I attended Camberwell High from 1953 to 1955, in Forms 3, 4 and 5, after having completed Forms
1 and 2 at Auburn Central Primary School in December 1952.
had just turned 14 when
I started at CHS.
In its Website. it declares itself as a " forward-looking school
with a wonderful legacy of multi-storeyed cream brick buildings on an impressive site, including extensive new developments
and facilities".
CHS began in 1941 with over 350 girls and boys,
and enjoys a reputation that has led to a higher demand for places than the school can accommodate. The current school population
is capped at 1200 students.
MY attendance at this school was by circumstance,
not by choice. At the end of 1952, I had been offered a four-year Scholarship for the prestigious Scotch College,
due to my exceptional academic performance in Forms 1 and 2 at Auburn Central Primary School.
Sadly, the Scholarship was cancelled, on the basis
that entry was conditional on both parents being Anglo-Saxon - as my father had been born in Italy, this was considered to
be inconsistent with the entry requirements.
As an alternative, I was offered an Free Place
at Camberwell, for Forms 3 to 5, which repesented a very small amount of money to help with my books, fees and uniform.
Nopwadaysm\, diasciriomation for secindary edication
is illegal, but it wasnpt in the 1950s.
My fanily and I were shattred, so I trundled off
to Camberwell, where I breezed thrhough Fiorms 3 to 5 with high acadfemic scores.
.
