Homebush School No. 1579
Homebush was first developed as a Church of
England school from October 1, 1861. The building was weatherboard with an iron roof and
hardwood floor. It had been built by public subscription and was used for school and
religious purposes. Mrs. Isabella Reynard was the 'Head Teacher of the non-vested school.
Following
the Education Act of 1872 the school came under the control of the Education Department
and the building was leased from the church until such time as they could build their own.
This was at a cost of one pound five shillings per month.
There were 99 children on the roll at the time of
transfer with an average attendance of 60.
A new site was selected by D.I. Bolam and a brick
building SO' x IS' was erected. This building was completed an occupied on 5/6/1875 with
A.W. Appleton as Head Teacher, Sarah Appleton as Work Mistress and Samuel Rutter as Pupil
Teacher. School No.316 was struck off the roll and ceased to exist from 31/5/1875.
In
1877 Mr. Appleton wrote to the Department requesting the erection of a residence, as he
was concerned about vandalism at weekends when he was not in attendance. The Department
acceded to his request and a residence was erected at a cost of two hundred and forty two
pounds eight and five pence. This was of four rooms, timber construction with an iron
roof.
The
Inspector recommended fencing the site to keep the wandering stock from the school
building, but no action was taken.
A
letter to the Department in 1878 indicated that there was inadequate provision of toilet
facilities for the pupils and there was no provision of it for the Head Teacher or his
family. As there were approximately 140 children in attendance immediate steps had to be
taken. Provision was also made near the residence for the Head Teacher's family.
Ventilation
in the school was also a problem as there was no natural flow of air. There was a porch at
either end of the building but with so many children in attendance there was no way that
the air could circulate. Windows
were altered to allow them to open wider to allow better ventilation.
The
underground tank presented many problems over the years and repeated applications were
made to have it drained as the water was foul smelling and darkly coloured. An inspector
was sent to examine the water and found that there was no pollution but the colour had
come from the roof shingles and the odour was from the tannin content in the water. It was
suggested that the only solution would be to replace the shingles with an iron roof, but
no money was available to effect alterations.
Dead trees were also dropping matter onto
the roof and as a result vegetable matter was appearing in the water. The locals with the
permission of the Department removed these trees.
In
1889 there was still concern about the water supply as there was Typhoid in the district
and it was thought that the underground tank might be a harbour for the disease. The
concrete pipe, which carried the water from the building to the tank, was repaired to
prevent contamination but there was no other action.
When
Laura Symons became Head Teacher she did not want to occupy the residence and enquired as
to whether she would be allowed to sub let the residence as there was a family in the
district who urgently required accommodation. This was approved provided she was
responsible for the condition of the building and the collection of the rent from the
tenant. Rent would still be deducted from her salary.
In
December 1894 there were only 32 children on the roll. These were:
Felix
Armour
Ernest Bullock
Mary Burns
Albert Burns
Ellen Burns Frederick Burns May Burns Charles Chellew
Arthur Chellew Letitia Chellew Thomas Collenette Emily Collenette
Caroline
Craigie Charles
Kofoed Percy
Kewish Agnes Little
Clara
Little
Richard Little
Edith McDonald May McDonald
Edith
McKinnon Mary Quinlan
Sarah Quinlan Amy Quinlan
Kirby
Quinlan Emily
Thompson Matilda
Yates Hepburn Yates
Louisa
Yates
Leslie Yates
Emma Yates Eva Yates
By
1903 to enrollment fell to 18, the school was then closed in 1904. Homebush reopened in
January 1905 half time with Lamplough. In 1908 the number of students on the roll fell to
12 and State School # 1579 closed on the 8/10/08.