Can you remember your first day at school?

freshpopcorn

I started junior infants back in the 1990's. I actually liked my first day of school and I have a good memory of it but when I found out I had to go again the next day I wasn't that happy.
Can you remember your first day of school?

beertons

Yes. Started in 1984. Balled my eyes out for 5 minutes. Then I forgot what I cried for. A girl might have walked past me.

toastedpickles

Yep! started in 94, walked inside and sat down, my mam left, everyone elses mam left, they all started crying and I just sat there thinking, why are they crying? Mammys gona come back? Fools!

Witchie

Yes I started in the late 70's and remember comforting a friend of mine who was crying and telling her not to worry that her mum would be back for her.

I was so clued in and controlled back then........

Tigger

Yup
1979 and I went in with my best friend (a girl) who promptly decided that gender segregation was in order

andyman

Started in 1994 and had wet myself before myself and the old man walked out the door.

3rdDegree

Yes, way back in 1971! Holy ****! Am I really that old!

Cried for about 10 minutes until I realized my next door neighbor (the kid, not the adult) was behind me. That seemed to cheer me up!

I recall one other kid going completely mental and having to be physically restrained (with difficulty) by the teacher. Was like something out of "...Cookoo's Nest"! Funny, that kid continued to be completely mental all his life. Lost track of him after prison.

Osmosis Jones

I remember walking up to the room and leaving, nothing in between. God knows what happened in that classroom.

3rdDegree

andyman wrote: »

Started in 1994 and had wet myself before myself and the old man walked out the door.

Sounds like the end of a good Saturday night to me!

smellmepower

Yeah vividly,was 1991.I loved it,lots of new toys to play with.Was slightly curious as to why most of the kids were crying and trying to escape

My enthusiasm for school only lasted a year or two though.Got to know the truant Garda very well!

Duggy747

I remember my mate and his twin sister hogged all the fresh Mala and smooshed it all together so it was just one big multi coloured ball by the time anybody else got a go.

Bastards kept that up for the remaining year.

Zaph

Another 1971 starter, but I can't remember anything at all about it so it was either uneventful or so traumatic I've blocked the whole thing out.

markomuscle

Yes, I cried.
School was horrific, all 15 years of it.

Lia_lia

My first day in primary school was in France. I had just moved there and couldn't even speak the language! Some laugh.


First day in primary school in Ireland a few years later I got given out to for kissing all my classmates (because that's what they do in France!).

Mickey H

I do. It was fun actually.

ArnoldJRimmer

Yep, early eighties. I've a clear memory of my Dad marching me up to a pretty miserable looking teacher. Loads of the other kids were crying but I didn't see what the problem was. Then grabbed a toy, sat down and took in the new surroundings

_Whimsical_

I remember being sitting beside an anxious little boy called David who was quite paranoid and gave me a strange little speech about how we must be best friends and stick together forever.... me and him against the big bad everybody. At lunchtime we held hands and I can vividly remember his tight grip and his pinched frightened face. By lunch time the next day he'd realised holding hands with a girl was not cool and he was having no more of me and I blended into the big bad everybody for him.
I met a new " best friend" next day though so it was ok:)

zenno

I remember the first day alright. I was balling my head off when my mother left me at this weird big stone structure with other baby-schoolers balling their heads off, so i felt a bit better seeing that everyone else was in the same boat.

And this woman of which i never saw before asked me to hold her hand and to come with her.

She said... hank, don't be afraid, we are going to a room to play, so i was all giddy waiting to play but i ended up in a room of 26 balling babies, and then i knew my future pre-school days were going to be bad.

Denise90

I remember the first day really well. There were two 6th class girls who had to mind us during lunch, they gave us rainbow popcorn and some really sour little sweets but the most prominent memory from that day was the nun that taught us, she would pinch our shoulders so hard to get our attention, we were all terrified of her from that day on. I meet her regularly now and she's actually a lovely woman.. I guess she just didn't like children!

Dravokivich

Would have started school in '88 I think. Don't really remember anything of the first day in particular. I remember bits of being in that school, but most of'em, not exactly when.

kippy

Nope,
Can remember very little of national school to be honest..........

Muise...

Loved it. There were clucking jackdaws nesting in the roof and a smell of crayons and milky tae. Ah, 1979. I think the Smashing Pumpkins wrote a song about it.

