Maylands Primary School

I attended Maylands Primary School 1949-1955.

Our first two years were spent in the Infants School. Its building was, and still is (tho it now says Constable Care lives there) on the other (NE) side of Sixth Avenue from the main Primary School. What is now Grade 1 was called First Infants. Our teacher was C. Ogilvie, according to my report.

I can put very few names to faces. The only person other than me who has looked at these scanned photos is Don Wright (to whom thanks). I apologise to anyone I've identified incorrectly or forgotten. I hope that others may happen upon this page and let me know what I've got wrong. These are the people I think I can pick out, sixty years later, in order, but not indicating those not named, left to right.
Row 6 (back, with five kids): Brian Tyler, one of the Chambers twins
Row 5: the Smith twins, Lorraine and Lucille, identically dressed
Row 4: June Dawson, Carole Layton-Smith
Row 3: Judith Coultas, next to Lois Naylor
Row 2: Avon Moyle, Donald Thompson, (two boys you can't see), the other Chambers twin, Robert Hall, Alex Cargill, Bill Meehan, Garry Gillard (leaning into the front row), Richard McDonagh
Row 1: Don Wright (third in), Robert Halverson

What is now Grade 2 was called Standard 1, tho we were still in the Infants School (as seen behind us). Our teacher was K. Davies. (Her report says, inter alia, that [Garry's] ' ... work could be much neater than at present'.) I'm bottom right.

The few names Don Wright and I think we can recall are these, from left to right.
Row 5 (back): Peter Stevens (?) unknown, Brian Evill, unknown, Eric Schulstadt, unknown, unknown, Ivan Pilton, Barry Draffin
Row 4: David Hooper, Lance Spoors, unknown, unknown, Lois Naylor, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown
Row 3: Judith Coultas, June Dawson, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown (Hall?), unknown, unknown (Slavin?), unknown, unknown
Row 2: the Smith twins, Lorraine and Lucille, Carole Layton-Smith (now Carole Cherry), unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, Roberta Haile?, unknown, unknown
Row 1 (front): Alex Cargill, unknown, Robert Hall, Donald Thompson, Ray Dawson (?) Bill Walsh, unknown, Trevor Latimer, unknown, Garry Gillard

We then moved over the road to a building that is now a School of Instrumental Music. We were in Standard 2 (Grade 3) and were taught by Miss Enright. I was 'excellent' at most things in her report, but my 'Writing' (I assume this is penmanship, not style) was only a C: 'v. Fair.Could try harder'. Miss Enright's own penpersonship was rather poor, and she wrote the report with a cheap ballpoint pen, it's worth noting (this was 1951) tho my report in 1952 is written with pen and ink - by both class teacher and headmaster. I'm Row 4 (from the front) second from the right. I think this was the class in which we spent a helluva lot of time chanting six nines are fifty-four, seven nines are sixty-three, etc., a zillion times - which still comes in handy sometimes.

I can remember very few names, only two or three of the girls - and it's not a very clear photo anyway. I'm hoping others will remember more. From left to right:
Row 5 (back): David Hooper, Don Wright, Donald Thompson, unknown, unknown, David Tofts, Trevor Latimer, Robert Hall
Row 4: Robert Halverson, unknown, Richard McDonagh, June Dawson, unknown, unknown, Brian Evill, Garry Gillard, Lance Spoors
Row 3: unknown, unknown, one of the Smith twins, Lorraine or Lucille, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, the other Smith twin?, unknown, Roberta Haile (I remember her because I was in love with her), unknown, Lois Naylor
Row 2: Carole Layton-Smith (now Carole Cherry), unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, unknown, Judith Coultas (now Reudavey, having married my cousin Rod), Dale Swepstone, unknown
Row 1 (front): Lewis Hanna, Alex Cargill, one of the Chambers twins - possibly Colin, Robert Foley, unknown, the other Chambers twin - possibly Ron

I don't have a photo for Class 3, tho I do have a report - unfortunately it's not signed.
For this Class 4 photo - the most recent I have (tho my mother kept all my reports) - we were separated from the girls: I guess it made for a better composition, with the numbers reduced. I'm right in the middle. Our teacher in Class 4 was Mrs E. M. Brinkworth, who wrote me a very nice report, tho she did say that I could 'be very naughty'.
It was obviously summer, and the wind was from the direction we were facing, north-east.
You can't see my feet, but they would have been bare, as they remained throughout primary school. Some of the pansies are wearing sandals: one, Avon Moyle, is even wearing a tie - tho I don't remember us giving him a hard time about that. Everyone was easy-going, as I recall.
I'll have a go at the names - and I hope others will be able to supply the ones I can't. From left to right, as usual.


Row 4 (back): the Chambers twins, Colin and Ron, I think in that order, unknown European - I think he was the one boy in the photo who was not born in Australia, Bill Walsh, Eric Schulstadt (his father built boats on the Swan River at Maylands), Brian Evill
Row 3: Robert Halvorsen, Don Wright (who married my first cousin Thia [Cynthia] Reudavey), Trevor Latimer, Peter Stevens (or Stevenson?), Lewis Hanna, Brian Tyler, David Hooper, Robert Hall
Row 2: Donald Thompson, Robert Foley, Lance Spoors, Richard McDonagh, Garry Gillard, David Tofts, unknown, Barry Draffin, Alex Cargill
Row 1 (front, holding the slate with one finger, as instructed): Bill Meehan, Avon Moyle

The only other information I can add at this time is that in Class 4 our teacher signed herself Gwyn Benney, and the Head Teacher at the time was one J. Beckett. My report ('Scholar's Report') is stamped "Maylands Senior School".

And in 1955 our teacher was one (Miss, I think) A. Ellis. As I recall, the poor woman had to deal with 55 of us! I 'tied for 3rd place in the class'. (My [hand]writing continued to be poor.) Another student, as I recall, a girl called Dale Swepstone, also won a Scholarship to Perth Modern School. Unfortunately, I don't remember anything about her from that day to this.

In my opinion the Headmaster, J. Beckett, was a sadistic bastard, and if I knew where his grave was I would go and spit on it. But I should not close on that note, as my primary school years were very happy, and only spoiled by the one incident that makes me remember Beckett.

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