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Life at Alldays primary

Oosie OosthuizenNic Prinsloo, 31 October 2020
Nic's primary school years lasted from 1947 to 1953. Most of the 120 children were boarders at the school, which was initially self-sufficient. There were dairy cows, chickens, pigs and a vegetable garden.
With his parents' home 35 km from the school, the children gathered there to be taken to school. They had to go through 21 gates, the so-called "smoelslaners" (mouth beaters) that would catch many drivers offguard. On one occasion, they were delayed for hours by floodwaters and arrived late at school, all the children covered in mud.
The children were taken by truck one time to see the circus at Waterpoort, about 40 km from Alldays. The truck was again commandeered for an athletics meet at Louis Trichardt, where Nic was told to also run the 200 yards for which they had not even trained. He cannot recall how he fared at the finish line.
During a school trip to the Bosveldhotel, a mineral spring resort, he suffered severe sunburn with his back covered in blisters. He could not stand a shirt near his body and endured pain for a week.