Birkdale College A short history of the foundation years (1972 to 1976), by Geoff Pooch Anyone reading this, would you please email me with your memories of Birkdale College!

I believe that I was the first ever pupil enrolled there. I had been so keen to attend this school, partly because of the excellent reputation of the science teacher Bill Hodge (later assisted by Mr Hathaway), but also because I didn't fancy going to a larger school with older students who might bully me. So I went to an information evening at Birkdale Intermediate and we quickly added my name to the roll. We were'nt sure if I had been accepted, but I turned up on the first day and my name was on the roll.

The school opened in February 1972 with a starting roll of 190 Form 3 students. A photo was taken of the whole school, which is displayed in the foyer of the school. I have sponsored the framing of this historic photo.

The school was officially opened by Sir Dennis Blundell, Governor-General in February 1973.

Mr Brian Gerrard, the foundation principal retired in 1986.

Change of school name from Birkdale to Birkenhead, which was not a popular decision. 

The first school logo was unpopular as they reminded some people of boobs.

I remember my first day, at the muster in the H (home) block hall, seeing the teachers for the first time. Saw this foreboding, bearded teacher and hoped that I wouldn't be in his class, but sure enough, I was in 3S for my sins & got to know Mr St Cartmail.

I was very shy, introverted lad, avoiding others, scared of being bullied, spent most of my lunchtimes in the science labs. 

Best friend Donald Wright, who went onto fame as a racing yacht sailor – including racing with Sir Peter Blake who called him Jaws for his voracious appetite on board.  

Good mates with Allan Fursdon, one of my few schoolmates who lived on Birkenhead Point, who later came to work in Hamilton, a great musician, chef and employment consultant.

Earned pocket money doing a newspaper round, including in the Chelsea sugar works area - which stunk to high heaven due to their pumping waste into a dam near the houses I remember getting on well with Mr Philips – the local traffic cop who had a penchant for electronics experimenting along with myself.

I thought our new tuck shop/canteen looked like a chapel, so I painted a 'stained glass window' onto the end.

And I once got the cane from Mr Pengelly - our technical drawing teacher who was fun but tough. I had been slow to put my pencil down when he called the class to attention, and earned a whack on the backside!

People - Staff

Being a foundation school, we got to know the teachers really well. I was never academically good enough (ie lazy!) to be a head boy or prefect. 

Brian Gerrard - Principal of the school, a fairly nice man, who could be as stern as he needed to be.

Russell Hodge - deputy principal, head science teacher, I got on really well with him, and probably earned the reputation of teachers pet as a result. He was a hard taskmaster when he taught physical education (PE), and he often used the cane on unruly students. He had the lucky task of giving us our sex education! He is now HR manager for Olympia Software in Auckland. 

Phyllis Pettit - headmistress, a stern & tough old thing! Unpopular with most, yet she was nice once you got to know her.

Mr Hathaway - science teacher when we reached 6th form. Biology.

Mr Buckley - chemistry teacher, a bit of a bumbler as I recall, we didn't like him so much. He swamped us with hundreds of pages of photocopying, do doubt he thought he was doing the right thing.

Keith St Cartmail - form teacher for two years, english teacher, editor of the school magazine - which I contributed to with photography and organising a word processor (which in those days was a IBM selectric golfball typewriter). I didn't share is passion for Shakespeare, found him to be cantankerous, but I quite liked him and was sad to hear of his drying of a heart attack after a game of tennis. As the story goes, he had a sore chest, and so decided to wear it off by having an energetic game of tennis - which was the death of him. His wife worked part time as a remedial reading teacher.

Mrs Baker - cooking teacher, what a great name for the teacher who taught me how to bake a cake!

Mr Charlie? Pengelly - woodwork & tecnhnical drawing teacher. Caned me.

Mr Nops - metalwork teacher

Sally Broadhurst - being in the 7th form, it seems more mature to call our teacher by her first name. Her husband is/was a jazz pianist?

Mrs Betty Cole

Mrs Archibald - french teacher, her husband ran the Gumdiggers restaurant

Mrs Joss - the caretakers wife

Mr Joss - caretaker, I can still remember the smell of unwanted lunches being burnt in the school incinerator, and being fascinated by the piles of coal going into the furnace.

