Imagine this?

This is the school of hard knocks – no heating or cooling apart from an open window and the infamous “cane” hanging by the blackboard. Built in 1881 Herberton State School took students from Grade 1 to Grade 7 (5 to 12 years old) Grades 8, 9 and 10 were added later.

Pupils were beseeched to keep out of bad company and keep their hands and feet clean. They wrote on slates, the iPad of the time, hand held pieces of blackboard with a special pencil and spit on a handkerchief the delete key. The inkwells in the desks attest to a development in writing technology.

Image by @the.parsons.adventures