"This blog is dedicated to all my dear schoolmates whom I had spent my precious six years with. It doesn't matter whether if we knew each other or not. That is not important. The important thing is that we were there together in the same school, at the same time from 1986 to 1991." - Alvin Chen Jianwen of 6C, 1991Let us all travel back to the time when you were that little primary school kid scampering about in Henry Park Primary School waiting for assembly to start, perhaps you were playing in that big glorious field that we used to share with Raffles Girls' Primary School or perhaps you were exploring the "haunted house" that was at the back of the school near where the basketball court used to be. No matter what time of the day it was, no matter where you were in school, there was always something fun and exciting to keep you going. Ah yes, that was truly how carefree school life was back then in Henry Park Primary School!
Remember that ....
.... we used to sing our school song every Monday during assembly.
.... there was a AM and a PM session. The AM session had to sing the National Anthem and say the Pledge during flag rising ceremony before heading to class. The PM session had to say the Pledge first before heading to class and sing the National Anthem last during flag lowering ceremony before school dismissal.
.... we used to have what was called "Community Singing", when song sheets were passed around and we sang along with our music teacher Miss Lilian Yap and on some occasions with Mrs Christina Wang too. Among the songs were the famous "cheep, cheep, cheep! quack, quack, quack! wiggle, wiggle, wiggle! clap, clap, clap!", "thousand legged worm", "roll over the ocean, roll over the sea" and we even sang evergreen songs by The Carpenters like "Top of the World" and "Sing".
.... during music lessons we were taught how to do the "Doh-Ray-Mee-Fah-Soh-Lah-Tee-Doh" hand signs, how to sing with "Rhythmic Ostinato" and how to blow the Recorder.
.... our tuckshop used to sell coloured drinks for 10 cents a cup, fishball noodles for 30 cents a bowl and ice-cream on biscuit cone for 10 cents each. How Yakult used to have a double cap and we would peel off the first cap to reveal a star underneath which we could exchange for little toys or erasers.
.... boys would always go to the sandy area behind the tuckshop to play "gor-li" (marbles) and catch spiders at the two rows of ixora plants that grew along the pathway that joined one building to the next, how we would run and play in the big field shared between us and Raffles Girls' Primary School, how we would play hop-scotch next to the hall and how we would play five-stone, zero-point and the popular "eraser game" with one another before assembly as well as during recess.
.... "Catching" was an all time favourite game in school and how we would touch one another and say "Twist!" at the same time holding up our index and middle fingers together to show invulnerability and those who did not do that would take the "disease" and had to find someone to "transfer" it to?
.... we used to squat by the drain and brush our teeth while the music was playing in the background everytime after recess when we were in lower primary and how nurse Manis would randomly select pupils to come down for a teeth checkup by writing their names on pieces of paper.
.... a trip to the AVA or ETV room was something we always looked forward to. The AVA room had a really cool looking film projector and we had to sit on raised wooden seats on steps to watch the show on the projector screen, how the ETV room had two television sets with two video cassette players and we had to sit on the floor as there were no seats.
.... almost all of us travelled to school and back home by schoolbus and every bus had a number and a bus auntie who would always squeeze three of us children to a seat and how we would be given a little pink card in a plastic holder monthly for us to take home to our parents to put the bus fee in.
.... Jelita Cold Storage was the all time favourite hangout place for us Henry Parkers despite the warning given by the principal.
.... our school bookshop right in front of the Science Garden was the place where we would always go and spend our pocket money on the many little things sold there especially erasers!
.... on Teachers' Day we would always decorate the blackboard using many different coloured chalks and bought presents to surprise our teachers.
.... prefects used to guard the four stairways leading up to the classrooms during recess and each stairway had a little "Reading Corner" below them.
.... we had to line up and sit on the cement floor with our bags in the hall while waiting for assembly to start and how most of us would sling a colourful plastic water bottle over our shoulder wherever we went.
All photos shown here are taken from Henry Park Primary School - 1986-1991 Fellowship of Schoolmates on Facebook. More photos, recollections and stories of the good old Henry Park days can be found on the group. If you have any fond memories of the good old Henry Park days that you would like to share please feel free to do so.
