawl underneath the floor - you know, I was sensitive like that." Then there was Miss Taylor, the headmistress of the time. "The boys and the girls were not allowed to mingle. You went away on a train trip, you wouldn't be allowed to get in the same carriage as the boys." School assemblies featured prominently in Edith's school time. "Monday morning it was a ritual for the school to assemble out on the road way, I think it was near the house, and we had to salute the flag and say, "I love God and my country, I will honour the flag, I will serve the Queen and King, and cheerfully obey my parents, teachers and the law." And of course, Bendigo's rich mining history cast an indelible impression on Edith as child. "We used to walk through the mines to go to Violet Street School some winter mornings. We'd ask if we could walk through the engine shed, I can still smell the hot oily smell, see the big pistons going like this." Finally, Edith gives prominence to an often overlooked aspect of school life. "Well, school started your network of friends - this is where you made your friends. I mean like some of my friends, I knew them from practically the time I was born. We were friends all our lives. Basically school started off the friendship. School can be the best time of your life." DOWNLOADS
If you would like to offer us some feedback and if you have recollections of your own about school life at Bendigo High School, the Centenary Committee would appreciate a call or an email. Here are the contact details: Phone: 54431222 Email: miriam@bssc.edu.au |
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