By CASEY NEILL
DANDENONG’S first state school opened its doors on 4 May 1874.
It’s since moved and grown, and will mark its 140th birthday next month.
A dinner at Dandenong Club on Thursday 1 May – exactly 140 years since an official dinner to open the school – and a family day in the school grounds on Saturday 3 May will mark the milestone.
The event will run from 9am to 4pm and feature activities from community groups, free rides, food stalls and history displays.
Principal Christine Toth said the original school was on the corner of Robinson and Foster streets.
She said the Education Act 1872 created the concept of public schools.
Before that, people attended church-run education or didn’t go to school.
“The people of Dandenong asked for a public school,” she said.
“It was very early in education in the state.”
The school moved to its current site on Foster Street in 1881 with about 200 pupils.
The Gothic-inspired building had three rooms – one for boys, one for girls and a gallery – and modern fittings included a porch, hat rack and ventilation.
The education department bought the land for the school from Ken Masters’ family and a street behind the school is named after them.
Mr Masters started his time at the school about 1942.
He recalled air raid trenches under the pines that lined the school yard, and hand-milking cows out the back each day.
“You had fresh milk for your lunch,” he said.
He also reminisced about his time in teacher Jane Austin’s classroom.
“My brother was a short stubby bloke and had big dimples,” Mr Masters said.
“Miss Austin used to bring him to the front of the class every morning and give him a kiss on his dimples.
“I was five years after John. She always related to me as Johnny’s little brother.”
Carmen Powell started at the school about two years after Mr Masters, and lived just minutes’ walk away in New Street.
“But I was always late,” she said.
“I often climbed the gate because it was closed at 9am. I could usually hear the bell ringing as I ran across the playground.”
Ms Powell also vividly recalled her grade two teacher, Miss Austin.
“Her hair was grey and coarse and always tied in a bun at the back,” she said.
“The rumour being that it was a wig. I was always watching on a windy day for signs that it might slip or blow off.”
There’ll be many more memories on display at the school on Saturday 3 May.
Phone 9792 2743 for more information.
