As you will have seen if you’ve read my last two posts; we had a terrific time performing “The Old School” for the Kingston Primary School students. Our re-enactment of a 19th century classroom was the final event in what has been a big year for the school as they have celebrated their 150th anniversary. Recognising and acknowledging the passage of time is what we at “Live History” are all about.
I don’t know about you, but my early memories of being taught history at school were not the history teacher standing in front of the class during my grammar school years. Rather, they were my early primary years when I was lucky enough to live near the lovely city of York in the U.K. The father of one of my fellow pupils was the Curator of the Castle Museum in York and we were often visited by staff showing off interesting objects, spinning wheels, spindles and playground hoops spring to mind. One year, I was chosen to be one of the models and took part in a Victorian fashion display complete with off the shoulder dress and a fan. These look, feel and touch, tangible things are what I remember.
I feel sure that if my class had taken part in “The Old School” that too would have lived in my memory. I wonder, though if I would have written as good a poem as Ilona Hansson, a Grade One student at Kingston Primary School. Ilona won the Elaine Fazackerly Poetry Prize which was part of the School’s celebrations. She has given me permission to reproduce it on this site. I thought it was wonderful:
Hopscotch was played.
Ink pens were used.
Stories had black and white photographs.
Toys were different in the olden days.
Old teachers were very strict.
Rules were important.
You can see the past in artefacts.
by Ilona Hansson, age 7.
