Elizabeth Park Primary School then finished up with One Tree Hill Primary School. Then off to Craigmore High School, 74 to 85. Great memories of growing up in Elizabeth during the 70's and 80's.
Craigmore High School (originally called Smithfield High School) only shared the Smithfield Plains Highs School campus (on Coventry Road) for the best part of 1970 - it's very first year of operation. The Craigmore High School campus (on Uley Road) was ready by late 1970, and those first students moved there then. It was from that date, late in 1970, that the school was officially known as Craigmore High School.
Hey mate. Cheers for watching, and for the info. I took my info from the Admin of the Craigmore High Facebook group. I found nothing to contradict that, including posts on the page where no-one challenged his posts relating to that (that I found anyway). As I wasn't there I had no sense to doubt it then. Were you an original student? Or have a link I could check that would verify it?
There was no school to go to when I came to Elizabeth, and then when the Elizabeth South Primary School was built and supposed to open, everyone was told to come back in two weeks coz it wasn't finished. I didn't mind that at all! :) Teachers I remember are... Mrs Wright. She used to wack kids on the back of the legs with a doubled ruler...and that hurt!! Mr Thomas(?). He spent hours reading books like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn to the class (Something else I didn't mind). He was known for being a champion on a radio quiz show. Mr Mugford. He came from Mount Gambier and drove a Pugeot. He only had use of one arm, and could tie his shoe-laces with one hand. He taught me how to play footy. His punishment was a wack on the backside with a masonite teapot stand or a short lenth of flat wood he called the Jindavik, and he'd sometimes make a show of it by asking you if you deserved it, and if you said you did, which one did you want, and then hand it to you so you could hit yourself with it...while everyone laughed. :) Mr W***. He had a drinking problem, and also used to get "a bit too friendly" with some of the kids. Mr Phillips. He surprised me by picking me for the school footy team. :) Mr Laidlaw was the headmaster I remember. From there I went to the Elizabeth Boys Technical High School, which was at the Broadmeadows Primary school coz the School at Elizabeth Park wasn't finished being built. My teacher at the Boy's Tech was Mr Slaughter, and Mr Cloeden(?) was the headmaster.
Love this ACE - thanks for sharing mate. Hard to imagine just how baron and isolated those first years must have felt for you all. I remember one teacher at Smithfield Plains Primary School in the early eighties who had a die system of punishment - if you upset him you would be called to the front of the class, he would roll the die and whatever number came up is how many times he would whack you with the ruler...lol. Brutal. My major lessons throughout school were survival and resilience 😉
As there appears to be some confusion about the names of the three Elizabeth secondary schools that eventually became the Playford International College...here's the life-cycle of those schools (according to Wikipedia)... Elizabeth Boys Technical High School. Established in Elizabeth Park in 1960. Renamed Fremont High School in 1975. Changed to a co-ed school in 1976. Amalgamated with Elizabeth City High School in 1995. Elizabeth Park site was decommissioned in 1996. Elizabeth Girls Technical High School. Established in Elizabeth East in 1960. Renamed Playford High School in 1976. Changed to a co-ed school in 1976. Amalgamated with Elizabeth High School in 1988, and the Elizabeth East site was decommissioned. Elizabeth High School Established at the Philip Highway site in Elizabeth in 1961. Amalgamated with Playford High School in 1988 and became Elizabeth City High School. Amalgamated with Fremont High School in 1995 and became Fremont-Elizabeth City High School. The three schools were combined at the Philip Highway site. Fremont-Elizabeth City High School became Playford International College in 2016.
i went to Elizabeth south primary school 2000-2005 years seeing this video shocked me that i went to the first primary built then went Fremont-Elizabeth city high school what was schools name before fremont ?
Hey James. Thanks for watching and for sharing mate. Before it was Fremont, Fremont-Elizabeth was known as the Elizabeth Boys Technical High School. In my research I have not been able to ascertain if EBTHS began life as the Elizabeth Park Boys Technical High School featured in this video, of if it was a separate school altogether. Much of Elizabeth's history is poorly documented, and in many cases full of contradictions. My hunch is EPBTHS and EBTHS were one and the same - but don't quote me on that...lol.
