Key information
- Address:
- Campbell Street, Streatham, 3351
- Opened:
- 27 February 1866
- Closed:
- 31 December 1993
- School type:
- Primary
- School number:
- 844
- Other names:
- Streatham Common School, Streatham State School
The history of Streatham Primary School
1866
Streatham opened in 1866 as a common school.
The first head teacher was Francis Ross. The school dismissed him after one month.
Ross was replaced by head teacher R. Stevenson.
The original school was a small greystone building that included a lobby and a living room.
1867
The head teacher lived at the school in the ‘master's quarters'.
1879
The number of students had reached 45. Parents wrote to the Department to ask for an expansion of the cramped classroom.
The original classroom was 20 ft by 16 ft (approximately 6 m by 5 m).
1890
The first sewing mistress was appointed. Her name was Mrs Mellors and she was the wife of the head teacher.
1897
Miss E.M Scovell started teaching at the school. Her father ran a boot making business on the school porch.
1900
An inspection of the school found the school building and the shelter sheds unsafe.
1909
A nearby subdivision brought more families to the area. This led to overcrowding at the school.
A new school was designed and built to accommodate 52 students.
It also included housing for the head teacher.
1914
Funds were raised to support the school with building a new shelter shed and planting a garden.
1915
A veranda was added to the school house.
1919
Students planted trees to honour fallen First World War soldiers from the Streatham district. The day was called Arbor Day.
From 1919 onwards, children from the nearby Nerrin Nerrin Estate started attending Streatham.
Students would continue to come from this estate until the Nerrin Nerrin State School (No. 4244) was built in 1930.
1951
Nerrin Nerrin closed and students had to travel by bus to Streatham.
1952
Two classrooms were added. This was due to the closure of the old Mail Lead School.
1955
Enrolments at Streatham peaked at 120 students due to the Solider Settlement Scheme.
1967
The school marked its 100th anniversary by buying a new shelter shed and television set.
1970s
The school changed its name to Streatham Primary School in 1970.
In the 1970s, the school had two bus services to bring students from surrounding areas. One bus arrived from Nerrin Nerrin and the other from Yalla-Y-Poora.
1977
A major bushfire caused significant damage to the town and destroyed two classrooms at the school.
1993
The school closed in 1993 when it combined with Westmere Primary School (No. 3833 ) to form the new Streatham and District Primary School (No. 5387).
Notable head teacher
Former Director of Education, James McCrae, was head teacher at Streatham in 1905.
Find more interesting facts about this school
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