Czarcasm

Started school in '79, I can remember the first day I went in and I had sat down on a chair, went up to get one of the jigsaws in tayto bags, came back, and there was another guy in "my" seat. I shouldered him off, sat down all smug with myself, next thing got an unholy whack across my jaw (damn big hands those farmers, even for a three year old! ) that knocked me off the chair.

We really got into it, but at lunch time we were the best of mates laughing and joking about it, we're still the best of mates 34 years later

Merkin

Remember it well. Wore a little Snoopy dress with stripes and I remember my older brother of 6 coming to check on me at lunchtime

sunflower27

I don't remember my first day. But I remember my first school photo. I was a shy little kid and was terrified, although I think I hid it well....

Just happened to have this photo on my laptop... the innocence:D

That was 35 years ago. Oh Wow!!!! :eek::eek::eek:

Muise...

Czarcasm wrote: »

Started school in '79, I can remember the first day I went in and I had sat down on a chair, went up to get one of the jigsaws in tayto bags, came back, and there was another guy in "my" seat. I shouldered him off, sat down all smug with myself, next thing got an unholy whack across my jaw (damn big hands those farmers, even for a three year old! ) that knocked me off the chair.

We really got into it, but at lunch time we were the best of mates laughing and joking about it, we're still the best of mates 34 years later

Wow! Did you go to school in The Big Rock Candy Mountain?

seamus

Barely. 1986. I remember going in and sitting beside a girl, who by chance happened to become my first girlfriend 6 years later (we went out for a total of 18 hours until I made her best friend cry), and who then also by pure chance ended up in the same college course as me 14 years later. Total hottie too by the time she got to college.

The only other thing I remember of that day is that our "copy" was basically a tiny notebook, not a full-sized copybook. We were given homework to do - "Draw a picture of Postman Pat". I didn't understand this concept of homework at the time, so I immediately set to the task. The teacher then stopped me and explained what homework was, so I diligently started erasing my picture of Postman Pat in order to do it at home. She went, "No...wait....*sigh*", but it was already done.

And that's about all I remember of Junior infants. Apart from one kid who had the worst tantrums, used to throw chairs around the place and stuff, scared the utter crap out of the rest of us and some of the teachers too. He kept doing that up till about 3rd class.

vitani

Some of it. I started in 1989, and I remember my mam bringing me to a table to sit beside one of my friends from our road, and kind of anxiously going 'look, here's Fiona. You can sit beside Fiona' as if she was worried that I'd be scared if I didn't know anyone. I don't think I was scared at all though.

I remember the whole class was brought outside to play in the yard on the second or third day and everyone ran around playing apart from me and one of the boys. We stood at the side, watching, standing up and down on our tiptoes.

No but I'm told my dog sat watching me get into my aunt's mini that morning wondering where I was going and why he wasn't coming with me.

I was looking through some family photos recently and he was in three quarters of the photos with me. I miss that dog.

Richard Hillman

Vaguely. I was not one if those who cried, I did all my crying in play school the year before. I was a very quiet child in Junior and Senior infants. I used to walk around the play ground on my own following the lines. The teacher used to always send notes home about me never talking to anybody in the class.

I came out of my shell in 1st class and then they complained about me talking too much :pac:

sbsquarepants

kippy wrote: »

Nope,
Can remember very little of national school to be honest..........

Same here - i've a few events scattered through the years but that's about it. I know i started in 79 and was in a different school for the first couple of months and then moved, but apart from that its a blur!

hawkwing

yes,in 1977 when i was 3 (don't think that starting age is allowed anymore),started college at 16 in 1990 and 3yr diploma done by 19-the leaving cert students seem to be that age these days:o

Czarcasm

Muise... wrote: »

Wow! Did you go to school in The Big Rock Candy Mountain?

Had to Google that, but nope, we grew up in the country alright, and I'm not one for social networking either, we do the old fashioned thing of phone calls and meeting up face to face every so often.

Don't remember the very first day, hazy memories of the first year though and being bumped up classes and the excited interrogation from other kids

BeerWolf

Went to Kindergarten [We including that, or from Class (Standard) One onwards?] in Malaysia. Some place called Eden - I honestly can't recall any kids crying when I was there, everyone seemed excited cause we were making friends with each other. And for lunch we all had sweet red beans in little plastic bowls - gorgeous stuff btw.

So I guess I had a good first day of [pre]school!

Honey-ec

Yep. 1986 and I got put outside the classroom door for talking. I remember very vividly thinking that was a bit harsh, considering it was the very first day.

