Barrouallie: Tales of different eras
February 15, 2013

Fun Days at ‘Old School’ and Teacher Sandy

I recall my days at “old school” for the fun which we had in addition to the academics. I remember the youngsters in my era and how we enjoyed going under the building, jumping and holding onto the board which extended from the school floor and there we enjoyed swinging. You had to be extremely fast so that the person swinging behind didn’t catch up and “lap” you… I can only imagine that schooldays in Teacher Sandy’s time were just as enjoyable, even though he was strict. {{more}}He maintained that watchful eye and accounted for every child who was put in his care.

One elderly resident here in Barrouallie recalls that one day, a group of children decided to play “Head and Tail Common Pin”. One child asked for an excuse to go to the bathroom, a few minutes later, another child asked, until “the crowd” was outside…does this ring a bell? The children who went outside were unaware that the man in charge had seen when they left. He noted the time and observed that the group had not returned when he thought they should. He made his way to the rest rooms (a sophisticated term for the pit latrines which existed then) and knocked on the door.
 
The children had locked themselves inside. He knocked again but the children thought that one of the boys was up to some sort of prank and they began to curse “him” They continued their game and refused to open the door until they heard the furious manner in which the person on the outside knocked and the voice which came with it. The children then realized what was happening; one of them peered through a crack in the board. They were shocked to death…They were dragged before the general school population and a lecture ensued about the ills of “gambling,” which such a game encouraged…. I’ll rest that case here and leave the end of it to your imagination.

Many remember that when break time came, they ate any sumptuous fruit that was in season and they enjoyed that. Children did not “heckle” one another when they ate that fruit, because it was the “order of the day” and everyone, well almost everyone, ate a fruit. Lunch, for some, was Mother White’s sugar cake with some water and that was cool. In my era at Stoney Ground School, a shilling was all some children got and many craved for Samuel’s gru gru at break time. They enjoyed sucking that yellow pulp. Does anyone remember that big “jar” plum tree which grew on that portion of land just in front of the current CWSA building?

At lunch time at Stoney Ground School, many made the short trek across the “bridge” from what we now know as NEMO to a small business establishment where lunch was served…Lunch back then consisted of Provi’s cake and schoolboy mauby…Others travelled short distances such as to New Montrose for their hot meals. Here in Barrouallie, some elderly residents will tell you about the roasted plantains and “sweat” sweet potatoes which constituted lunch and which they ate and were contented and, of course, fish was always in abundance.

Today, I observe that lunch bags (for the older children who commute daily) are going out of style and I often wonder how some parents in this era “make it”, having to provide transportation fees in addition to “lunch money”…, Things and ‘times’ have really changed !!

Anyway, let’s get back to class for the afternoon’s session. Depending on the era and because the “traditional” churches were involved in the educational system, children had to attend service at the Anglican Church on select days between 2 and 3 p.m. The priest also served as a manager of the school and, whoever wore that accolade at the time, visited often; checking registers among other duties inclusive of ensuring the overall protection of the school premises. That practice no longer exists here.

As Deal (1985) points out, “Each school has its history of origin, the people or circumstances that launched it and those who presided over its course thereafter through evolutionary development. Teacher Sandy certainly made a lasting impression on the pupils in his era and the children, now adults, from that time frame, would tell you “God bless Teacher Sandy” and many have credited him with their ability to, as they put it in our local parlance, “cipher”.
 
Some would use the expression that they are “Teacher Sandy’s scholars” and even though some only reached standard six, they “took in” their education. Apart from the administrative duties, Teacher Sandy also wore other hats within the community. Credit is also due to the teachers who worked tirelessly alongside him in imparting knowledge to the children of yore. I was told that Mrs Quow and Effie Findlay worked with the “little ones”…Okay, let’s break here and return with educational tales for another week or two…..until next week, God’s will.
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