That is a very fair point Toni - I just focused on public schools here. There is a Brief Histories episode coming in Dec that features early churches of Elizabeth and their part in early community life. It is something I have wanted to cover - I remind myself the channel is for the long term and everything will get covered eventually...lol. There is a lot to cover to do it all justice, that's for sure
@@elizabeththatwas I'll be looking forward to watching it. Next time I'm in Adelaide,I'll have to go see how much they've changed. I drove past St Mary's at the Grove 16 yrs ago,and not only had the name changed,it certainly wasn't the small L shaped school it was when I attended. I didn't recognise it. St Thomas Moores I havnt seen for years. Keep Well 🙏🙂🦋
Elizabeth Vale 1961-67 Elizabeth High 1968-72 But a close family friend (originally from Albury, NSW as we all were) was Mrs Myee Cross inaugural DHM at Eliz West High. Sorry never really knew how to spell her name. Her husband George worked at WRE (probably splitting atoms to develop a Nuclear Capability for all we know). Myee taught English, George never uttered more than one word in response to any question : Yes or No. Mum and Dad loved them dearly.
@@elizabeththatwas Mum says Myee was in fact the first female High School Principle (not Deputy) in SA. Can you establish that ? I have tried. Even more revolutionary, she used her maiden name ; Ms Myee Cross was her title not Mrs George ???? [Mum couldn't recall his surname just now. She is 97yo and does have a few gaps. I will try again in the morning]. Mum was Dr Val Chaffer at Lyell McEwen not Mrs Ken Colley. Something like 2000 babies [1960-1980] later, a few originals still recall her as "Dr Val who delivered my babies". Most recently in an Op Shop on the Sunshine Coast, QLD.
Regarding the Elizabeth South Primary School opening "with no electricity or toilets" (1:10), and "children walked to one of the empty houses on Goodman Road when they needed to pee" (1:15)... Can anyone confirm those statements? (which I think originally came from a book about Elizabeth.) I don't remember that happening, and I was there when the school opened in 1956. I do remember being sent home on the day it was supposed to open, because the school was still being built, which may be a reason for no toilets or electricity, but I certainly don't remember that being the case when the school eventually did open.
To be honest ACE, I got that from the book. There are pictures of an empty house credited to one of the primary schools (not sure if it's ESPS) on the Playford Past Recollect website which I took as being used for toilet facilities until toilet blocks were built. The Earliest photo I have found of ESPS shows only a single, weatherboard building while another is being built. I assumed coupled with the book and PPR website that there was no toilet block. Of course, I wasn't there and it's possibly just an urban legend so to speak. But as I have found nothing to contradict it I assumed it to be true. It's possible there is some truth to the story with a bit of embellishment thrown in for a good story
@@elizabeththatwas I can remember the toilet block at that school, but I have no memory of walking (or running) to a toilet in a house on Goodman Road, which wouldn't be a short distance. :) Btw...I used to have that book, and I used to live opposite the lady who wrote it.
@@ACEinOZ oh, really? Shame she's not around to ask then. She must have got that from somewhere in her research. I assume she wouldn't just make it up. It will probably remain a mystery one way or the other.
@@ACEinOZ hey mate. It's called "Make Me Feel Like You're Here Again' by a band named Wellmess and another artist called Easton. I've used Wellmess on a number of tracks on this channel. Mostly the school tributes.
@@elizabeththatwas Yeah, lived on the corner of Coventry Rd and Mainwaring Cres. From 72-89 so both between walking distance. They were the days,when I was a boy 😆
Which School did you go to? Let us know in the comments! And for more Elizabeth That Was, please Subscribe!
Thank you for watching. For more Elizabeth That Was, please subscribe. Cheers 🍷
Elizabeth East loved it soooo much. . .
Awesome Jannette. Merry Christmas to you. I hope you have a beautiful day surrounded by love :-)
Elizabeth Park Primary School then finished up with One Tree Hill Primary School. Then off to Craigmore High School, 74 to 85. Great memories of growing up in Elizabeth during the 70's and 80's.
