Subjects We learned maths, English,
spelling and journal writing. I liked English but not Maths. I wish I’d learned
more about English, maths and spelling.
Teachers I remember some of the
teachers like Mr and Mrs Waters and Tom Neale and those teachers in my day were
very good.
Culture Yes, I learned about
culture. It should be part of school today because culture is Aboriginal
culture and should be running in school all the time. We had Aboriginal dancing
in school in those days, no modern dancing.
Discipline was very very good. Rules we
had were no teasing, no swearing and boys and girls always separate.
Friends My best friend was my sister
who passed away. Some of my friends are at Ngukurr.
Every day after school we’d
sit around and talk about what we might do like go for a swim, going out in the
bush – we’d make humpies.
Clothes In
our time we used to wear dresses with a belt around us. In the holidays we wore
skirts and tops. In our days when this place was called
Bamyili, I never used to wear shorts. We used to wear old fashioned dresses. We
used to get clothing from the Government. The green shed is where my mother
went to choose our clothes.
Sports I
liked hockey. The boys played soccer. We had competitions with other
communities. After school we used to play marbles.
Excursions and Entertainment When I was in this school, Bamyili, the whole class went to
Buildings All the
classrooms had fans and louvre windows to keep us cool. I did my work on old
typewriters, not computers.
Reflections Our grandparents used to
tell us funny stories but I can’t remember them now. When I was in my teens I
worried for my parents – that’s all.
In
our day we never used to smoke, drink or sniff petrol. Now in Barunga there’s a
big wildness. Young people should know about their culture, about their
storytelling, their language and everything about their own culture.