Key information
- Address:
- 1381 Harrow-Balmoral Road, Balmoral 3407
- Opened:
- 1 January 1859
- Closed:
- 31 December 2008
- School type:
- Primary
- School number:
- 29 and 6205
- Other names:
- Balmoral School, Balmoral Common School, Balmoral State School
How to find enrolment and other school records
If the school is open: contact the school directly to access your records.
If the school has closed: contact the Archives and Records branch via email archives.records@education.vic.gov.au or 1800 359 140 and they will assist you.
The history of Balmoral Consolidated School
1859
Balmoral opened in 1859.
The first head teacher was Abraham Lauder. He had helped build the timber schoolhouse before the school opened.
There were 25 students when the school opened (14 boys and 11 girls).
1862
The school became a common school in 1862.
1867
A new brick school building had been built by 1867 to replace the timber schoolhouse.
The teachers were Mr and Mrs Conroy.
1870s
In 1872 the head teacher was Mrs Jones and she was assisted by pupil teacher, Miss Margaret Rogers. The sewing mistress was Miss Pumphrey. Some of the students who were taught by Mrs Jones were adults who had not been to school before.
Mrs Jones also taught the poet Jim Grahame who became a close friend of Henry Lawson.
The school became a state school at some stage between 1873 and 1878.
1920s
A new and larger school was built sometime in the 1920s. The old school was not big enough for all of the students.
1950
Small local schools from surrounding areas were closed.
The closed schools included:
- Brit Brit State School (No. 1332)
- Pigeon Ponds State School (No. 1842)
- Kanagulk State School (No. 2491)
- Gringegalgona State School (No. 4349)
The students from these schools moved to Balmoral. The school buildings from the closed schools were moved to the Balmoral site.
The school was renamed Balmoral Consolidated School and was given a new entity number at some stage (No. 6205).
The number of students enrolled at Balmoral rose from 64 to 130.
1953
The Minister for Education, the Hon. A.E. Shepherd, visited the school in 1953.
1955
The school buildings had been renovated. A new office, staffroom, and more accommodation for teachers added.
There were 200 students enrolled at the school. More students had moved from other small local schools that had closed.
1958
There were now 5 buses bringing in students from surrounding areas.
1959
A new block of buildings was opened by the Minister for Education.
There were 2 new classrooms, a science room and an art room.
2008
Balmoral Consolidated School (No. 6205) closed in 2008 when it combined with Balmoral High School (No. 7547) to form Balmoral K-12 Community College.
Find more information 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.
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