In classrooms at St. Patrick's College, in the second half of the 1960s, every boy was known by his surname.
A lot of the school was very old and tired because there was talk of putting a motorway through the site. There seemed little point in an upgrade. In spite of this, a new block had been built. It had two science labs upstairs and below were two classrooms. Both1966's 3P class and 3G were housed in this block. There was little fuss made about the 3G boys, but, after having achieved their place by a written test, all 3P boys were put into numbered seats that showed their test success level.
McDonald sat in desk number seven, a few seats ahead of Cotterall. Clear sat in front of them both. Pezyinski was back in seat number twenty two. Kidson sat right behind him. It was a great honour for them all to be in this class.
The priest who stood before them was in his late forties. He said, "Get out your Latin books. It is expected that a lot of you boys will enter the seminary, so keep well away from those St. Catherine's girls and those Sacred Heart girls on the bus to school. They'll lead you astray." McDonald knew that he was a bit too shy to ever get a girlfriend. Maybe the seminary was the way for him to go? He'd talk to Fr. Bliss when he had an opportunity. Maybe he could get a job as one of those guys who looked after the altar in the school chapel? At the end of the lesson the priest said, "Is that clear?" The funny little boy in seat five put up his hand and called out, "I'm Clear father!"
Prowse sat next door trying to do his bookkeeping. He figured he had a bit of a way with the ladies. He'd already eyed up a Sacred Heart girl from the bus and was working on finding out her name. He had talked to two girls (his neighbours) before so he thought, "How hard can it be?"
St. Pat's boys liked going to sporting events.
They had a Haka and liked singing their school song Sectare Fidem. Only the boys in the P classes knew what the Latin words meant. The boys in the R classes thought it was something about a dog and some of them sang, "Sectare Fido." or "Second time feed him." Boy, those kids were dumb!
To be continued...
6 commenti:
This post shows promise but the research was a bit dodgy. The seating order on the right hand side of the classroom (facing the front) was:
Tuohy
Blennerhassett
McLinden
Dennehy
McDonald
Clear
Wilson
The Rest.
The 3P and 3G classrooms were not beneath the science rooms and not in that block. Those were the fifth form classrooms.
Sheesh! It’s no wonder you got confused about talking to girls. Those were probably sunflowers you spoke to in your neighbourhood. Either those or some Mormon guys lurking around.
No, we were beneath the science labs. Before they did their testing, I was in the 3P room - boys were placed in classrooms randomly. I had to take a message to a teacher, Mr. Naylor I think, who looked at me and said, "Ah, the brain boxes of the future!" After the tests I was out of there. Mr. Naylor was wrong, I admit that.
The tests relating to classes and seating were done at Marist in Late standard 6.
The 3rd form classes weren’t in the science block.
I wonder why that Wellington College kid singled you out Robert. Or did he signal you out, as you wrote? Either way he must have known something about you or just hated the more rabid type of Catholic.
Here's a thought - maybe that guy was the devil in disguise and was tempting you with the apple. When he saw that you were a good Eucharist eating Catholic boy he then threw it at you.
This "Inside 3P (Let me out!). PART I" post is a bit like the post series I start and then never get around to continuing.
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