.... there was a AM and a PM session. The AM session had to sing the National Anthem and say the Pledge during flag rising ceremony before heading to class. The PM session had to say the Pledge first before heading to class and sing the National Anthem last during flag lowering ceremony before school dismissal.
.... we used to have what was called "Community Singing", when song sheets were passed around and we sang along with our music teacher Miss Lilian Yap and on some occasions with Mrs Christina Wang too. Among the songs were the famous "cheep, cheep, cheep! quack, quack, quack! wiggle, wiggle, wiggle! clap, clap, clap!", "thousand legged worm", "roll over the ocean, roll over the sea" and we even sang evergreen songs by The Carpenters like "Top of the World" and "Sing".
.... during music lessons we were taught how to do the "Doh-Ray-Mee-Fah-Soh-Lah-Tee-Doh" hand signs, how to sing with "Rhythmic Ostinato" and how to blow the Recorder.
.... our tuckshop used to sell coloured drinks for 10 cents a cup, fishball noodles for 30 cents a bowl and ice-cream on biscuit cone for 10 cents each. How Yakult used to have a double cap and we would peel off the first cap to reveal a star underneath which we could exchange for little toys or erasers.
.... boys would always go to the sandy area behind the tuckshop to play "gor-li" (marbles) and catch spiders at the two rows of ixora plants that grew along the pathway that joined one building to the next, how we would run and play in the big field shared between us and Raffles Girls' Primary School, how we would play hop-scotch next to the hall and how we would play five-stone, zero-point and the popular "eraser game" with one another before assembly as well as during recess.
.... "Catching" was an all time favourite game in school and how we would touch one another and say "Twist!" at the same time holding up our index and middle fingers together to show invulnerability and those who did not do that would take the "disease" and had to find someone to "transfer" it to?
.... we used to squat by the drain and brush our teeth while the music was playing in the background everytime after recess when we were in lower primary and how nurse Manis would randomly select pupils to come down for a teeth checkup by writing their names on pieces of paper.
.... a trip to the AVA or ETV room was something we always looked forward to. The AVA room had a really cool looking film projector and we had to sit on raised wooden seats on steps to watch the show on the projector screen, how the ETV room had two television sets with two video cassette players and we had to sit on the floor as there were no seats.
.... almost all of us travelled to school and back home by schoolbus and every bus had a number and a bus auntie who would always squeeze three of us children to a seat and how we would be given a little pink card in a plastic holder monthly for us to take home to our parents to put the bus fee in.
.... Jelita Cold Storage was the all time favourite hangout place for us Henry Parkers despite the warning given by the principal.
.... our school bookshop right in front of the Science Garden was the place where we would always go and spend our pocket money on the many little things sold there especially erasers!
.... on Teachers' Day we would always decorate the blackboard using many different coloured chalks and bought presents to surprise our teachers.
.... prefects used to guard the four stairways leading up to the classrooms during recess and each stairway had a little "Reading Corner" below them.
.... we had to line up and sit on the cement floor with our bags in the hall while waiting for assembly to start and how most of us would sling a colourful plastic water bottle over our shoulder wherever we went..... we Henry Parkers used to fight with our neighbour the girls from Raffles Girls' Primary School over the ownership of the field and how we also fight over the new basketball court that was built later at one corner of the field which we always thought it belongs to us but it wasn't.
My memory of Henry Park Primary School
A plan view of the old Henry Park Primary School that I drew recently. There are many a time that I had dreamt of Henry Park Primary School while asleep at night. They are dreams in which I went back to Henry Park Primary School to take a test which I could not seem to take. Each time I was given the test paper I would wake up.
My memory of Henry Park Primary School
A plan view of the old Henry Park Primary School that I drew recently. There are many a time that I had dreamt of Henry Park Primary School while asleep at night. They are dreams in which I went back to Henry Park Primary School to take a test which I could not seem to take. Each time I was given the test paper I would wake up.Do spend some time to take a good look at the drawing for I am very sure it will bring back fond memories that you never thought you had of Henry Park Primary School.
All photos shown here are taken from Henry Park Primary School - 1986-1991 Fellowship of Schoolmates on Facebook. More photos, recollections and stories of the good old Henry Park days can be found on the group. If you have any fond memories of the good old Henry Park days that you would like to share please feel free to do so.
