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Touch your toes

Repeka Nasiko
Saturday, May 05, 2012

These are three words that most former St Thomas Primary School students of the early 40s and 50s heard right before getting a leather strapping that would leave a mark on their bottom for days.

For three oldies of the school, those leather strapping's were ideal during their learning at Lautoka's oldest primary school.

Back in the school grounds where they used to run around and play games of hopscotch to marbles, Victor Campbell, Jerome Cagica and Conrad Murray fondly remember the many times they were disciplined by the strict Marist Sisters who ran the school.

"We were cheeky," Mr Campbell simply said.

And to show exactly how cheeky they were, Mr Campbell recounts an encounter with his Class 3 teacher where he shattered a metre long blackboard ruler.

"Sister Paula was teaching us something and I remember I laughed during class. So she called me to the front and said "touch your toes". The minute that ruler landed on my backside, the ruler just broke in half," Mr Campbell said with a laugh.

Mr Campbell explained why the ruler broke.

"Before going up to the front I stuck a book into the back of my shorts so that I wouldn't have to feel the pain," he said, adding that the disciplining by strapping kept each student on their toes and out of trouble.

Mr Campbell, who attended the school from 1948 to 1956, said there were a lot of instances where he got into trouble but he believes the teachers were patient - one of the reasons why many became successful.

"They valued everything that we did and they made us feel good about our achievements," he said.

Classmates, Conrad Murray and Jerome Cagica remember their days in St Thomas as one they'll never forget.

"I'll never forget the way the Marist Sisters raised us," said Mr Cagica.

"They weren't afraid to discipline us. Everytime one of us would do something wrong they would deal with us and we would learn from our mistakes. It turned us into good kids."

Mr Cagica says things have changed nowadays.

"Today teachers are going to end up in jail if they hit a child in school and it shows in children's attitudes when they are not being disciplined," he said.

Mr Murray said the only thing that he did not like during his school days were the two taps that was used by the whole school.

"During lunch we would have to line up to drink water and this would be very bad at times because many of us would get into fights."

Mr Murray said despite that they still enjoyed their time at the school.

The three men will join other former students today at the school grounds for their reunion which began yesterday.

This is the first reunion of the school in more than 80 years.