Orford State School consisted of three classrooms, with a small staffroom and office in the 1960s.  The gap between the infant classroom and the main block was often used by the dental van which used to come once a year.

The infant classroom was kept warm in winter by a large fireplace in the early 1960s.  It was crowded with desks and there was no room for shelves and games.

At the start of every day there was a whole school roll call.  Everyone would stand outside of a morning and they would be checked off class by class, with the older ones waiting until last.  This happened rain, hail or shine.  School hours were from 9.30  until 3.30.  They had 15 minutes for recess and an hour for lunch.  The milk monitors had to walk down to the post office every morning and collect the milk crates in a wheel barrow.

School uniform was not worn by many of the pupils as most families couldn’t afford special clothes for school.  Boys were meant to wear grey trousers and blue shirts and a grey jumper and a navy and gold stripe.  Girls who wore school dresses, wore a grey material with a  pattern of little blue yachts.  Female teachers had to wear skirts or dresses, never trousers and the principal always wore a tie.  The school had a parents and Friends Association which raised about a hundred dollars every year.

Ernie French remembers that the last time he ever used a horse and plough it was to plough up the Orford State School grounds in 1960.  The grounds were a mass of oyster bay pines and there was hardly room to get through them.  Ernie was employed to help clear the grounds and to sow them down.

There were monkey bars and a swing in the 1960s.  There was also the same three level swinging bars that we still have in our playground today.  The oak tree in the corner of the playground in 1999 was there in the 1960s.  The old concrete cricket pitch can still be seen today and this was never covered up in winter, causing some hard knocks in the football season.

At recess and lunch time children used to use hula hoops, skipping ropes, play hopscotch and marbles were especially popular. Some pupils used to cheat and use ball bearings as marbles.  Buckland kids were the best at marbles. They were hard to knock out of the circle!  The school had a Junior Red Cross group that raised money. The older children always played football, cricket and netball.

In the classrooms there were flip top desks which were arranged in rows.  Students had wooden chairs. All classrooms had blackboards and the teacher’s blackboard work for the following week had to be checked by the principal before they were allowed to go home on a Friday afternoon. The teachers planning book also had to be completely filled in for the following week and signed by the principal.  Teachers also had to complete a Test book.  They had to write out tests, mark them, average the results, write evaluations and prepare remedial work.  This also had to be inspected by the principal.

Television watching at school was popular, with ABC educational programmes at their most prolific.  Friday tests were administered every week in spelling and dictation, maths, history and geography. Children of all ages had homework every night, even the Grade 1s and 2s had spelling homework.  Children were taught to read using flashcards and “reading schemes.”  They had to know all the words before they were given the books to read.  Painting the classroom windows was a popular art lesson with the older students.

On Fridays pupils of Orford State School were allowed to buy their lunch from the shop.  For about 50 cents they could buy a pie, cordial and some lollies. There was no groundsperson at the school in the 1960s and the older students would do gardening of a Friday afternoon.

School excursions were rare in the 1960s and mainly took the form of local picnics at front Beach or bush walks.  Trips to Hobart were rare.  Orford and Triabunna students often combined to play football and netball against Swansea School.  Bob French drove the Buckland students to school each day in his bus.  He also took the students to sporting events.  The bus was well known for breaking down or getting flat tyres and broken windows on many occasions!

One or two very strict headmasters were remembered over the years.  A cane which was about a metre long was frequently used to punish children who did the wrong thing.  Mostly it was older boys who received the cane.  Girls were usually slapped on the back of the legs instead.  Discipline was very strict and the principal had to be called Sir, even by the other teachers.

It is remembered by all as a friendly little school.