No autobiography, even a mini A-Z blogged one, could ignore schooldays. I have always been amazed by those who say schooldays, in retrospect, were the best days of their lives. I passionately hated nearly everything about being a schoolgirl and yet – and yet – when I looked up the web link for this autobiographical blog, (originally intending to use it) (changed my mind) I did nostalgically watch a few of the pics flicking by. Oh! The Quad! The pool! The dear (!) old playing fields! The girls still wore the same uniform (sprigged blue dresses in summer, red pleated skirts and tie in winter) and the creme de la creme still clumped together with cheesy grins in their honours blazers for annual photos. There are lots of photos on the school site, and they brought back a flickering montage of memories, too quick to distinguish. Including a photo I scrolled back to, with deep disbelief – Miss Nathan! She is STILL THERE.
She was going grey – granted, steel-grey – when I was a sullen spotty herberta doing detention every Saturday. When I became a boarder, she was one of the house mistresses. In fact when I was caught returning from bunking out to a party, with beer fumes and cigarettes still heavy on my breath, it was Miss Nathan and two prefects who were waiting for me. (Tip off from another boarder. Another story.) It was Miss Nathan who had to tell my father I was gated, when he came to collect me for the every-other-Sunday exeant, and I expect she was one of the teachers who voted enthusiastically for my expulsion back into the day school.
And there she is. Although the steel grey hair is now pure white she is otherwise unchanged. Suddenly I don’t feel quite so old. Can you really be considered old if a teacher you had in your teens is still teaching?
Quite Contrary 
Hi.. I’m from the AtoZ Challenge and its a pleasure to read your blog.
Bhavya from Just Another Blog
Thank you! I just looked at your Just Another Blog and really liked it, I’m now following on Networked Blogs. This is the best part of the Challenge, finding other interesting blogs to follow, thank you for coming by 🙂
p.s. ‘a ragged soul’ towards the end of A-Z uses same picture – the one at the top.
The pic is one of the standard options, quite a few use it, which is briefly puzzling every time I find myself back in ‘my’ website reading things I never said (but usually wish I had)
Ha ha Elizabeth! I go slightly squint-eyed when people say school days were the best days of their lives. No, not. My husband says so, as does my younger son. The elder one was not entirely happy. Does happy at school imply team work? Value in that I guess. Mind you I attended 9 schools, and don’t ask if there was a particular reason for this …my last school was ok but it was the best thing in the world to leave it, forever.
Good on Miss Nathan – of the strong stern stoic stuff .. and the scamps she had to deal with. Where would be without them – the scamps and stoics?
Did your school’s name begin with an ‘R’? (Just doing some detective detail)
Susan Scott’s Soul Stuff
My best friend at school had been to 6 schools, and always protested it was nothing to do with her that the previous one had burned down! She’s one who looks back with nostalgia.
No, I didn’t go to the school with the djibbahs (only one I can remember with an R) I was a saint in Waverley … one of your 9? My daughter started as a djibbah but switched to Treverton and completely believes schooldays are the best days of life – at least you and I didn’t inflict our prejudices on our young 🙂