Mr Wilson - geography?

Mr Katz - 6th form maths

Mrs Harrison - typing?

Mr Bob Kirk - maths? stage lighting

Mrs Rive- 

Mrs Jakeman - maori teacher

Mr Cleland - 

Stephen Hetherington - 

Niall Parkes - went to uni, but did he drive bulldozers?

Ken Hopkins - bumped into him many years later (Lendich construction?)

People - Students

Duncan Vaughan - an excessively funny fellow, always getting into trouble with the teachers, who left to go to the more liberal Kristin school. I wonder what happened to him!

Vanessa Lane - our favourite horsey person, I'd love to hear from her again

Donald Wright - my best mate who went on to be a world famous sailor, working with Sir Peter Blake on the round-the-world race, now living on an island near Rio. called Jaws for his voracious appetite on board.

Geoffrey Benton - we used to squabble lots in the science lab, a clash of egos I think!

Who was it who had an Anglia car? He was popular with the girls and I could never work out why!

David Lawrie - I heard that he drowned when working on a fishing boat

Sharon de Jong (now Drayton)

Frank Meyer - now living in the US

Gavin Dagley - keen yachtsman, went on an exchange scheme to US, now a physio in Melbourne

Susan Park

Lisa Seamer

Robert Jones - worked at McKenzies on Queen Street, now has his own keysmith business

Robert Burke - runs his own company in Christchurch, clever electronic products

Theo Olifers - recovered from his road accident, went on to be an architect for Macdonalds. 

Lynne Tutata - manager of Maori health for Waikatere

Alan Furson - one of my few schoolmates who lived on Birkenhead Point, who later came to work in Hamilton, a great musician, chef and employment consultant.

Buildings  

A constant construction site, builders everywhere, noisy, dusty. Very distracting for a undisciplined nerd like me!

1st year, no playing grounds, only H block and the Admin block.

The tuck shop was run from a window on A block by Mrs Joss, the caretakers wife. Mud everywhere. Lots of pre-fabs (mobile classrooms).walkways connecting buildings, hot water heating pipes wrapped with fibreglass insulation - there was a nasty trick of grabbing someone you don't like and ramming one of those fibreglass 'pipes' up & down their back - this would result in unbearable itching for hours afterwards.

Fascinating watching the buildings going up, especially the library with it's four massive laminated beams. No careteria or gym or swimming pool in those days.

Novelty of having a common room when we reached the 7th form, with a kitchen, and a large window where younger pupils would longingly look in at the luxury of it all...

The mysteries of the teachers common room

Horrid smell of the toilets, I don't know what sort of disinfectant they used, but it really reeked. Wads of wet toilet paper stuck to the ceiling. 

Push button light switches in the hallways, which would be battled over - people at both ends of the hallway furiously pushing the buttons to turn the light on & off & on & off, much to the pain of others trying to see inside their lockers

Events

Sports days with Miss/Mrs Hendry - I took a quite unfortunately photo of her barking in a megaphone

School ball - Lynne Tutata & I went to another college (on White Swan Road), to represent Birkdale college at their ball. I remember buying a white suit, which now reminds me of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever!

Swimming days at Birkenhead pool

Activities

In the 3rd form, I was in the choir - before my voice broke!

In the 7th form, I ran a student radio station from the 7th form common room, by recording 1ZM each morning onto tape & then playing it back with my own commentary. 

Photography - set up a darkroom in a cleaners storeroom in T block. Took photos for school magazine, developed both the film and enlargements in the darkroom. 

Film society - in the 6th and 7th form I assisted the projectionist of the North Shore Film Society. In return, I was some very weird movies, and some great ones as well. At University, I went on to be projectionist for film society and for the student union.

In the 7th form, we formed a committee to try to get a teenagers drop in centre opened behind the community house next to the school. 

Ex-pupils association - after the 10th reunion, we formed an ex-pupils association, and I paid $100 to be the first life member. The association faded away, and I wonder what happened to all the money?!

