Centenary celebrations: Scarborough State School

SOURCES: History Redcliffe; Scarborough State School – Growing with Pride – 1925-2000, Sally West and Kate Narracott; and Pictorial History of Scarborough State School 1925-1985, Duane Hart.

Main image: The class of 1925. Courtesy of City of Moreton Bay RLPC 000 000395.

As past and present pupils, teachers and the community prepare to celebrate Scarborough State School’s centenary this month, we take a look back its history and the moments and people who have helped shape it.

A school for the northern end of the Peninsula was first mooted during a public meeting in 1918, with a committee elected in October that year.

An application was made to the Department of Public Instruction, which included a list of families who would benefit, but it was rejected by the inspector who said only 11 of the 51 children listed lived more than two miles from existing Humpybong State School.

The inspector did, however, recommend land be resumed for a future school on the Main Coast Road (now Oxley Ave), south of Josephine St where the Midway shops now stand. It was at odds with the local council and building committee who preferred the current Scarborough State School site, at Eversleigh Rd.

A new school committee submitted an application to the department in March 1924, which was approved in July the same year despite some local objections including from the Woody Point Progress Association.

On March 9, 1925, at 2.30pm, MLA for Murrumba Richard Warren officially opened the school at the community’s preferred location. It had one building, with one room and verandas on the northern and eastern sides.

William J Stewart was the first Head Teacher and was the only teacher for the first five years. He was at the helm until his retirement in 1935, dying just a few weeks later.

There were 30 pupils enrolled on opening day, with a further 24 enrolled by the end of the year. Scarborough State School now has 780 pupils and a campus with facilities that include a tennis court and swimming pool.

The school is set on expansive grounds which include Weeping and Moreton Bay Fig trees planted during Arbor Days from 1926 onwards. Trees were often planted to mark a celebration or in memory of someone who had died.

Proud history

The Peninsula’s first Olympian Graham Higham attended the school from 1933-40. He boxed at the 1948 London Olympic Games. Other sporting legends have included an Olympic sprinter, Commonwealth swimmers, hockey players, and a professional golfer.

According to the Scarborough State School Admission Register, The Gibb brothers, Barry, Maurice and Robin attended from February to November 1959. They would go on to become international superstars with the Bee Gees.

The school was the scene of drama during World War II, when two US Airacobra fighter planes from the Petrie-based 80th Squadron collided while flying over the school on July 2, 1942.

One pilot died when he crashed into a market garden in Josephine St. The other survived – manoeuvring his aeroplane over the bay, avoiding the school and houses, before bailing out.

Former pupil Bette Bray later recalled: “Our school was littered with plane parts and ammunition. Miss Walker, our school teacher at the time, thought we were being attacked and told us to run to the trenches which would have been disastrous because all the bullets were flying around.

“The next thing, she was yelling for us to get under our desks … one of the doors of the plane landed right near the headmaster’s office. They were picking up bits and pieces of the plane for a long time.”

Air raid trenches had been dug near the school and drills were conducted to ensure children and teachers knew what to do.

Former students have previously shared fond memories of their time at Scarborough State School which included enjoying pies from Smokey the Pie Man, who had a wood stove on the back of his ute.

Cream buns, pies and lollies became lunch favourites for pupils when a shop was built across the road from the school in the late 1930s. A small tuckshop was opened on the school grounds in about 1948/49, serving homemade cakes and sandwiches once a week from under the school building.

By the 1960s, it was operating from F Block, but still just one day a week to ensure there was still viable trade for the shop across the road. It became a five-day-a-week operation in 1984, when the shop closed.

Centenary celebrations

Scarborough State School Principal Will Johnston says excitement is building ahead of the centenary celebrations, particularly among Year 6 and Prep pupils – those graduating and those at the beginning of their time at the school.

“They don’t quite have a strong concept of time, in the younger years, but the older kids certainly know 100 years is a substantial amount of history in the local area,” he says.

“The school has a long history in the area of being a school of choice on the Peninsula. Our school’s motto is Pride of the Peninsula ... I think particularly, celebrating 100 years, people are very happy to be involved with the school and involved with this celebration and milestone.”

Scarborough State School is collecting memorabilia ahead of the celebration including photos, report cards and other keepsakes.

“We’ve had a few historic canteen menus with things as obscure as a meat cube for 3c. None of us actually knows what this magical meat cube was,” Mr Johnston says.

He is expecting hundreds to attend a community event at the school on October 24 from 3.30-6pm.

There will be an assembly from 4pm, memorabilia display in the library, school tours for former pupils and an opportunity for people to reunite and catch up which has been organised by the P&C. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Anyone with memorabilia is asked to email the school [email protected]

Celebratory activities for junior school pupils will include a day where they will dress up as centenarians and join in a Larry the Lion mascot scavenger hunt in search of 100 little lions earlier in the day on October 24. Senior students will enjoy a school disco the week before.