Bronwen Roy started at Rosanna Primary School in 1955 and lived with her parents and younger sister, Glenda, in St James Road. Bronwen remembers having to walk the mile to school and back each day. On her very first day at school after walking the mile, Bronwen and her mother arrived only to be told to go back home as the building wasn’t finished yet – one mile each way was a very long way for a little one to walk!!
During Bronwen’s time at Rosanna, the school consisted of the Red brick building which housed two classrooms, the ‘army huts’ which had a further two classrooms and the infant area. “At this stage the Green oval was just empty ground with lots of trees,” recalls Bronwen. “The School grounds were full of pine trees that friendship groups adopted at lunchtime and would set up home in, sweeping out the leaves and having their lunch under.”
The School’s entrance was at the Corner of Bellevue and Davies Street. It was a long walk from the gate to the classrooms up the hill. During winter time, the students were allowed to bring their slippers to class as their feet would be saturated by the time they got to their classrooms.
One of Bronwen’s most fond memories was a project that they undertook in Grade 5/6 where they had to pretend they were going overseas on a trip on the Oriana Cruise Ship. The students had to make up their passport, decide what clothes and toiletries they would take and plan the whole adventure. The project culminated in the students going on an excursion to Station Pier to see the docked cruise ship ‘Johan van Oldenbarneveldt’.
Bronwen recollects that each morning the students would gather for assembly in the quadrangle and they used to have to march to music into their classroom. “Marching in formation was one of the activities that we learnt whilst at school”.
Due to the power of social media, Bronwen has been able to connect with many of her primary school friends from Rosanna and remains in contact with them.
During Bronwen’s time at Rosanna, the school consisted of the Red brick building which housed two classrooms, the ‘army huts’ which had a further two classrooms and the infant area. “At this stage the Green oval was just empty ground with lots of trees,” recalls Bronwen. “The School grounds were full of pine trees that friendship groups adopted at lunchtime and would set up home in, sweeping out the leaves and having their lunch under.”
The School’s entrance was at the Corner of Bellevue and Davies Street. It was a long walk from the gate to the classrooms up the hill. During winter time, the students were allowed to bring their slippers to class as their feet would be saturated by the time they got to their classrooms.
One of Bronwen’s most fond memories was a project that they undertook in Grade 5/6 where they had to pretend they were going overseas on a trip on the Oriana Cruise Ship. The students had to make up their passport, decide what clothes and toiletries they would take and plan the whole adventure. The project culminated in the students going on an excursion to Station Pier to see the docked cruise ship ‘Johan van Oldenbarneveldt’.
Bronwen recollects that each morning the students would gather for assembly in the quadrangle and they used to have to march to music into their classroom. “Marching in formation was one of the activities that we learnt whilst at school”.
Due to the power of social media, Bronwen has been able to connect with many of her primary school friends from Rosanna and remains in contact with them.
