I went to Pakenham Consolidated School on the Grenda's school bus, Bus 7, from Vervale from 1964 until 1970. My two sisters and my brother also went there. We spent at least two hours a day on the school bus, and we would have been the most easterly students who attended the School. This is a short history of Pakenham Consolidated School.
In the 1940s and 1950s there was a movement to consolidate small rural schools into one larger, central school. This was partly a response to a shortage of teachers, due to many male teachers enlisting during the Second World War. The War also caused a shortage of materials and labour and many school buildings fell into disrepair. Consolidation was also seen to give advantages to students - the schools would have specialist Infant teachers and specialist subject teachers such as Art and Physical Education and would also allow the students a wider choice of friends from the different localities. The first consolidated school opened in Murrayville in January 1944; in 1946 Manangatang and Tongala; 1947 Woomelang and Patchewollock and in 1948 Timboon. In the 1950s newly built consolidated schools included Red Hill, Pakenham, Boisdale, Edenhope, Cobram, Kaniva, Kiewa Valley and Lockington and so by 1958, 32 such schools had opened. (1)
The schools would offer a general for children to the age of fifteen (which for some children was the end of Form 3 and for others it was Form 4) and Schools within 5 miles or 8 kilometres would be closed and beyond that, the Schools would have an option to close and join the new school. (2)Pakenham was selected for consolidation as early as 1946 and the new school would be built on the site of the Pakenham State School, No.1359, in Main Street. (3)
Pakenham selected as a site for a consolidated school
The Age, September 6, 1946 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article206373527
One of the issues faced by communities in the consolidation catchment zone was the retention of the existing school building for community use, rather than have them relocated to the new school site. This was especially important in areas which didn't have a hall. As reported in The Age in May 1947 -
Retention of old school buildings for, community centres, in areas where consolidated schools have been established, will not be permitted by the Education Department unless removal of the buildings to other sites for department use is uneconomic. This decision was given yesterday by the Minister for Education, (Mr. Field) when he was approached by two deputations from the Pakenham area with requests that the old school buildings in Pakenham South and on Army-road should not be removed, but should be sold to the district for use as public halls. Mr. Field said that if it could be shown that removal of the buildings to other sites for use in craft work and non-academic studies was not an economic proposition, the buildings might be handed over. On the information he had at present, he could not grant the request. (4) Pakenham South did retain their hall in the community, however Army Road did not. (5)
Cora Lynn, where my father, uncle and aunties attended school, was happy to voluntarily consolidate - as local Councillor Dan Kinsella reported -
In January 1947, the Pakenham Gazette could report that -
One of the last contracts to be signed was for the bus service, which was awarded to Grenda's buses of Dandenong. (14)
The original building on the Toomuc Creek was moved to Lardner in 1892 and was totally destroyed by fire in May 1912. (23)
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The classroom wing, the junior wing, on the west side, against Dame Patty Avenue; this is the front of the buildings shown in the photograph, above
The existing Pakenham State School building was used as the Infant School (Preps to Grade 2) and new buildings to house the rest of the school population were constructed at a cost of £100,000. As well, some of the closed school buildings were transported onto the site, and some are shown below.
Cora Lynn - the people were anxious to be brought into the Consolidated School scheme and at a public meeting had decided to request this. There had only been two dissentients. If the Department agreed there was no question that the Cora Lynn school would be moved. If the Department had a use for these buildings as schools, he did not think they should try and influence it politically. (6) As a matter of interest my aunty who was born in 1941 was at Cora Lynn State School until May 1951 and when it became part of Pakenham Consolidated School, she then did the rest of Grade 5 and Grade 6 there; then Form 1 and Form 2 at Drouin Central, because that is as far as that school went at the time, and finally went on to Form 3 at Warragul High in 1955. (7)
There were four different contracts for the construction of the Pakenham Consolidated School, with the one contractor K. G. Hooker and Co., of Thistlethwaite street, South Melbourne, being the successful contractor each time. The total cost of the construction was around £100,000. I cannot find when the first tender was advertised, however local M.L. A., Matthew Bennett was reported as saying in May 1947 that the plans for the school had been completed and that tenders would be advertised in two weeks. The first tender I can find advertised was for the removal, re-erection and repair of the existing building and the construction of the Junior Wing in November 1947. This was to relocate the existing building towards the back of the block (nearer to MacGregor Road), so the new buildings could be erected facing Main Street. (8)
First contract for Pakenham Consolidated School advertised
The Argus, November 7, 1947 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22518382
A further move is being made towards the establishment of the Consolidated School at Pakenham. Mr C.H. Pobjoy, correspondent of Pakenham State School Committee, has been asked to ascertain what temporary classroom accommodation could be arranged whilst the existing Pakenham school building was being moved to a new site further back on the block. He is submitting particulars of arrangements which it is hoped to make for the temporary accommodation of the children at the Mechanics' Hall or Scout Hall. Mr Pobjoy said yesterday that he understood that the existing Pakenham school rooms were to be moved practically immediately to make way for the junior wing of the Consolidated School. (9). The Pakenham Gazette the next week said that the Scout Hall and the Recreation Reserve Pavilion would be used as temporary school accommodation (10) so I am not actually sure which facilities were used as the temporary classrooms.
