Bourne to Changi 1970-72
By Dawn Wylie

Our great adventure to Singapore began in October 1970. Once we had settled into our new home in Bukit Timah the next task for mum was to arrange for the 5 of us to start at our new schools. Christine & I would be attending Bourne and the younger 3 would be attending the English primary school. Having had to face this task so many time before I wasn’t that concerned. Sure there would be the awkward silence when you first walk into the room, but that would soon pass. So, off to Bourne we went with mum to enrol and get all the necessary information. Having come from a Technical School in Australia, where I had been studying subject like, Maths, English, Science, Social Studies, Home Eco etc, I was not prepared for what I was told I would be studying. Form 3 French, History, Geography & English Lit!!!! Starting this new school was not going to be as easy as I thought. And so a couple of days later, Christine and I started at Bourne. The bus trip was a new experience for us as we had always walked to school. But it gave us time to meet new friends and luckily have someone to show us where to go. These daily bus trips were never dull there was always something happening. Thankfully, having been to 6 primary schools in 7 years, I was able to make new friends quite quickly, with both the Brits & Aussies.

I can’t remember when we found out that Bourne would be closing as the Brits were pulling out of Singapore and the Aussies & Kiwi’s were taking over. But I do remember an overriding feeling of relief that I would not have to study French anymore. For me the excitement started to build in August 1971 as the time for the new school drew near. It didn’t really feel as though I was starting at a new school, with all the normal uncertainty, as I would know so many of the kids anyway. It was more like going from primary to secondary. The only real uncertainty for me was what would the teachers be like.

Looking back over the past 30 odd years and remembering my feelings about starting at new schools before and after Singapore, I really think that the transition from Bourne to Changi was the easiest and less stressful of all my schools.