150 years: Barnedown State School

Learn about the history of Barnedown State School, one of Victoria's oldest public schools.

Key information

Address:
Goornong, 3557
Opened:
1 April 1871
Closed:
5 February 1954
School type:
Primary
School number:
1087
Other names:
Ellesmere and Nolan School, Barnedown Common School

The history of Barnedown State School

  • 1871

    The school opened as a common school in 1871. It was originally called Ellesmere and Nolan.

    The first head teacher was George Smith and the average number of students attending school was 33.

  • 1873

     The school became Barnedown State School on 1 January 1873.

  • 1890s

    Barnedown had low student numbers in the 1890s so it became a part-time school.

    It shared its only teacher with Goornong South State School (No. 2322), and the teacher split their time between both schools.

  • 1930

    The school closed for 15 years.

  • 1945

    There were enough children for the school to reopen in 1945.

  • 1954

    The school closed again in 1954.

Find more interesting facts about this school

The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of Victoria's State and local government. They look after some of our oldest school records, and we can use these records to help us understand what school life used to be like.

Now it's your turn to do some detective work. PROV currently only have paper records for this school. Take a look to see what info they have on this school.

Updated