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School life is not confined to the classroom. Many extracurricular activities capture and stimulate the imagination and enthusiasm of students, broaden social awareness and responsibility, and teach group participation. Over the century, these have included cadets, the school band and choir, the school newspaper, excursions, clubs and fundraising activities. The Cadet Corps was one of Head Teacher Russell’s first innovations at Princes Hill.30 Militaristic patriotism, uniform and firearms captured the imagination of many young boys, and the corps flourished.31 It also survived Head Teacher Robinson’ attempts to limit its intrusion into school hours32 Little is heard of the cadets after this initial exposure, and the corps seems to have been disbanded in the late l910s.33 Then there were the school dances - junior ‘Deb’ Balls, Annual Balls and innumerable term socials, each an occasion of great excitement. Considerable pomp and ceremony accompanied the Balls at the Melbourne and Brunswick Town Halls. Everyone went along. Ballroom dancing rehearsals were held under the direction of an instructor with the manner of a sergeant-major, dresses were hired or sewn, and sketches were prepared by small groups to enliven the atmosphere.34 Organised by the Mothers’ Club as a money raising event, the biennial Queen’s Carnival became a major event on the school’s social calendar. Full regalia was worn at the pageant to crown the king and queen who had raised the most money. One year, Miss Miller’s class won the title because the queen’s father donated £10 to ensure their victory. In 1934, Mr Clifford was the bandmaster. As the final event of the evening, his boys were to dance the Minuet with the Ladies in Waiting. The shambles at the dress-rehearsal brought the man to tears; but the performance on the evening was perfectly executed. Lillian Shanklin and Colin Shanley were the royals that year.35 Balls never gained favour at the high school. Adults preferred socials, organised by the prefects or Students Representative Council. Ball gowns gave way to the latest fashions. Live bands performed, and students rocked, and twisted and ‘submarined’, swigged illicit drinks and pursued romances. Who present will forget the performances of our own Bertie, or of Doug Parkinson, The Zoot or The Masters Apprentices, before they were famous? Who will forget the brawls, or the violence inflicted on David Bucknall when he tried to stop a fight?
Queen’s Carnival Pageant in the 1930s, together with boys from the Brass Band.
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Fundraising was not the only way that the wars touched the students of Princes Hill. Fathers, brothers and ex-students left for war.64 During the First World War, Doris’s thirteen-year-old brother disappeared, to be found some days later at Broadmeadows army barracks. Les Furney was an early casualty at Gallipoli.65 Ray Aarons, who had joined the Royal Navy in 1938, spent the war at sea. As a member of Special ‘Z’ Commando Unit, he served on the Krait, a little ship active behind enemy lines in sabotage work against Japanese ships. Phil Levy served in the RAAF; Florence Mitchell was a signalwoman on the LHQ heavy wireless; Evelyn Cuthbert joined the WAAF; Anne Haylock’s father, a professional soldier, was seldom stationed in Melbourne. Arthur Sparks, famous for his uninterrupted attendance record, was fatally wounded.66 Teachers left too. Frank McNamara, Eve’s grade 2 teacher, was still a lad when he left. When he returned to visit Princes Hill after the war, he brought his Victoria Cross to show his old students.
Frank McNamara at far left in Egypt, May 1917
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And, although the Japanese did not invade Australia, Americans invaded Melbourne, and the students of University High School invaded Princes Hill.