School magazine - I found the technology so the yearbook could be 'typeset' in-house, rather than sending it out to an expensive typesetting service. It significantly reduced the cost, and meant that we could be more creative. Keith St Cartmail was the editor. We hired an IBM 'golf ball' typewriter, with a variety of typeface 'balls'. The quality of the lettering was quite stunning compared to an conventional typewriter. 

School drama productions - we didn't have luxuries like a curtain. The stage lighting was big clunky gear hired from Selecon in Onehunga, with only five giant 'dimmers' which got erally hot.  

Every boys rally

Fundraising - bottle drives (the stink!), newspaper collection, to raise funds for our tuck shop.

Lab assistant

Quirks

I used a suitcase instead of a school bag, damned heavy thing full of books & junk! Attached to my Raleigh 20 bike with lots of bungee straps.

Got into trouble by letting off a stink bomb (a bottle of hydrogen sulphide called Evening in Rotorua) on the bus, had to walk for weeks. Had to write a letter of apology to the bus company 

Got told off for bring an electric shock machine into school, which was a high voltage generator from an old army morse code transmitter.

When I prepared my 6th form technical drawing project, I called it the "Yerffoeg Design" Indic8, Yerffoeg being Geoffrey spelt backwards. The Indic8 meant that it was an 8 bit computer, which I designed for the St. Johns ambulance to keep a track of where their ambulances were in the city.

I don't remember what we did, but the whole 7th form was put on detention one lunchtime & we had to sit on the detention desks in the A (admin) block, much to the amusement of all the other pupils.

Failing my first driving test, despite the training in the Rotary sponsored driving simulator. Thought the british driving instructor was pedantic, saving we had to toot the horn before turning into side streets, and to keep both hands on the wheel while turning - doing that silly looking sliding the wheel under the hands trick.

The pain felt from being hit in the head by one of the rubber stoppers from the legs of tables & chairs.

Bullying - people jammed into (bum first) rubbish bins, or hooked by the belt to coat hooks in the hall. Fortunately I never suffered the indignation of having my head put down a flushing loo, as many did.

Wore a dreadful black vinyl jacket in the 5th - 7th form.

Rode a Raleigh 20 bike, with a red 'Radio Shack' radio clipped onto the handle bars, which was also a horn!

In the 7th form, we designed and gave out fun "Birkco" certificates to people who we thought had done well.

Work

Birkenhead Electric & Highbury hardware - 50c per hour for packing nails into paper bags for the owner Mr Lepper

Foodtown - packing groceries into paper bags – I was one of the first group of employees at the brand new Chelsea branch, having undergone training at the Glenfield branch. It's the only job I've ever been sacked from! Apparently a shop lifter went through my checkout, and when she was caught, her shopping bag had been incorrectly packed. Mr Groves was the manager, the swine. Was fond of the orange syrup cake the bakery made.

St Johns Ambulance

Roberts & Ireland

Subjects

Computing - there were no computers in school in the 1970's (the PC wasn't invented until 1983), learning to program was done in the PORTRAN (portable fortran) language, onto punch cards with you poke the holes (chads) out with a paper clip. It would take several days to get the results back (processed at Database in the city) only to find a simple spelling mistake had caused the program to fail. In the 6th form, we had one HP programmable calculator to play with (if we were really good).

Chemistry - I was fascinated by mercury, would play with a puddle of it in my hand. Nowadays this is banned, and even a broken thermometer is treated as a reason to evacuate the building. Also fascinated by carbide, the substance which produces acetylene gas when put into water. Tried lighting some of this gas, and the glass flask I was holding exploded into a thousand pieces, including a few imbedding themselves into my hand. At lunchtimes, we would make hokey pokey in the lab, yum! But my exam results for chemistry were quite poor, so it was ironic that I ended up working at a chemistry lab for 12 years later in life (though not doing chemistry fortunately!)

Physical Education - I got an E for effort. Enough said.

English - Form many of my classes, I escaped by having to do some 'important work' on the hall sound system or helping with the production of the school magazine. Maybe that's why I got such a low result for English in my exams...

I was quite surprised to hear that my University Entrance was accredited, I didn't deserve it.