School Days at OPS

[Vikki de Jager (Summers)]

I remember the flouride milk. I also remember the fishpaste sandwiches cut into triangles that they made us eat at Playschool. I hated them, but the teachers used to watch you like a hawk to make sure that you ate them.

[Claire Mc Cullagh]

do you remember Exam time - and having to carry your desk to the assemble hall.

[Michele Alexander (Voden)]

Hi Claire

How are things?

Yes, I do remember marble season, we also had a season for yo-yo's and skipping ropes, l if I remember correctly. We also used to play "sardines in a can" at the wall opposite the school pool!

I'd forgotten about having to carry our desks to the hall for exams - they were really heavy and we kept stopping to put them down!

[Paul Alexander]

Ah yes, child labour, still alive and well in the Peoples Republic of Oranjemund (just how many Nike's do you think this years std 5's could churn out in an hour). Am I the only one who remembers shaking the milk containers till the top layer of milk turned to butter... hmmmm ...

[Maxine Hall]

Paul, I remember making butter with the milk given.

[brandonvdw]

hey cuz....

yip loved giving lummies to all those guys that got boosters....
i think its still the reason i to this day cant really drink milk....

[Ann Gander (nee Greenway)]

Does anyone remember building a line of pennies (or cents) from the infants area along, I think, to the headmaster's office?  Can't remember why we did it but it happened each year

[Paul Alexander]

Yes, we did that as well once or twice... it was for fundraising, all the money would be donated afterwards

[Michael Alexander]

What do you mean by "would be", should be? will be? .... or did the teachers spend it in the hockey club?

:-\

[Bev Coates (Now Walker)]

Hi Claire, not sure what year your talking about the marble season, but we had one in 1966, we also played a game with little charms....cant remember how or what the aim of the game was but i remeber the little charms were all different. also remeber a game where you dug a groove in the soil...balanced a stick over it....got another stick and hit it into the air.....sounds odd now....probably was at the time too...maybe it wasnt a real game either.....

[Ann Gander (nee Greenway)]

I remember the marble seasons in 1966 and before.  I think they came around every year.  They all used to be lined up at break.  Do you remember "goonies" the silver balls of different sizes - I supposed basically they were different sized ball bearings.  They were killer "marbles" and quite good acquisitions.  I had a marble bag made by Mum and was quite a good player (about the only thing).  They used to set up the most elaborate mountains of marbles which no-one had a chance of knocking over.  Don't remember the pit with the stick - sounds great fun!!!  I remember playing "I wrote a letter to my love and on the way I dropped it" or whatever the shortened version was called.  Also British Bulldog which could get a bit vicious as times!!

[Michael Alexander]

"Red ROver, Red Rover, can we come over..." , the marble season was like an Indian Market, kids with bags of marbles, "Arlies", chinese checkers and goonies.... Every day, some bright spark would turn up to school with a more shinier and bigger silver marble than the previous guy. Clint and I would hit the dumps behind town garage after school and dig up those big ballbearings from the abandoned trucks, the size of a grown man's fist......

Man! those were the day's!

:'(

[bobbysmith]

does anyone rember the marble shys,a pice of wood with numbers above the cut out pieces,you stood ten steps away,rolled youre allies and if it went through a hole you had to pay up the corresponding hole number,all allies that missed ,you got to keep

[Michael Alexander]

yep, I do, I had one, some guys cheated though, made the hole very small for the arlies to go through, or put a small, pebble infront of the high scoring gate... Those Bas*ar*s!

:o

[Ann Gander (nee Greenway)]

Yes, I remember them as well.  You didn't stand a chance of winning - but you just had to keep trying!