It was like hosting a children’s party six times a day
Recorded 1 month ago
About this recording
Sandra Mowat, better known as Sandy, worked as a primary school PE specialist in Caithness for around 30 years.
Sandy recalls teaching PE at Bower Primary School as it celebrates 50 years in its current building. She remembers a lovely school with just two teachers and lovely children, many of whom lived on nearby farms.
“Unfortunately, like many other wee schools, the classroom I had to use was hardly conducive to teaching PE as it was so small.”
It also served as the dining room, with tables and chairs stored along the side and a TV in the corner. The walls displayed lots of lovely artwork that could easily be damaged by moving equipment such as large balls or beanbags.
“Floor space was very limited. When I asked the children to lie down and stretch, they looked like sardines in a tin.”
“In the early days, we didn’t even have netball posts. Someone standing in a hoop, ready to catch was the goal.”
She remembers some younger children thinking her name was “Jim” and asking, “When’s Jim coming?”
Sandy says she came to know all the families and later taught the children of her first pupils—and almost their grandchildren too.
As one of only two PE specialists in the county, Sandy taught at 12 schools during her career and can still remember the names of most of her pupils.
On particularly wet days or during rainy weeks, class teachers would ask Sandy to tire the children out so they would settle when they returned to class. She recalls, “It was like hosting a children’s party six times a day,” which left her exhausted.
“All in all, I enjoyed my time at Bower and at all the other schools.”
In this recording, Sandy also shares several memorable anecdotes from her teaching career.
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