Schoolboy memories still fresh

Peter Hetherington, admits his main interest while a student at Tirau Primary School over seven decades ago was playing rugby with his mates.

A former head boy of the school, he is gearing up for its 125th jubilee and is reminiscing about how much times have changed.

‘‘(I’ve lived here) All my life. Too good of a place to move. It’s so central, an hour to here and an hour to there,’’ he told South Waikato News. He enrolled in the school in 1940. ‘‘Yes, I remember it quite easily. Because the head master told me ‘you didn’t come to learn Pete you came here to play rugby’. But that’s what I did, I went to school to play rugby.’’

The 77-year-old said times have changed dramatically.

‘‘Times have changed alright. We used to play cock fight: we used to piggy back each other and try to knock the other fellow off.

‘‘I don’t think the kids today know their times tables like we had to. We knew them because we sat there every morning repeating the three times tables and the four times tables.’’

From Tirau Primary School Mr Hetherington attended Matamata College.

‘‘I left primary at standard six and went to Matamata College and that was a change. I had not seen so many rooms.

‘‘That took me about one week to get used to, trying to remember where every room was,’’ he said.

BACK IN TIME: A photograph of Tirau Primary School’s rugby sevens team, which shows a 12-year-old Peter Hetherington (top right).

MEMORIES: Tirau resident Peter Hetherington is looking forward to attending Tirau Primary School’s 125th Jubilee this year. He was enrolled at the school in 1940. He is 78 in May.