It was a different world then, for sure. A unique time in a unique place. Cheers for sharing mate - love it 🙏🍷
Craigmore High School (originally called Smithfield High School) only shared the Smithfield Plains Highs School campus (on Coventry Road) for the best part of 1970 - it's very first year of operation. The Craigmore High School campus (on Uley Road) was ready by late 1970, and those first students moved there then. It was from that date, late in 1970, that the school was officially known as Craigmore High School.
Hey mate. Cheers for watching, and for the info. I took my info from the Admin of the Craigmore High Facebook group. I found nothing to contradict that, including posts on the page where no-one challenged his posts relating to that (that I found anyway). As I wasn't there I had no sense to doubt it then. Were you an original student? Or have a link I could check that would verify it?
There was no school to go to when I came to Elizabeth, and then when the Elizabeth South Primary School was built and supposed to open, everyone was told to come back in two weeks coz it wasn't finished. I didn't mind that at all! :)
Teachers I remember are...
Mrs Wright. She used to wack kids on the back of the legs with a doubled ruler...and that hurt!!
Mr Thomas(?). He spent hours reading books like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn to the class (Something else I didn't mind). He was known for being a champion on a radio quiz show.
Mr Mugford. He came from Mount Gambier and drove a Pugeot. He only had use of one arm, and could tie his shoe-laces with one hand. He taught me how to play footy. His punishment was a wack on the backside with a masonite teapot stand or a short lenth of flat wood he called the Jindavik, and he'd sometimes make a show of it by asking you if you deserved it, and if you said you did, which one did you want, and then hand it to you so you could hit yourself with it...while everyone laughed. :)
Mr W***. He had a drinking problem, and also used to get "a bit too friendly" with some of the kids.
Mr Phillips. He surprised me by picking me for the school footy team. :)
Mr Laidlaw was the headmaster I remember.
From there I went to the Elizabeth Boys Technical High School, which was at the Broadmeadows Primary school coz the School at Elizabeth Park wasn't finished being built. My teacher at the Boy's Tech was Mr Slaughter, and Mr Cloeden(?) was the headmaster.
Love this ACE - thanks for sharing mate. Hard to imagine just how baron and isolated those first years must have felt for you all. I remember one teacher at Smithfield Plains Primary School in the early eighties who had a die system of punishment - if you upset him you would be called to the front of the class, he would roll the die and whatever number came up is how many times he would whack you with the ruler...lol. Brutal. My major lessons throughout school were survival and resilience 😉
@@elizabeththatwas A lot of what happened back then would be regarded as child abuse today. How times change!
As there appears to be some confusion about the names of the three Elizabeth secondary schools that eventually became the Playford International College...here's the life-cycle of those schools (according to Wikipedia)...
Elizabeth Boys Technical High School.
Established in Elizabeth Park in 1960.
Renamed Fremont High School in 1975.
Changed to a co-ed school in 1976.
Amalgamated with Elizabeth City High School in 1995.
Elizabeth Park site was decommissioned in 1996.
Elizabeth Girls Technical High School.
Established in Elizabeth East in 1960.
Renamed Playford High School in 1976.
Changed to a co-ed school in 1976.
Amalgamated with Elizabeth High School in 1988,
and the Elizabeth East site was decommissioned.
Elizabeth High School
Established at the Philip Highway site in Elizabeth in 1961.
Amalgamated with Playford High School in 1988 and became Elizabeth City High School.
Amalgamated with Fremont High School in 1995 and became Fremont-Elizabeth City High School.
The three schools were combined at the Philip Highway site.
Fremont-Elizabeth City High School became Playford International College in 2016.
Awesome. Thank you for sharing that Ace - very helpful.
i went to Elizabeth south primary school 2000-2005 years seeing this video shocked me that i went to the first primary built then went Fremont-Elizabeth city high school what was schools name before fremont ?
Hey James. Thanks for watching and for sharing mate. Before it was Fremont, Fremont-Elizabeth was known as the Elizabeth Boys Technical High School. In my research I have not been able to ascertain if EBTHS began life as the Elizabeth Park Boys Technical High School featured in this video, of if it was a separate school altogether. Much of Elizabeth's history is poorly documented, and in many cases full of contradictions. My hunch is EPBTHS and EBTHS were one and the same - but don't quote me on that...lol.
