Prior to the middle of 1961 there were actually 8 sports houses; 4 girls teams and 4 boys teams. Yes it is true and some of you may remember, but for others your memories may not be so good!
The girls' houses were named after the Australian Wild Flowers: WARATAH (Red), WATTLE (Yellow), GUM BLOSSOM (Green) and BORONIA (Blue).
The girls' houses were named after the Australian Wild Flowers: WARATAH (Red), WATTLE (Yellow), GUM BLOSSOM (Green) and BORONIA (Blue).
The boys' houses were named after Lord Mayors of Waratah and Newcastle: GRIFFITH (Red), WEBB (Yellow), MILLAR (Green) and PURDUE (Blue).
The logisitics of 8 sport houses marching around the quadrangle on a Monday at assembly, and the work involved in organising/maintaining 8 houses was proving to be a difficult job and it was proposed that the number of houses be reduced to 4. It was decided that a democratic vote would take place to determine if reducing the number of houses was the best option to solve this logistical nightmare.
With the vote confirming the houses should be reduced in number, the next obstacle was to decide in which manner the pupils would be placed for the march. It could not be decided whether the boys should march up front and the girls behind or vice versa. Remember, this was prior to affirmative action and the recognition of the equality of genders, and it was still very much a male dominated society. It was finally decided to have 2 columns of girls and 2 columns of boys marching side by side... the tallest up the front, the shortest to the back. Perhaps this was a first step towards equality!
The most important thing however, was how the houses performed when it came to the sports carnivals. It was always the team with the highest point score that was the winner and we all wanted it to be our team. Combined sports teams were more fun and it was more exciting to compete against everyone rather than with either just the boys or just the girls. At the end of the day we all wanted to be the ones cheering for how well we had done, for all of the hard work of practising and finally in competing.
To this day the same houses still exist at Mayfield West Demonstration School and this is a credit to the school that they have maintained this important piece of our school history.
Postscript: Some quick history... Miller, Webb and Griffiths were named after the Mayors of Waratah and Purdue was named after the long serving Lord Mayor of Newcastle. Griffiths was the the longest serving Mayor on record in Newcastle, serving 7 terms as mayor of Waratah, prior to becoming the 1st Lord Mayor of the Greater Newcastle Council in 1938. Purdue was first elected to office in 1951 and served 3 terms in office as Lord Mayor of Newcastle.
Postscript: Some quick history... Miller, Webb and Griffiths were named after the Mayors of Waratah and Purdue was named after the long serving Lord Mayor of Newcastle. Griffiths was the the longest serving Mayor on record in Newcastle, serving 7 terms as mayor of Waratah, prior to becoming the 1st Lord Mayor of the Greater Newcastle Council in 1938. Purdue was first elected to office in 1951 and served 3 terms in office as Lord Mayor of Newcastle.
3 comments:
I wonder WHEN the original names came into being. These names must have originated in the era relating to the perceived social standing/abilities of the male/female genders at the time.
Dainty names of flowers for females and strong names of successful Lord Mayers for the males.
Perhaps it was the foresight of the school leaders that realised the value of abilities in both genders and amalgamated the teams rather than the space in the quadrangle.
Lesley.
I agree with your thoughts about the foresight of the teachers and administration of the day. They certainly would have enjoyed more autonomy back then.
We would need a Royal Commission now to make such logical changes for the better; this then followed by a Parliamentary Review Committee and probably a sub committee too! Oh I forgot about the Environmental Impact Statement! Sorry about my sarcasm in this era of political correctness, validation of everything that requires a decision and consultancy gone mad.
With regards space; it may have been a worthwhile thing reducing the number of houses as the space or room required between the 8 smaller teams marching would have been considerably more wasted space than the space for 4 houses, though larger but resulting in a more condensed grouping of students.
Phil
According to online historical documents the Mayors were also residents of the Waratah and Mayfield districts. Griffiths especially made his mark on Mayfield West being responsible for the commissioning of the building of the Abattoirs and for planning of the drainage systems, prior to the development of the estates of Mayfield, Mayfield West and Waratah.
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