And in the interest of general forum knowledge... ;-)

Ugh...this thread convinced me to google up Kirrawee High in 1991.... then I saw all those familiar faces who had so much promise...

English was my best subject, by a long way. Had an English teacher & her husband that took me under their wing, took me to plays etc to help understand the source material better. From memory, when the HSC results came back in, I was top 2% of NSW.

On the flip side....maths & Biology were disasters. Finally cracked 50% on maths right on the bell to save my results from looking tragic.

Did a pretty good job at French, but had inside running as my mum is from Brittany.

Best teacher was my Geography teacher who got me interested in travel. That bug never died. And probably never recognised how important Mrs Lowe (English teacher) was at the time.

Not surprisingly, Nathan Long (former Sharks 2nd Rower) sat behind me in maths.

Perry Haddock (former Illawarra/Saints halfback) was our PE teacher for a while too.
 
Fave subject woodwork and metalwork

Had some teacher with interesting histories

Year 6 Mr Barton grandson of Australia's first PM

Year 5 Mrs daniels was dutch jew i think and was in a nazi concentration camp as a young girl

Year 8 John Doyle pommy soccer player played for Apia i think

John Murray another sadist like Doyle...local Ashfield MP

Then Miss Nelson began it all
View attachment 30366
Some interesting teachers you had there, I particularly liked Miss Nelson’s socks.
 
Liked School (didnt go to Uni). Shout out to Mr Michael Robinson of Narwee High school wherever you are.

Love learning and studying even these days...

Really passionate about Marketing, PR, Dark psychology and of course offensive Cyber security
 
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Letters suck, numbers rule.

I did aerobics and environmental (outside) dance with a couple of mates bcoz we had this PE teacher that use to wear skin tight leotards and underwear on the outside like some kind of super woman. Her super power was she was so hot she could melt the sun.
 
Letters suck, numbers rule.

I did aerobics and environmental (outside) dance with a couple of mates bcoz we had this PE teacher that use to wear skin tight leotards and underwear on the outside like some kind of super woman. Her super power was she was so hot she could melt the sun.


I'm taking that thought with me all day .... 🤣 🤣 🤣
 
Letters suck, numbers rule.

I did aerobics and environmental (outside) dance with a couple of mates bcoz we had this PE teacher that use to wear skin tight leotards and underwear on the outside like some kind of super woman. Her super power was she was so hot she could melt the sun.
Sounds Ms Harlem, my high school music teacher. Couldn't teach for crud but not an issue.
 
Sounds Ms Harlem, my high school music teacher. Couldn't teach for crud but not an issue.
I had one in primary that confiscated my Pokie machine pencil sharpener, a tiny little one armed bandit that had lemons oranges and cherry’s on it and you pulled the arm and around it went. It was Kool and she took it the bitza. On the second last day of term I broke into her drawer and found all the confiscated items except my pencil sharpener. I then accused her of stealing. Obviously the head master and mum got a call and at that meeting she denied it and I got detention for B and E. Mum did not ground me for that one, she said she could tell the teacher was lying. That teacher Miss Love had no love for me the rest of the year.
I’m still holding a grudge 50 years later, but have you ever seen a pokie machine pencil sharpener?
 
Fave subject woodwork and metalwork

Had some teacher with interesting histories

Year 6 Mr Barton grandson of Australia's first PM

Year 5 Mrs daniels was dutch jew i think and was in a nazi concentration camp as a young girl

Year 8 John Doyle pommy soccer player played for Apia i think

John Murray another sadist like Doyle...local Ashfield MP

Then Miss Nelson began it all
View attachment 30366
There were 3 or 4 sadists at Ashfield Boys High when I was there.
In true sadist tradition they derived pleasure from inflicting pain with the cane.
One of them came very close to being clobbered by the father of one of the boys.
Being relatively soon after WW2, I wonder if these 2 or 3 had fought in the war and were taking their frustration and anger [from the horror of war] out on the boys.
 
Biology by far the best, followed by Maths. Worst definitely Modern History because I spent too much time mucking up. Favourite Teacher was my Maths Teacher simply because she was very good at explaining it, so I went from being very bad at it to ending up doing OK.
Never got suspended but got warned several times.
I enjoyed biology, geography and history.
Average in everything else except for woodwork, metalwork and algebra where I was pathetic.
My grades improved dramatically in my last year of school being 3rd year when I managed to come 2nd or 3rd in class in 3 subjects.
 
I had one in primary that confiscated my Pokie machine pencil sharpener, a tiny little one armed bandit that had lemons oranges and cherry’s on it and you pulled the arm and around it went. It was Kool and she took it the bitza. On the second last day of term I broke into her drawer and found all the confiscated items except my pencil sharpener. I then accused her of stealing. Obviously the head master and mum got a call and at that meeting she denied it and I got detention for B and E. Mum did not ground me for that one, she said she could tell the teacher was lying. That teacher Miss Love had no love for me the rest of the year.
I’m still holding a grudge 50 years later, but have you ever seen a pokie machine pencil sharpener?
Well, IF it helps with the healing ;-) https://www.etsy.com/au/market/slot_machine_pencil_sharpener
 
I remember one time I was in year 9 or 10, we used to always play footy on the oval at lunch time. We had a system where as soon as one a team scored, the loser kicked it off on the try line. When my team was close to scoring, I’d always drop back to collect the kick. One day, it went over my head and I turned to pick it up. Turned back around and I see one guy about 30 yards in front of me who chased the kick on his own. Tall and lanky, all bone. So in one of my more brighter moments, I went into full Martin Lang mode and ran full steam ahead. We hit, and I instantly felt like I’d been in a car crash. We both took a backward step. I was in wonderland, but somehow managed to still have the ball. Without thinking, I reset like a player in a video game and kept running, then come to another guy who was a bit of a thug who use to claim he’d play first grade for the Dogs (Spoiler, he didn’t). He speared me and I almost landed on my head. Was sore for a week after, but was worth it, as there was a group of girls sitting on the sideline watching, so that won me some cred.
 
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Woodwork/Metalwork and then Industrial Arts were my best - worst - languages. I did do an language aptitude test later in life and was told that I was hopeless. Needless the say I have travelled a lot and seem to be able to get by. I can order big cold beers in several languages and tell the waitress that my friends will pay.

Was forced to do 6 months of German and 6 Months of French. Thought both were an utter waste of time and effort - with the exception of dating a German girl who was assigned to help me during class.

Went on to marry a German girl and was working with the French Multi National Division in Bosnia where I set up a demining school. The languiages would have helped no doubt.

Favourite Teacher - had a couple - Mrs Watson - English (good teacher and good sort), Mr Dudgeon (PT) and Mr Shane (Footy Coach).
 
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