That is how Isobel Spence (94) remembers St Clair School, where she enrolled nearly 90 years ago.
She was among the 100 people who attended the Dunedin primary’s 125th anniversary celebrations at the weekend.
Many reunited and reminisced, flicking through old school photos and sharing stories.
Mrs Spence, nee Powley, said she recalled being so happy at St Clair School that she cried when she left.
"We had lovely teachers and lots of sport, which I liked, and a choir, which I liked to be in as well.
"It was a happy, happy place."
Part of the anniversary celebrations involved the planting of a pohutukawa tree by Mrs Spence and the school’s youngest pupil, Ivy Newton (5), on Saturday.
Past pupils, families and friends were also able to see the present day school in action during a community open day on Friday.
Notably, the absence of the original brick building, a school roll with double the number of pupils on it, and the use of laptops.
"I always remember when we first got the ink and [dip] pens, I always wanted to be neat and tidy but I seemed to always make blobs."
Mrs Spence, who was joined by her daughter and past pupil Margaret Herbert (69), wrote a poem about her time at St Clair School and placed it into a memory jar.
In it, she reminisces playing marbles, tenniquoits and knuckle bones at the school "near the beach, sea and salt water pool", where there were "dedicated, clever teachers".
Also among the past pupils was Philip McCade (80), who said he had noticed two major and positive changes at the school.
Those two significant changes for the better were the "wonderful" array of new technologies that students had access to and the much broader diversity within the school, including the children’s knowledge of te reo Maori.
Ralph Malcolm (95), the school’s oldest surviving past pupil, was unfortunately unable to attended the weekend’s festivities.
He was driving down from his home in Motueka when the Canterbury flooding happened, and he made the call to drive back home, rather than risk getting stranded.
The final day of the anniversary celebrations wrapped up yesterday with a surf competition at St Clair beach.
