ALBION North Primary School teachers Betty Dash and Glenda Hornbuckle watched from the windows of a classroom while the children played outside.
“This is my classroom, my first school, my first year teaching Grade 6. I had about 33 children … there were about 14 first years (teachers) and most of us came to the western suburbs,” Ms Hornbuckle said.
“That was over 30 years ago now,” Mrs Dash said.
The pair have taught in Albion North Primary since they stepped out as fresh college graduates, and they will retire next term as will another long-serving teacher of the school, Wayne Moebus.
“This was probably the least popular area at that time,” said Mrs Dash, reflecting on how the western suburbs have developed and grown over time.
“But now… I really love it. I’m really sad to be going.
“We’ve always had lovely children here. When you hear of other teachers in other schools, and the incidents that happen, you look at our children and you think, these children are lovely, why would you want to go?”
“There’s never a dull moment,” Ms Hornbuckle said of the many seasons they’ve seen through in the life of the school and community.
“But it makes you think, oh, you are quite old … to see your ex-students now have children at the school,” she said.
“We’ve met many interesting people, teachers, parents children, and forged many friendships over the years.”
“You see, Glenda and I didn’t really need to change,” Mrs Dash explained.
“Because in the old days, everybody changed around us. We’re the two constants but everybody else moved. We’ve had new principals, vice-principals … it felt like going to a new school.”
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And Mrs Dash and Ms Hornbuckle both agree that children now are very different from those of previous generations.
“They’re more streetwise,” Mrs Dash said.
“Earlier, when we first started, children were just little children, and they just had the life of little children. Whereas now … they’re a lot more outgoing, they’re dressing different, they’re using things that were never invented. They’re far more forward in the world of learning and technology,” she said.
It was hard letting go of the chalk board, Mrs Hornbuckle said with a laugh. There were things to adapt to and changes to cope with, but they came through it all.
“I don’t think it is more challenging,” Mrs Dash said, “but I think it means you can do more with the children because they do give back and you have to develop the same skills they’ve got and keep up with them and keep them motivated to learn, too.”
But as with the changing of the seasons, they’ve sensed the need to move on.
“It’s a whole new phase of our lives, or the next phase. It’s just one stage going to another stage,” Ms Hornbuckle said.
And she’s got her itinerary planned.
“Gardening, spending time with my nephews and nieces, and travelling,” she said. “I’ve got a few spots picked out. The Antarctic, the Andes Mountains, Nepal and Egypt.”
“It’s always when I retire, when I retire,” Mrs Dash said. “You miss out a lot when you work.
“Just taking care of yourself, having time to go for a walk, to go to the gym … these are important parts of life,” she said.
“Besides, you have to make way for the young ones, don’t you? I guess you come to a time in your life when you think it’s time to go now and to enjoy the other parts of life without working.”
