Morwell Primary School #4692

On Oct 20th 2007 Crinigan Rd Primary School celebrated 50 years as a school. It went from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

All three of my children attended Crinigan Road as children. I saw the first notice about the reunion in the Sun Herald about a month before and then in The Latrobe Valley Express on the Monday and Thursday prior to the day.

I spoke to Meg first about going, but she did not seem all that keen. I then spoke to Kathleen and she was very keen. I said that Meg could bring her and the girls down from Yallourn North. We could meet at Donald's (as he lives just around the corner) and then walk from there. I then got her to work on Meg. I spoke to Donald and said as he had the kids it would be a perfect opportunity to show them where he went to school and give them some history.

Well we met at 10 a.m. and went. Strange thing, the people who enjoyed it most were Don, Meg and Kath. They loved finding pictures of themselves and had a great laugh at how they used to look.

They were amazed by the changes they saw:-
The class rooms and hallways have carpet instead of lino ( I believe this to be a backward step as carpet is bad for people with allergies)
The classrooms have blinds and air conditioners
All the classrooms have three computers, this includes the prep classroom
The classrooms not longer have chalk boards but white boards
The library is in the same room but only has half the space it once did as the remainder is taken up with twenty computers
The classroom that was once one of the sixth grade rooms is now a conference room
There is better off street parking
A ramp for wheelchairs has been put in going from the street to the school
There is shade cloth over the assembly area

They did not see anyone else from their years which was a disappointment.

At 1 p.m. there was to be a roll call by year of starting. Photos were to be taken of that year but we could not stay for that. Donald had to leave at 11 a.m. to go to cricket. The girls and I stayed till noon. I will see if I can get a photo.

Unfortunately both Talhia and Kirsten were having an off day. They seemed to bounce of each other and both were sulking. Jasmine was too young to understand. I think Brooke and Maddie liked the tour, but Connor and Samuel acted bored.

I was amazed to see how many people my age were there, but then again when you get to be my age you do reminisce about the past, after all there is more behind us than in front of us. I saw three ladies all still friends who had started at the school at the same time. They said they still lived locally. They had been transferred from Tobruk Street when Crinigan Road opened. They went into third grade. I was in second grade in 1957! There were also a number of older gentlemen and it was lovely to see two of them meet. They shook hands and clapped each other on the back. Hadn't seen each other for nearly 30 years!

So I enjoyed the day too! I did buy the C.D. 'History from 1957-2007.'