Plans … Laverton Secondary College is having its 40th anniversary soon and plans are also under way for a major redevelopment of the school. From left: Former student Allison Downey, former teacher Damien Hynes, principal Anne Fitch and former teacher John Rave have a look at the new design plans for the redevelopment.By Roxanne Millar
THE smell of bacon and eggs is what organisers of a reunion at Laverton Secondary College expect will best jog the memories of the school’s oldest former students.
As the school prepares to expand into a combined primary and secondary school, a reunion is being organised before new classrooms go up and old ones are pulled down.
Former history and geography teacher John Rave said former students had already contacted the school with their memories, including those of unauthorised breakfasts.
“Early in the morning the junior science teacher, if he hadn’t had breakfast, would give his students written work to do,” Mr Rave said.
“Then while they worked, out would come the Bunsen burner, a mini frying pan and a strip of bacon and an egg as he’d make his breakfast.
“It became a bit of a joke, but we certainly didn’t encourage the behaviour – there would have been children coming to school with no breakfast.”
The 28 April reunion will be the last chance for former students to see the school in its old state and will also mark the school’s 40th birthday.
“A lot of people will feel very sad about the whole thing,” Mr Rave said.
“A whole part of your life disappears.”
Mr Rave spent 12 years teaching at the school from 1970, a year after it opened at its present site.
A former sergeant in the Dutch Royal Airforce, Mr Rave said he had always thought of it as “his school” because of its links with the Laverton airforce base.
“Most of the children came from airforce personnel and we always had that strong connection,” he said.
“The number of students very much depended on the ebb and flow of the airforce, and when it closed the school practically collapsed.
“We would have a lot of students coming and going during the year as personnel were posted backwards and forwards across the country.”
Mr Rave said the constant flow of students made classes challenging because teachers had to constantly integrate children who had been learning in different states and countries.
“Some students could cope with the constant moving and some couldn’t,” he said.
“People would be coming from everywhere, including a lot from the UK, and the poms – they were always complaining that education wasn’t free.”
Mr Rave said many former students were now living overseas because their parents were eventually stationed offshore.
“We have had one student living in Texas contact us,” he said.
“His father was an officer in the airforce and was attached to embassies overseas.”
Mr Rave said a social night would be held on 28 April at the school hall to reunite former students and teachers.
It costs $25 and includes finger food and drinks. Tickets are available by calling Damien Hynes on 9439 366 672 or by emailing johnrave@melbpc.org.au.
Sunday 29 April will be a free open day at the school where people can catch up and the children can enjoy entertainment.
