Predictions from a Que Que High School Student

9 Comments

July 22, 2011

Que-Que-High-School-Student

Que Que High School Magazine 1959. A really fun submission by Morris Sloman

Predictions from a Que Que High School Student

Que Que High School was the only high school for the whole district.   All kinds of kids went there.  Here’s a submission to the High School Magazine from Morris Sloman in Form 1A (US equivalent Grade 8) in 1959 age 12.  Many of his fanciful suggestions for improvement are common practice today.

Que Que High School Magazine 1959. Improvements at School by Morris Sloman

Improvements at School submitted to the Que Que High School Magazine 1959 by Morris Sloman Form 1A

Predictions from a Que Que High SchooL Student

Currently, Morris is Professor of Distributed Systems Management, Dean of Engineering, Deputy Head of Department and Head of the Distributed Software Engineering Section of the Department of Computing at Imperial College, London.

Like a number of other families of means from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), the Copperbelt in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), and Bechuanaland (now Botswana),  Morris’s older brother Aaron, Professor Emeritus, School of Computer Science at Birmingham University, was sent to private boarding schools in Cape Town from the age of eleven. This entailed a three day train journey, unaccompanied, returning home to Que Que semi-annually for the school holidays.

However, Morris, much younger, was schooled in Que Que, and does not seem to have suffered by going to Que Que High School and wanting to do very little work!

Slomans funded the Que Que High School library.

Redcliff will be celebrating the good start so many of us received at Que Que High School at the reunion in Amanzimtoti on August 6, thanks to Valarie Jackson’s organization.  This has stirred quite a bit of activity on her Que Que High School Facebook site:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/10851767875?id=10150237212097876

Thanks to Tess (nee Banfield) Harris of New Zealand for digging up the old school magazines and forwarding this and a number of other gem submissions from the magazines to me.  Jacket cover copied from Valerie Jackson on the school web site.

9 Comments

  • Janet

    Reply Reply July 25, 2011

    This essay about school improvement is a common writing assignment made by many different grade levels. As a retired teacher of 2nd grade through college level and teachers, I have seen many of the same suggestions made. The one about headsets is particularly interesting. MP3s, I Pods and I Phones prove challenging to many teachers of today!
    Thanks, Diana, for this posting. It is spot-on!
    Janet

    • Diana

      Reply Reply July 25, 2011

      Janet, there are so many audio visual aids today that learning and entertainment are synonymous in fact today everything has to have a “fun” factor to it. and you said it the teacher has daunting competition for the attention of todays youth.

      Like WWII, the Iraq and Afghan wars have given a huge boost to medical R and D. Computers that write on brain impulses were featured on NOVA recently as well fine motor movement of artificial limbs. As for robotics! Well thats what’s happened in a half century. Wonder if school kids will be going up into space as a routine to explore the universe at the end of this century?

  • Martin Yodaiken

    Reply Reply October 16, 2011

    How lovely to read you blog. I only recently found out bout it, first from Dovi Teperson (son of Simon) and then from Antoinette Dick (nee Martin). I have many fond memories of Que Que and was able to locate my old street from your map in October entry.
    I will certainly keep reading and will comment where appropriate.

    • Diana

      Reply Reply October 16, 2011

      Martin,
      So glad to have reached you. Your father was the one who made all the electrical engineering improvements to QQ in those post WWII days (early 50’s) I am not quite sure when they arrived. Your mom was a great supporter of dads political campaigns and very hard worker. Are you still swimming? I still do a mile about 4-5 days a week.

      those were the days…Look forward to hearing more comments as you browse the 75 + entries.

  • Alfred Wolfgang Moll

    Reply Reply March 17, 2012

    Diana, thanks for the beautiful memories that your stories have brought back. I am also originally from Que-Que. My parents had a farm 40km west of Que-Que, on the Nkai Road, 11 miles from Loretto mission where we went to church on some Sundays. It would appear that you are a contributor to that delightful book “The way it was” (i have a copy).
    Of specific relevance to this article is the drawing board that i have. I bought it second hand when i was an under-grad. It has followed me through my life. On the back, the name “M. Sloman” appears next to Dreikoppen, a UCT res. I wonder if there is a connection with Morris.

    • Diana

      Reply Reply March 21, 2012

      Alfred, Sorry your comments went to spam, and I fortunately just retrieved them! So glad I did! Lovely to hear from you. Yes, the book of short stories was a joint venture, with my parents and older son Andrew as co-authors.
      I will be seeing Morris in London in May and will ask him about the drawing board. Some things do increase in sentimental value with time. So glad you are enjoying the blog posts and lovely to have you join the conversation.

  • Patricia Tarr

    Reply Reply October 12, 2015

    Hi Diana,I have just read this now and I just want to make a correction.Morris Sloman was in my class at school and he was in Form 1A in 1960,not 1959,as stated.It was interesting to read what Morris had written at that time.Robots fetching and carrying for you would have been amazing,but I guess it would have made us very lazy.I see that you caught up with Morris in 2012.Hope he was well and hope you and your family are as well. My maiden name was Cosgrave.

  • Rob Bresler

    Reply Reply September 3, 2018

    Hi Diana, two things, are your books available as E Books?

    Secondly came across this interesting Link regarding glass keys, such a wonderful gesture.

    https://www.voanews.com/a/ukrainian-city-remembers-jews-on-holocaust-anniversary/4554726.html

    Kind regards

    Rob

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