Sunday, June 17, 2018

Early Swamp Schools

The first school on the Koo Wee Rup Swamp was School No. 2629 which had opened on November 1, 1884 on the corner of Bethunes Road and the Koo Wee Rup to Bayles Road. It was originally known as Yallock School and changed its name to Koo Wee Rup on July 24, 1903. The building was shifted into Rossiter Road (where the Secondary College is) in September 1910. A new building was opened in February 1915 which burnt down in May 1950. The replacement school opened as a Higher Elementary School (both primary and some secondary classes) in mid 1952. The Primary school eventually moved to its Moody Street location and was officially opened there on November 25, 1960.

For many years this was the only school on the Swamp. After four years of work the newly drained Swamp was considered ready for settlement in 1893 and families began to arrive, however it wasn’t until July 1894 that the schools at Five Mile and Iona opened.

It must have been a great occasion for the swamp settlers at the eastern end of the swamp to have schools that their children could attend, however apparently some children were less than excited as they had been roaming free and not attending school for 12 months and a newspaper report at the time said that the Iona Head Teacher, Arthur Jamieson, ‘found the that the children were in a deplorable condition of ignorance and barbaric wildness.’*

Koo Wee Rup North State School, No. 3198
The first of these schools to open was No. 3198, on the corner of Five Mile Road and Main Drain Road, and it opened on July 7, 1894. This School was originally called Koo Wee Rup South and changed its name to Koo Wee Rup North (and unofficially called Five Mile School). When the Iona School, No, 3201,  opened two days later on July 9, 1894, on the corner of Thirteen Mile Road and Bunyip River Road, it was called Koo Wee Rup North; in 1899 it changed its name to Bunyip South and then in 1905 to Iona.


Koo Wee Rup North, showing school, Mechanics' Institute (Hall) and 
recreation reserve location.
Detail from Koo-Wee-Rup, County of Mornington Department of Crown Lands and Survey, 1939.


Five Mile School had Peter Norris as the first Head Teacher. At one time the school population was over 100 but in July 1954 when the School celebrated its 60th anniversary there were only 20 children enrolled.  However, the anniversary celebrations were a great success with over 700 people attending, including three original scholars - W. Gilchrist, W.G. De Vries and Tilly Freeman (nee O’Shea).  The school parents voted for the school to close in November 1959 and the children were sent to Pakenham Consolidated School. Five Mile was the last school to join or ‘consolidate’ with the Consolidated School which had officially opened in May 1951.

I have written about World War One soldiers from Koo Wee Rup North area, here. The post also includes information on two previous teachers from the School who served -  Captain Frank McNamara who received the Victoria Cross and Captain William Wilson who received the Military Cross.



Koo Wee Rup North State School 1927
Koo Wee Rup Swamp Historical Society photo

Iona State School, No. 3201
The Iona State School was located on the corner of Thirteen Mile Road and Bunyip River Road at Vervale. The name of Vervale didn’t come into use for this area until around 1917, 23 years after the school was established, which is why it was never officially known by that name. 

The Iona school opened on July 9, 1894 with 83 pupils enrolled and the Head Teacher was Arthur Jamieson. As we saw before,when the school opened many of the local children had not been at school since their parents had moved to the area (it was around 1893 that permanent settlers moved to the Swamp) so it was not an easy time for Mr Jamieson as some children had no interest in attending school after a year or so of freedom. Mr Jamieson also had to find a place to board, establish a school garden and a playground. 

By 1895, the school population had grown to 120 pupils and the new Head Teacher Joseph Lyons arrived in April 1895. He had three assistants - Mr Colquhoun, Miss Alston and Mrs Lyons. Joseph Lyons remained at the school until 1907.

The Teachers Residence was built in 1908; previous to this the Head Teacher had to live in Garfield.  The original school building burnt down on July 6, 1913 and the new building opened on April 28, 1914 with 164 pupils. 

The Education Department established the War Relief Fund in August 1914, to raise money for the War effort or as the Education Department’s Record of War Service, 1914-1919 book put it ‘sustained and generous help by Victorian boys and girls may well assist to keep Australia free from the horrors of war. Every boy and girl should therefore endeavour to make regular contributions till the close of War’. This book lists the amount of money raised by children at all schools in Victoria and the children at Iona raised 196 pounds for this fund, a substantial amount compared to other schools in the area. 

After the War, from 1920 to the end of 1927 the Head Teacher was World War One veteran, Percy Scouller. Percy Osborne Scouller had enlisted on February 8, 1915 at the age of 23. After serving overseas Sergeant Scouller arrived back home in Australia in June 1919 and was discharged in the August and then took up his post at Iona.

In 1942, electricity was supplied to the school and the telephone was connected in 1964. Celebrations took place in 1964 to mark the 50th anniversary of the new building with between 500 and 600 people attending. Another celebration took place in 1989 to mark the 75th anniversary the 1914 building. Sadly, the school community could not celebrate one hundred years of education as the school was closed on December 17, 1993, seven months short of its centenary. The building is now at Nar Nar Goon and used as a Scout Hall.


Iona State School - opening of the new building in 1918. 
Photo: On the edge of the swamp: a history of the Iona Primary School no. 3201 1894-1994 
by Denise Nest


* Gippsland Independent, March 6, 1895, as quoted by Denise Nest (see below).

Sources
Vision and Realisation : a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake. Published by the Education Department of Victoria, 1973.
On the edge of the swamp: a history of the Iona Primary School No. 3201 1894-1994 by Denise M. Nest ( Iona Primary School Back-To-Committee, 1994)

No comments:

Post a Comment