History of Bolinda Primary School

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A detailed history of Bolinda (Click this link)

Thanks to Angela Cook-Lee for her dedication and hard work to produce this wonderful document.

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Captain Gardiner donated a half acre of land in 1868 for the establishment of a school. This land was located at the junction of the Melbourne-Lancefield road on the road to Kerrie. The Church of England and the Presbyterian Church collaborated to create a non-vested school on this site, which was referred to locally as “Havelock”. However, it was officially State School No. 88, Bolinda Vale.

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An American Pine school room, measuring 20 feet by 60 feet, was erected on the site along with a 16 feet by 16 feet residence, which cost 180 pounds ($360) to build. John A. Scott became the teacher when the non-vested school closed on October 31st, 1870 and reopened the following day as State School No. 1070.

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The school was then used as a place of worship for the local Church of England and Presbyterians on the Christian Sabbath, until the churches were given permission to use the adjacent Mechanics Institute. In 1874, the school teacher, Mr. Thomas Fairley, faced a public protest from the Bolinda community when he expelled a student from the school. This led to a public meeting where the parents of the 33 students threatened to withdraw their children. The Department of Education transferred Mr. Fairley and appointed Miss Grace A Caldwell as the new head teacher.

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In 1882, a new timber school was built and the old building was converted into a four-room teacher's residence. Miss Caldwell remained at Bolinda for the next 24 years, during which time the school had many head teachers. Today, Bolinda Primary School continues to be an important educational institution in the community, building on the legacy established over a century ago.

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The records show…

• John A. Scott (1870 – 1873)

• Thomas B. Fairly (1874 – 1874)

• Miss Grace A. Caldwell (1874 – 1898)

• Thomas Philips (1898 – 1909)

• A. McLeish Parratt (1909 – 1914)

• Reginald Coles (1916 – 1926)

• Miss Ross (1927 – 1929)

• Matilda A. Garner (1930 – 1935)

• Arthur J. Simpson (1935 – 1939)

• Robert Pywell (1940)

• Harold R. Griffiths (1945 – 1947)

• Jack Walters (1948 – 1950)

• Jim McQualter (1950 – 1954)

• Graham Collacott (1958 – 1962)

• A. W. Gleeson (1963 – 1963)

• Frank Ryan (1964 – 1966)

• Frank Burtonclay (1967 – 1969)

• Roger Cobcroft (1970 – 1973)

• Peter Kendry (1974 – 1976)

• Wally Holod (1977 – 1978)

• Rosalind Darby (1979 – 1981)

• Lado Kuret (1982)

• Paul Bain (1983 – 1986)

• Maureen Winter (1987 – 1992)

• Pam Lenders (1993)

• Keith Jenkins (1994 – 2006)

• John Mackintosh (2007-2016)

• Stuart Telford (2017)

• Greg Clement (2018 – 2019)

• Jayden Andrea (2020 - 2022)

• Jordan Chamerski (2023 - Present)