The tender of £12,742, for the Junior Wing was accepted in September 1948 and work was started on the new building at the beginning of October. (11) The next tender of £15,999 for the construction of the wing housing the Cookery room, Cafeteria and staff room was accepted in January 1950 (12). The final section was the Administrative block, and the tender of £14,977 was accepted in April 1950. (13)
News on the establishment of the school
Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1948, p.9
Last tender let for the School
The Sun News-Pictorial, April 29, 1950 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article279632268
One of the last contracts to be signed was for the bus service, which was awarded to Grenda's buses of Dandenong. (14)
Bus contract
Dandenong Journal, May 23, 1951 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article222352474
In May 1951, the Pakenham Gazette could report that the school had opened and that four buses conveyed 130 children from surrounding districts to Pakenham Consolidated School. At present there are 258 pupils attending the School, and it is hoped that in September several other schools will be consolidated, raising the attendance to over 400 children. (15)
However, the official opening by the Minister of Education, Mr A.E. Shepherd, did not take place until November 18, 1953, in front of a crowd of 500 people, including the Director of Education, Mr Ramsay. At this time there were 550 students at the school and a staff of 21. (16) In 1966, when I was in Grade 2, the school population was 550 (plus 94 post-primary students) and there was a space shortage because my classes that year were conducted down the street at the Anglican Church hall. In 1970 there were 600 students. (17)
The first Head Master was Charles Hicks. The schools that formed the Consolidated School were
Army Road No. 3847 (closed April 1947)
Cora Lynn No. 3502 (closed May 1951)
Koo-Wee-Rup North (Five Mile) No. 3198 (closed November 1959)
Mount Burnett No. 4506 (closed October 1949)
Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914 (closed October 1951)
Nar Nar Goon South No. 4554 (closed May 1951)
Officedale No. 4242 (closed May 1951)
Pakenham South No. 3755 (closed September 1951)
Pakenham Upper No. 2155 (closed January 1952)
Rythdale No. 4231 (closed September 1951)
Toomuc Valley No. 3034 (closed September 1951)
Tynong No. 2854 (closed April 1951)
Tynong North No.4464 (closed December 1951) (18)
In 1967 Pakenham High School was established at the Pakenham Consolidated School site and it moved to its existing location in 1970. (19) Pakenham Consolidated School moved from Main Street to Rundell Way in 1997 and the Main Street site was sold. Some of the old school buildings that had come from the closed schools were shifted to Beaconhills College in Pakenham.
Before we look at some photographs of Pakenham Consolidated School, here is an overview of the history of the Pakenham State School, No. 1359. The School had opened on a 2-acre site adjoining the Toomuc Creek in January 1875. The successful tenderers for the school building were the firm of Lane, Orviss and Fanning and the contract price was £252/19/0; this was gazetted in the Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874. The School operated half-time with the school named Pakenham South, No. 2139 (later called Cardinia) in Bould Road, Cardinia until April 1879. (20)
Lane, Orviss and Fanning won the contract to erect the original Pakenham State School, on the Toomuc Creek.
Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874, p. 1823 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1874/V/general/64.pdf
The original Pakenham State School which opened in 1875 on the Toomuc Creek.
Public Records Office of Victoria VPRS 14517/P0001/28, L579
In 1891, the school moved to the Main Street Pakenham site into a new building, the builder for which was A. Goad; the tender price was £170 and it was accepted in February 1890 (21). An extension was added in 1908, which could accommodate 40 children and which had been built with all the latest improvements. (22)
The tender for the Pakenham State School in Main Street
The Argus, February 28, 1890 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8591776
The original building on the Toomuc Creek was moved to Lardner in 1892 and was totally destroyed by fire in May 1912. (23)
The original Pakenham School building moves to Lardner.
Warragul Guardian, October 18, 1892 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article68729329
Photographs from the Public Records Office of Victoria
What follows are photographs from the Public Records Office of Victoria, taken in the 1950s and 1960s. You can access more of these photographs here https://prov.vic.gov.au/explore-collection/explore-topic/education/publication-branch-photographs-dept-education
The 1891 Pakenham State School building, which was relocated towards the back of the block in 1948 to became the Infants School (Preps to Grade 2)
Exterior of old school, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/10, F225
The 1891 Pakenham State School building during the construction phase.
