The playground at the Infants school was asphalt and had a thick white line painted down the middle. Girls played on one side and boys on the other - woe betide anyone crossing the line and being in the wrong part of the playground.
We sat outside on wooden benches that were by the wall to eat our lunches. I remember one teacher telling us how to eat our sandwiches - "You hold the sandwich by the soft white part in the middle and take a bite of the crust. Now, chew, chew, chew. Take another bite.......now we get to the lovely soft middle. Chew, chew, chew...." I was completely confused. My sandwiches didn't have soft white middles to aim for. My mother bought stodgy black bread which swelled in my mouth until I could hardly swallow it. I could never keep up with the "chew, chew, chew" and would have sat there all lunchtime had I eaten all the sandwiches my mother made. Eventually I would put the uneaten portions back in the paper bag and take them back home where I would get into trouble for not eating my lunch. Those uneaten portions would turn up as my lunch the next day. It was because of the horrible lunches that I told my first lie. I threw the uneaten portions away and when questioned said that I had eaten everything! I really, really didn't like my sandwiches and looked with envy at the jam, honey, peanut butter or Vegemite sandwiches of my friends, dreaming that one day I too could have something so delicious. Mutti always put fruit in my lunch bag and I did enjoy that.
After eating our lunches we would put rubbish in the bins and then be allowed to play. We had a crazy headmistress who didn't allow us to bring toys to school. If a toy was discovered, she would confiscate it and it would stay in her drawer until the end of term so we had to invent toyless games. Girls are fairly good at that sort of thing, clapping or skipping games, 'oranges and lemons' and 'what's the time Mr Wolf' were the order of the day. Also we didn't mind just sitting and talking, but the boys would go mad with frustration and run about like crazy and get into fights. I can remember my dear friend John being set upon by the school bully, Warren C. I saw this happening and stood on the white line crying, calling out my support but being too scared to go into the boys' side of the playground to help.
There was a toilet block set at the back of the playground and it was a dreadful place. Of course I never saw the boys' toilets but there were only about 5 toilets for the girls to use, the sixth toilet was for the teachers. The toilets were flushed by pulling a chain that was attached to the cisterns set high on the wall. We children weren't allowed to pull the chain, perhaps someone had pulled a cistern down once, I don't know, but the place stank to high heaven. We had large classes and lots of children so there was always a long queue for the toilets. We also didn't have toilet paper! If you had to do 'number twos' you would have to ask the teacher for some toilet paper. The teacher would ask how many sheets you needed. I thought it so humiliating that I never ever did that at school.
Once I went to the toilet and there was a poo floating in there. I could hardly manage a drip after that and then the girl who went after me, a big girl in 2nd grade, found me in the playground afterwards and pinched me hard for being disgusting. I denied that I had made the contribution but she said she knew I had because she was older than me and was going to be in third grade next year. I was in awe of such a grown up person but was frightened of her and was always looking out for her so that I could run away.
The whole toilet situation was so horrible that I would try not to drink anything so I didn't need to go. I'd hold on all day and rush home, often having to pee in the bushes near Clitheroe. I have never been good at squatting and peeing so would usually manage to wet my socks and then I'd be in trouble from my mother. I just couldn't win!
When I think about it now I also feel sorry for the teachers who had to flush the toilets at the end of recess and lunch.
Thanks to the asphalt and the uneven surface due to tree roots around the edge of the playground near the kindergarten area, kids were always falling over and skinning knees and elbows. I always had scars or band aids taking turns on my arms and legs.
The playground at the Infants school was awful and I was very happy when I finished second grade and was able to move to primary school after the Christmas holidays.
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