A GROUP of friends had to go back to primary school after 50 years – not to learn, luckily, but to reunite and reminisce.

The Class of 1974 of Glenashley Preparatory School met last week for a tour of the school, a trip down memory lane – some people’s memories were better than others – followed by lunch a little later on.

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Organiser of the reunion Dawn Benyi said that the tour of the school was ‘amazing, and it was great to re-visit a school that had such happy memories’.

“Glenashley Prep was a significant part of our lives and still is to this day. We were tickled pink when we walked into a classroom and heard the lilting ‘Good morning, visitors’. That brought back many memories,” she said.
The old friends were also impressed with the phenomenal computer lab and were happy that the school has maintained its family-style environment to date.

“Thank you to Tracy Trotter from marketing and Mr Jaffer, the school principal. They treated us to tea and cake, like pensioners, in the school hall,” said Benyi with a laugh.

What was really special for this group of friends was that their Standard Four (now Grade Six) teacher, Robin Stuart, joined them.

“Mr Stuart revolutionised the teaching methodology with our Class of 1973 and inspired a class of boys and girls to do mime and perform in ballets and musicals in a way that he made all of us bond as a team and bring out potential in each and every person with such compassion and care. Memories shared frequently are the things he taught us – we have never forgotten,” she added.

What else did Stuart teach the Class of 74? He taught them about life, be it Zulu culture, the Mediterranean climate in the Cape, how rain clouds are formed.

He advised them on how to be confident on stage and taught the guys how to dance.

“The most significant memory is the famous mime in the tradition of Marcel Marceau where he made a class of 11-year-olds enact a play without saying one word. We all chuckled when we were at lunch, though – David Mildren, who came from Australia, said he felt the stage had shrunk. We all felt that, too,” said Benyi.

Nine friends plus Stuart were at the school tour, and then four more joined for luck at the Lookout which is the group’s restaurant of choice every time they meet as it overlooks the school.

“We do keep in touch via our WhatsApp group – we have 25 in total on the group. Locally, there are about seven of us who can get together more frequently, and we have committed to do so with our teacher and his wife after this get-together. It was such fun,” said Benyi.

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