Ashburton Technical High School domestic and commercial pupils from 1945 meet up regularly in Ashburton. They include (from left) Velma Langdon, Rosa Bennett, Doreen Stalker, Betty Wilson, Nicky Dunn, Molly Amos and Wilma Wolfreys. Photo Susan SandysSchool memories from long ago are recalled regularly by a group of old friends who meet up each month.

They hark back to the days when boys were taught masculine occupations such as agriculture and trades, and girls learned about domestic tasks and office work.

The group members attended the Ashburton Technical High School, starting in 1945 when they were about 13.

One of the highlights they like to recall is the day World War Two ended.

Doreen Stalker remembers being in the commercial class, which was for those learning shorthand and typing, taught by Miss Parkin.

“It came over the loud speaker that the war had finished, and everybody yelled and clapped, and Miss Parkin said ‘Girls, girls, behave yourselves please’,” Stalker said.

The news had particularly come as a relief to those who had older brothers, cousins and other family members fighting overseas.

It also marked the end of the female pupils’ in-school war effort, of knitting items such as scarves and balaclavas for soldiers.

As well as recalling the rewarding task of knitting, group members remember the more unusual task they had one day of making bloomers.

The directive had come from their teacher in dressmaking class.

She had been an older lady with proper tastes, and had sourced black Italian cloth for the assignment, which was the first of the year.

But despite the teacher’s best intentions, many of the bloomers did not end up being the girls’ favourite wardrobe item.

“Mine were so big that my mum used them for a lining for my brother’s trousers,” said one of the group members.

Assignment tasks were to improve, and Langdon remembers making a nice dress that she was able to wear on outings. While she had revelled in dressmaking class, learning many skills which she has used throughout her life, she had not really enjoyed cooking class, where students had to wear small caps, and a headband with their name on it.

However, her highlights of being at the school included having apples provided each morning tea, as well as a bottle of pasteurised milk.

Assemblies were at 9am each day, in the school hall, which still stands today as the Balmoral Hall. The teachers and principal, Mr Crawford, would sit on the stage, and a student played the piano and a hymn was sung.

It was one of the few times that girls and boys were in the same room, the rest of the time it was a divided school, with boys undertaking their classes in one area and girls in another.

Girls attending the school were separated into those studying domestic, which was for cooking and sewing, and commercial.

For boys, they got to choose between agriculture or trades.

Boys and girls would also join together about twice each year for a school social.

In keeping with the times, the dress code at the school was strict.

Panama hats had to always be worn going to and from school, and they were put on a peg in the corridor for the day.

Stalker recalled that one day she and her friends took their hats off, as they hated wearing them.

“And the head prefect came around the corner, we had to put them back on quick smart,” she said.

Langdon said the group had been meeting for about 18 years, during which time she had only missed two of the gatherings.

“And I treasure it, and I’m sure everyone else does, I think it’s something very special,” she said.

By Susan Sandys © The Ashburton Guardian - 10 May 2018