Farewell Happy Days
Usually the end-of-term feeling arrives two or three weeks before the last day, but this time only the end of term festivities made me realise that my school days were nearly over. It did not feel like school at all, as for the last two weeks we had been traipsing daily down the hill to the examination hall. On returning dejectedly to school we were much tormented by the sight of boys sunbathing, playing tennis, or packing. They cast pitying glances in our direction, and asked the eternal ‘How did it go?”, as we passed on our way back to the swot room.
The night before each exam was always a mad rush to learn all the work that should have been known long before, but near the end of the exams we gave up the mad race, and decided sleep was more important. We took time off for the end of year ‘sports dinner’ for seniors – this was much enjoyed but it brought the first feelings of regret.
Another tradition after exams is the Pridham House barbecue held on the school farm. We enjoy delicious food cooked on the many large fires, and then sit around them singing songs and telling stories. In one item the house master was thrown around in a rug to illustrate what a house master should be like!
One year-end we had a half-day off school because an old boy had won a Rhodes Scholarship. That same year we were unfortunately ‘gaited’ for the weekend– very unjustly because when the boy who turned on the hot shower was asked to own up, that boy was not there.
For the final week we only worked on Monday morning. In the afternoon we watched the Boys vs.Masters cricket match (Masters won); the next day were more sports, and the Day-Boys vs. Boarders match – of course the boarders won; then on Wednesday we practiced singing, had a preliminary sports prize-giving, and cleared up rooms.
The prize-giving was on Thursday and most boarders were going home after this with their parents, even though school officially finished on the Friday. As a result the end of term fun took place on Wednesday night. Traditionally, we prefects were invited to supper with the housemaster Mr Wilson on this night. It was impossible to go to bed early even though we had an exam the next morning. The row began at about nine, and as we sat in Mr Wilson’s sitting room afraid to venture forth, Mr Wilson himself stormed round the house, quelling riots and catching fire-escape climbers. At last things became quiet and we ventured forth to our dorms soon after eleven, where we spent an unfortunate half-hour untying pyjamas and remaking beds, accompanied by stifled giggling from neighbouring beds. Even then it took some time to get to sleep as thoughts of the morning were predominating.
However, the morning larks turned out less than expected – fortunately Mr Wilson appeared just as the dorm were gathering ready for the traditional ducking of prefects under the shower. Only about two out of eight had to suffer this! The worst over, I could now concentrate my thoughts on the morning exam.
There was no exam that afternoon so we could attend the prize-giving which was as boring as usual and gave me no further cause to lament my departure. I spent the evening swotting alone in the swot room, as happy boys carried cases to waiting cars and shouted goodbyes to friends.
Most had finished their exams and thoughts of their celebrations filled my mind as I gazed unseeingly at my books. I soon gave up and went to bed – a quieter night in a near-empty dorm!
The exam the next morning dragged on but at last was finished. The empty school was a bit of an anti-climax – I found a few masters to farewell and then said goodbye to the old place. With friends, I had a last row on the Waitara river where I had paddled and raced so many times before. And so my school days ended on a happy note, and with little time for tear shedding.