Construction scenes and exterior shots VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C148
Opening Ceremony, November 18, 1953. The Office was where the flagpole is, the building on the left is the Cafeteria.
Opening ceremony at Pakenham Consolidated, VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B996
Opening Ceremony, November 18, 1953
Opening ceremony at Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B997
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Opening Day, November 18, 1953. I wonder who this girl is?
Opening of Pakenham Consoldiated School 1953 by the Honorable A.E. Shepherd, M.L.A., Minister of Education, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, C86
The muddy yard before asphalting and lawns
Construction views, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C176
View towards the original Pakenham School, love the little girl looking through the window of a class room in the junior wing.
Construction views, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C173
The classroom wing, the junior wing, on the west side, against Dame Patty Avenue; this is the front of the buildings shown in the photograph, above
Front exterior, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H740
These are all the new buildings. On the far left are the senior classrooms, the next wing was the Art room and Library, then the Cafeteria wing and the Offices.
Exterior of playground, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H739
Playground
Exterior of playground, Pakenham Consolidated, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/19, H738
The houses for the teacher. The building on the right is the corner of the Cafeteria.
Teachers' residences, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B975
Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914.
Construction scenes and exterior shots, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C146
Other school buildings, the little one in the middle is Nar Nar Goon South, No. 4554.
View of old building, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/55, C259
Some of the old schools, the one on the left is Toomuc Valley School, No. 3034.
Old classrooms, PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, B986
Children wait for buses, this was a bit before my time, but how well I remember waiting for School buses.
PROV VPRS 14517/P0001/54, C85
Footnotes
(1) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 1, pp. 403-408. Some of the information in this paragraph comes from the paper written by Ron Smith, in 1974, Consolidation, with particular reference to Pakenham Consolidated School.
(2) Country Children to Get Better Education in the Weekly Times, March 6, 1946 see here - a good overview; Vision and Realisation, v. 1, op. cit., p. 407. I was actually a bit unsure whether the Consolidated school went to Form 3 or Form, but the photo below shows a Form 4 student.
Form Captains in 1964, the year I started at Pakenham Consolidated School, pictured are some from From 1 to Form 4.
Pakenham Gazette, June 26, 1964, p. 8
(3) The Age, September 6, 1946, see here.
(4) The Age, May 15, 1947, see here.
(5) Bunyip & Garfield Express, May 16, 1947, see here; Dandenong Journal, June 28, 1950, see here; Dandenong Journal, February 26, 1947, see here.
(6) Dandenong Journal, June 28, 1950, see here.
(7) More about local High Schools here https://kooweerupswamphistory.blogspot.com/2019/04/local-high-schools.html
(9) Pakenham Gazette, January 23, 1948, p.9
(10) Pakenham Gazette, January 30, 1948, p.1
(11) Dandenong Journal, September 15, 1948, see here.
(12) Dandenong Journal, January 11, 1950, see here.
(13) The Sun News-Pictorial, April 29, 1950, see here.
(14) Dandenong Journal, May 23, 1951, see here.
(15) Pakenham Gazette, June 8, 1951, p. 1.
(16) Pakenham Gazette, November 13, 1953. p. 1 and Pakenham Gazette, November 20, 1953. p.1.
(17) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3, p. 1191.
(18) Vision and Realisation: a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake (Education Department of Victoria, 1973), v. 3.
(19) Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., p. 1352.
(20) Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., pp. 1190-1191; Victoria Government Gazette, October 9, 1874, p. 1823 https://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/images/1874/V/general/64.pdf
(21) The Argus, February 28, 1890, see here; one report has his name as A. Good, but I believe Goad is correct.
(22) The Argus, September 25, 1908, see here
(23) Warragul Guardian, October 18, 1892, see here; Vision and Realisation, v. 3, op. cit., pp. 1197-1198. The Vision & Realisation entry on Lardner doesn't mention that the school was moved from Pakenham, they note that Lardner No. 1711, acquired a new school building in 1886. It is possible that the Warragul Gazette report is incorrect and I can find no information about a tender. Around the same time the school known as Pakenham East was relocated to Harkaway. This was School No. 1279, it opened in 1874 and was then called Nar Nar Goon, renamed Pakenham East in 1889 and closed August 1891, with the building being moved to Harkaway, No 1697.
This post is a very much enlarged version of a post I wrote and researched on my work blog, Casey Cardinia Links to our Past.
