Memories of Northcote Town Hall

I don’t ever recall seeing the Northcote Townhall set with tables like this, but I most certainly remember the Bentwood Chairs!

I still think it looks impressive. No wonder Speech Night seemed such a grand occasion.

With thanks to Darebin Historical Encyclopedia

Speech Night

Speech Night at Westleigh College was the grand climax of the school year.

It occurred just before we broke up for the Christmas holidays and it was always held at the Northcote Town Hall.

We always wore our usual school uniform with white socks, not tan socks.

It was the one time all the teachers dressed up, maybe had their hair done, and wore some makeup.

It was also a time when all the parents, including fathers, generally made an appearance.

The main purpose of Speech Night was, I think, to reward outstanding pupils in all the fields taught: both academic and sport.

As well as that it gave Miss Clarice a chance to give a review of the school to all involved.

Yes, there were actually speeches!

I don't recall Miss Lillian Everard or Matron ever giving a speech, however.

The speeches and award presentations happened at the end.

Before speech time the parents were treated to seeing their daughters sing the songs Madame Northcote had taught them, and also the routines Miss Vera Hopton had prepared the girls to do.

After a lot of rehearsals the standard was very high.

This was done on a class by class basic.

It was not uncommon for solo performances also. Since so many of the girls were ballet and dance students there were always a few of these routines as well.

Many of the girls attended the May Downs' school which used to be in Burke Street back then. It's still going to this day.

I think I enjoyed these the most.

When all the performances were over the stage was set for the speeches and awards.

As well as a speech from Miss Clarice we usually also heard a speech by the then Mayor of Northcote, who, as far as I can recall, was a Mr Batrouney.

Books were usually rewarded to whoever reached the highest academic level for each grade and small silver trophies were awarded to the athletes and swimmers who had shone that year.

The books had a a presentation certificate pasted inside the cover, as shown above.

This was signed by Miss Lillian Everard and Miss Clarice. A book with a certificate is still in my possession.

A large trophy was awarded to the winning House: either Westgarth or Thornton.

I recall Westgarth almost always won.

Considering the size of the school there was quite a lot of talent there!

A Not - So -Typical Day

Historically the most a-typical day during my time at Westleigh College was when Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 11, visited Australia.

She had had her Coronation on June 2nd, 1953 and then embarked on a tour of the Commonwealth.

This trip included places like Bermuda, Jamaica, Uganda, New Zealand and Australia to list just a few.

Her schedule included Melbourne and it also included tours down many suburban streets, including High Street Northcote, so that school children could see their new Sovereign.

It generated a lot of excitement as the only mass-media covering this event was radio, the press and newsreels that were shown at the cinema later. No television as yet!

For this occasion we had to look as perfect as possible as we were going to be lined up in High Street opposite the Northcote Town Hall.

We were asked to bring a pair of clean white socks to change into just minutes before the event: not the usual tan ones.

We were helped to get ready by our teachers and were also given a small plastic or paper Union Jack to wave as the Queen drove by.

We walked down James Street to High Street and took our places. A large black car drove by and stopped just a few feet away from where I was standing.

The Queen and Prince Philip got out of the car and our head-prefect curtseyed, and presented her with a bouquet of flowers that were bound by pink and green ribbons: our school colours. There were miniature silver school badges on each ribbon. A nice touch!

I recall vividly how the Queen looked. She wore emerald green. Her hat and coat were a perfect match. She seemed to be wearing a lot of face powder and pink lipstick. She looked very pretty and I think she made a huge impression on all of us! I suppose it had the same impact as a visit by Princess Diana would have several decades later.

The Royal Family was very big news then. There probably weren't many little girls who didn't have dolls dressed as the Queen, or as her daughter, Princess Anne.


Almost everyone I knew had a picture book relating to the Royal Family. I still have two of them. Sadly the dolls are no longer in my possession.

The pupils were all excited and happy and Miss Clarice really seemed delighted and proud of us all.


Queen Elizabeth II Becomes Britain's Longest-Serving Monarch

Miss Clarice

We always knew Clarice Everard as "Miss Clarice". It was pronounced "Clarris".

She was the youngest of the sisters, yet the principal of the school. She was in charge of practically everything from excursions, special and sporting events, public relations and the day-to-day running of the school.

She seemed to me to be tall and slim. Her hair was long and white, parted in the middle, and in some kind of braided arrangement which I have never seen before or since and am unable to describe. Unfortunately there are no pictures of her or her sisters available to me.

She was extremely capable, and had little patience for slow learners, or people who didn't try to do their best: the latter being a good quality for being a teacher, the former - not so much!

It was not really a good idea to get "into her bad books"!

Discipline was not really a huge issue in the 1950's, especially at Westleigh College, as good manners and socially acceptable behaviour was de rigueur.

If ever someone were expelled it could have been for something as trivial as saying "shut up"!

I don't recall anyone being expelled, but that is about all it would have taken for Miss Clarice to expel someone. Anything worse than that and expulsion would have been inevitable and swift, with no hope of a pardon.

I know she had her favourites, but she frequently changed her mind so one never really knew where one stood with her. It varied from day to day.

Generally Miss Clarice taught the more senior girls, from grades 4, 5, and 6 and up to the secondary levels that existed back then.

When I started there the notice board outside Westleigh College stated that the curriculum offered was from "Kindergarten to Matriculation".

I don't recall if all the higher grades/levels were operating when I was there, but I think it went to Form 3 at least, as it was known back then.

I remember her mainly for teaching me geography. She loved doing this! She was passionate about it.

I think she also read us some rather interesting adventure books, and possibly taught me history as well.

In fact, she could teach almost anything if necessary!

I especially recall her getting us to make lists of countries showing their capital cities and the rivers on which they were situated. I still remember a lot of them, notwithstanding the fact that political maps have changed enormously since then. We also had to memorise the continents, the oceans, the largest islands and so on.

Back then we all had plastic template maps of various countries which we would trace into our mapping books, then outline them with our mapping pens from ink stored in an inkwell on our desks.

When that was completed we were allowed to colour them in with our Derwent Pencils.

These pencils were quite a status symbol back then, especially if you had a box of 72!

Of course, back then, the box wasn't quite as fancy as the one pictured.

Miss Clarice also taught French, albeit with an English accent. Teaching any language in a primary school was virtually unheard of back then.

This may well have been due to the fact that Australia was just starting its intake of European migrants, of which my family was one, so there was little need for other languages back then.

It was a good basis for me when I learned it later in high school and university.

(It is possible that some of the other private schools back then taught Latin, but I cannot say for sure.)

Miss Clarice's biggest event of the year was the annual Speech Night which was held in the Northcote Town Hall.

She always dressed up for that - a fur stole, a new dress, and even lipstick which she rarely indulged in during the year.

Miss Clarice certainly commanded respect from everyone: teachers, parents and pupils alike.

I guess she made quite an impression on me because I remember her very well, not to mention the geographical facts!

Introduction

This site is about a school that existed last century, in Northcote.
Northcote is a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia.

There is very little on the internet about this school so I have decided to put up some of the things I recall about it.

I hope that there are other ex-students out there that are perhaps looking for information about Westleigh College who may, in time, find this site and contact me with further information.

I realise many ex-students may no longer be around, and many would possibly have changed their name as well.

The school was situated in James Street - close to the Northcote Townhall.