Loved how you've done this. But I didn't see any videos of the Catholic schools 🌞❤️
That is a very fair point Toni - I just focused on public schools here. There is a Brief Histories episode coming in Dec that features early churches of Elizabeth and their part in early community life. It is something I have wanted to cover - I remind myself the channel is for the long term and everything will get covered eventually...lol. There is a lot to cover to do it all justice, that's for sure
@@elizabeththatwas I'll be looking forward to watching it. Next time I'm in Adelaide,I'll have to go see how much they've changed. I drove past St Mary's at the Grove 16 yrs ago,and not only had the name changed,it certainly wasn't the small L shaped school it was when I attended. I didn't recognise it. St Thomas Moores I havnt seen for years. Keep Well 🙏🙂🦋
Elizabeth Vale 1961-67
Elizabeth High 1968-72
But a close family friend (originally from Albury, NSW as we all were) was Mrs Myee Cross inaugural DHM at Eliz West High.
Sorry never really knew how to spell her name.
Her husband George worked at WRE (probably splitting atoms to develop a Nuclear Capability for all we know).
Myee taught English, George never uttered more than one word in response to any question : Yes or No.
Mum and Dad loved them dearly.
Cheers for watching William. And for sharing. Love hearing from the Originals 🙏
@@elizabeththatwas Mum says Myee was in fact the first female High School Principle (not Deputy) in SA.
Can you establish that ?
I have tried.
Even more revolutionary, she used her maiden name ; Ms Myee Cross was her title not Mrs George ???? [Mum couldn't recall his surname just now. She is 97yo and does have a few gaps. I will try again in the morning].
Mum was Dr Val Chaffer at Lyell McEwen not Mrs Ken Colley. Something like 2000 babies [1960-1980] later, a few originals still recall her as "Dr Val who delivered my babies". Most recently in an Op Shop on the Sunshine Coast, QLD.
Regarding the Elizabeth South Primary School opening "with no electricity or toilets" (1:10), and "children walked to one of the empty houses on Goodman Road when they needed to pee" (1:15)...
Can anyone confirm those statements? (which I think originally came from a book about Elizabeth.)
I don't remember that happening, and I was there when the school opened in 1956.
I do remember being sent home on the day it was supposed to open, because the school was still being built, which may be a reason for no toilets or electricity, but I certainly don't remember that being the case when the school eventually did open.
To be honest ACE, I got that from the book. There are pictures of an empty house credited to one of the primary schools (not sure if it's ESPS) on the Playford Past Recollect website which I took as being used for toilet facilities until toilet blocks were built. The Earliest photo I have found of ESPS shows only a single, weatherboard building while another is being built. I assumed coupled with the book and PPR website that there was no toilet block. Of course, I wasn't there and it's possibly just an urban legend so to speak. But as I have found nothing to contradict it I assumed it to be true. It's possible there is some truth to the story with a bit of embellishment thrown in for a good story
@@elizabeththatwas I can remember the toilet block at that school, but I have no memory of walking (or running) to a toilet in a house on Goodman Road, which wouldn't be a short distance. :)
Btw...I used to have that book, and I used to live opposite the lady who wrote it.
@@ACEinOZ oh, really? Shame she's not around to ask then. She must have got that from somewhere in her research. I assume she wouldn't just make it up. It will probably remain a mystery one way or the other.
@@elizabeththatwas Changing the subject a bit...can you tell me what the song is in that video? :)
@@ACEinOZ hey mate. It's called "Make Me Feel Like You're Here Again' by a band named Wellmess and another artist called Easton. I've used Wellmess on a number of tracks on this channel. Mostly the school tributes.
Who was singing that
Fields Primary and Smithfield High.
Me too bud - though Smithfield Plains Primary initially - then EFPS and onto SPHS
@@elizabeththatwas
Yeah, lived on the corner of Coventry Rd and Mainwaring Cres. From 72-89 so both between walking distance.
They were the days,when I was a boy 😆
@@Nugget28 a special time and place to grow up in, for sure
Elizabeth field primary
Me too buddy - 82 - 83.
Smithfield primary Elizabeth Downs primary and Craigmore high
Vincent, do you have any photos from Smithfield Primary at all? I'm keen to document the old girl - there is very little around.
@@elizabeththatwas sadly no my friend