First level maths

With the introduction of the Wyndham scheme, most subjects for the Higher School Certificate were broken into three (or four) levels with different curricula and exams. First level was generally more advanced than the previous highest Leaving Certificate standard and sometimes covered material previously left until university.

I had transferred from Adelaide in 1966 and was placed in level 2 for every one of my year 11 classes. On the first day, in the first class (English I think), a lanky youth introduced himself as Richard Whitelaw and explained that he had just returned from London after his father's posting there.

'They've put us in level 2 for evryfing 'cos it's too 'ard to work out our real level', explained Richard. 'Come on, we'll 'ave to go round and get put into first level for evryfing.' I was impressed by his then cockney accent as well as his cocksure initiative, and duly accompanied him to each department and got promoted to first level.

Now first level English was a decent size class between 30 and 40, as was first level Science. First level German was smaller, but first level Maths was, if memory serves, just nine students!

There was David Brown, Wendy Craik (the only woman), Gaspard de Jong, Peter Jablon, Geoff Kingston, Danny Neumann, myself, Dick Whitelaw and the irrepressible Bobby Wilson, all taught for two years by 'Mad' Mick March.

Mick was Maths Department Head, so, amongst other things, it fell to him to administer some of the canings that were the bulwark of school discipline in those days. The ambiguous smile which played around Mick's lips as he discharged this duty suggested he possibly enjoyed the activity more than was seemly, and I think was the source of the epithet 'Mad'. The ambiguous smile was there at other times as well, in class and outside, and Mick was capable of scathing wit.

Mick was often delayed to class by the need to flog some wretch, so as you can imagine, as we waited for him there were frequent lively exchanges on a range of topics. I observed to Danny Neumann at the '07 reunion that I had been impressed by his reaction to the threatened hanging of Ronald Ryan (carried out in February '67). He simply noted that his parents, refugees from Nazi Germany, were opposed to the death penalty because of what they had seen and experienced, and, as a result, he was too. Many other issues of the day were addressed over time.

Often late to class as well, was Richard Whitelaw, who would arrive conspicuously on a growling, ancient BSA motorbike wearing a leather flying helmet. To be fair, he generally overslept because he'd been up until the wee hours studying the prodigious range of subjects he was doing. Richard's house was over the back fence from David Brown in Yarralumla, and they could see each other's bedrooms. David would wake at 1am and note that Richard's light was still on, so he'd set his alarm for 5am, when Richard would see David's light come on in turn. Thus they spurred each other on in the final push to the HSC.

I, on the other hand, was notoriously lacking in diligence. At the end of the first year Mick drawled laconically in front of the whole class, 'Tony, at the rate you're going you should fail the exam . . .'   Here he stopped, searching for the right adverb. Finally he said, '. . . comfortably. Yes, that's it. You'll fail comfortably.'

In truth, the first level Maths curriculum was well-defined and the textbooks refined it further, but the eventual nature of the exam was complete guesswork, as previous Leaving Certificates were of limited use as a guide. Unlike previous and subsequent classes we essentially had no previous exams as a guide. We and Mick were flying blind for two years.

Finally the big day came and we turned over the 1967 first level Maths HSC paper. It was quite different to previous Leaving Certificate papers, and different to the sample exams provided in our text books. While based on the curriculum, it emphasized problem solving skills and independent thinking in a way that departed from the hitherto prevalent rote learning emphasis. We all did the best we could but none of us could really tell how well we had done until the results came out.

We had all passed at first level, four out of nine in the first fifty in the state! I saw Mick just once again before I went to university. There was no ambiguity about his smile this time. It was one of well-deserved pride.

Tony Rossiter
21 November 2007