Muise...

Czarcasm wrote: »

Had to Google that, but nope, we grew up in the country alright, and I'm not one for social networking either, we do the old fashioned thing of phone calls and meeting up face to face every so often.

I still don't know what a jigsaw in a tayto bag is.

(I should google too, but I don't want to be disappointed. It sounds class.)

Czarcasm

Muise... wrote: »

I still don't know what a jigsaw in a tayto bag is.

(I should google too, but I don't want to be disappointed. It sounds class.)

Basically they were pictures glued to card and cut up into shapes like triangles, the teacher used keep them in tayto bags. You used have to put them together. We also did the marla thing, and the counting bricks.

silly

started in '84. I remember my mom drove me, 2 other kids from our estate and their moms to school, but we broke down half way there, don't remember how we got there in the end!
I remember wetting myself and then my older sister and friend chasing me around the school to get me to the principal, who had to bring me home with newspapers on the back seat of his car, i was embarrased.

silly

And while on the subject, does anyone remember the school photos that were taken and then you would get them in this tiny keyring type telescope thing, you held it up to the light and looked through it to see the pic? Would love to see them again, there has to be some in our attic...

JohnMearsheimer

My mum packed me off to my first day of school in 1988 with a cold flask of tea and a Thomas the Tank Engine lunch box. I had a great day playing with mala.

Popsy

I started in 1982. I think I cried for a few minutes after my mam left and was fine until lunchtime when the teacher forced me to each those awful corned beef sambos and milk. I hated milk and butter so I threw a tantrum and was made sit in the corner for lunch.

The next day my mam gave me Liga to bring into school for my lunch and I was ridiculed for being a big baby. Definately not a good start

OldNotWIse

Richard Hillman wrote: »

Vaguely. I was not one if those who cried, I did all my crying in play school the year before. I was a very quiet child in Junior and Senior infants. I used to walk around the play ground on my own following the lines. The teacher used to always send notes home about me never talking to anybody in the class.

I came out of my shell in 1st class and then they complained about me talking too much :pac:

hahahaha:)

OldNotWIse

I started in 1988. Wasn't too upset going in. First thing teacher said was close the door and sit down. Being the stubborn little b1tch that I was, I left the door open and stood at the desk. She closed the door, I opened it, she closed it etc... I'm not sure who eventually won the battle of the door but I know I stood at my desk all day, every day for two weeks.

Teyla Emmagan

OldNotWIse wrote: »

I started in 1988. Wasn't too upset going in. First thing teacher said was close the door and sit down. Being the stubborn little b1tch that I was, I left the door open and stood at the desk. She closed the door, I opened it, she closed it etc... I'm not sure who eventually won the battle of the door but I know I stood at my desk all day, every day for two weeks.

Wow, I was sure you were a man. And about 65

castletownman

Pretty sure it wasn't my first day but my first clear memory of primary school was getting my junior infants teacher (fresh out of Pat's might I add), to wipe my bum.

Some introduction to teaching life for the poor girl

Shenshen

Yes, started in 1980 in Germany.
When we came into the class room, the teacher had put up little signs with our names on them on the desks we were supposed to be sitting.
My mom looked around for a while until I pointed mine out to her...

I don't remember anybody crying, tbh. I knew some of the kids from kindergarden anyway.

keano_afc

Yep, went out for a slash and ran home.

PhlegmyMoses

I was sent for ADHD testing not long after my first couple of weeks in school because I wouldn't sit down and had no idea of social norms and etiquette; That's a nice toy you have there, I'll be having that. I told everyone in my class to call me Winston, after Winston Zeddemore from the Ghostbusters, to the point that we'd have kids knocking on the door asking if Winston was coming out. They reckoned it was the lack of playschool and being around other kids, rather than ADHD. I'm still not so sure.

Wacker The Attacker

No

Mars Bar

There was a box with toys under the desk and I remember them looking like chocolate squares. Had great fun playing with them. I also remember running out of the classroom door to use the loo and the teacher stopping me and asking me where I was going. I hadn't grasped the whole "ask for permission" thing.
I also remember sitting at the desk and wondering why everyone else knew everybody apart from me and the two behind me.It was because there was only 3 of us in baby infants and the rest of the classroom was made up of seniors up to 2nd class. Dunno how the teacher managed to teach and control four different classes in the one room!

I moved school after that year and can't remember my first day in the new school. I do remember the first friend I made there though (we're still friends. )