Mannering Park Primary School

MANNERING PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL

THE SCHOOL SITE-ITS EARLY YEARS

The history of Mannering Park began in 1911 when James Vinrace Vale purchased a portion of land from Edward Garth. Mr Garth was the licensee of the Bridge Hotel in wyong. This was the first building of any grandeur in Wyong.

James Vales portion of land consisted of 640 acres, including four and half miles of absolute water front; the land had a 100 foot reserve from the waters edge. Part of this allotment contained the school grounds which became the Vale’s family residence.

An extremely well educated man, James Vale (he was a qualified as an assayer, an analytical chemist, a mining engineer, and a steam engineer) left his business in Castle reagh Street, Sydney to move north.The land deal was a “conditional purchase” which meant that James Vale had to occupy the land and not sell it for a certain period of time. When the purchase (10 shillings per acres) was completed the property which was originally called Garths Point became known as Vales Point.

On deciding on the ‘school site’ as a suitable camping area, James Vale and his two sons, Rupert and James, lived in a tent while they constructed a temporary dwellling (near the site of the present school BBQ). The house used slabs which were split and nailed to round poles. It had a board floor and galvanised iron roofing. The inside was lined with hessian applied wet so that it would shrink when dry and form wall paper. The ceilings were treated the same way.

The residence was replaced in 1924 by a larger, more comfortable home. After James Vales death in 1955 the house was sold to Frank Kennedy, who was a second hand car dealer in Newcastle. The following year the house was unfortunatly and mysteriously burnt down. It is rumoured that My Kennedy was responsible.

At this time there was no school in Mannering Park. Children commuted to Kanwall School some fifteen kilometers south or to Munmorah some three or four kilometers north.

THE EARLY DAYS 1961-64

A temporary school was established in the second half of the year 1961. It was conducted in the CWA hall. The teacher in charge was George Jackson. The register of admissions shows that twenty two children were enrolled. They were:

NAME / CLASS / DATE
Anthony John Styan / Year 1 / 12/9/61
Julie Lynn Styan / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Kerri Lyall Noble / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Allen John Bampton / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Lorraine Pearl Bampton / Year 2 / 12/9/61
Catherine Micallef / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
David Micallef / Year 1 / 12/9/61
Lorraine Lynnette Mills / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Phillip David McKewen / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Robyn Shirley Wynn / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Ian Mark Fullick / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
John William Wendt / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Allen John Bridge / Year 1 / 12/9/61
Ian Craig Bridge / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Gary Clifford Graham / Year 1 / 12/9/61
John Vincent Barrett / Year 1 / 12/9/61
Steven Mark Day / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Catherine Jane Whitbourne / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Launa Suzanne Graham / Kindergarten / 12/9/61
Norman Glyn Jones / Kindergarten / 13/9/61
Stephen John Dennis / 18/9/61
Julian John Hall / Kindergarten / 20/9/61

In 1962 there were twenty five new enrolments making a total of forty six (46) as one child from 1961 left to go to KanwalSchool in December, 1961. During this year (1962) school was conducted in the Progress and CWA halls. The addition of a second teacher to handle the extra numbers was made. R.J. Sharpe was appointed.

In 1963 the population of the school had risen to 54 children with 34 of these being new enrolments. Many children who had been present the previous year left.

Also in 1963 there was a change in staff resulting in Mr A.W. Sandercock becoming principle (teaching years 1 and 2) and Miss D.A. Moss teaching Kindergarten.

In the meantime, Mr Kennedy had sold his land to the Department of Education, and work commenced on the 28th July 1963. Four permanent classrooms were erected plus an office/staffroom.

“The school was built by W.A. Wenham Builders Pty Ltd, of Newcastle, for a contract price of twenty five thousand pounds. The school is going to cost thirty thousand pounds with fittings and furnishings. Situated in Vales Road, near the shops, the school is of brick veneer, with pitched metal roof. It is design with a split level floor to fit with the sloping terrain. Of a contemporary nature with large glass areas and full length veranda it is the first one of a new design introduced by the Government Architect, Department of Public Works”. (Advocate Newspaper 14/10/1963).

On January 28th 1964 the school commenced at its present site with four teachers (Mr A.W. Sandercock – Principle, Miss D. Moss, Miss R. Mudie, and Mr I. Morris)

There was a major influx of new enrolments. Approximately fifty (50) children enrolled on the first day and the commencing number was one hundred and thirty (130) at 17/12/1964.

Mr Sandercock taught Years 5-6, Mr Morris Years 3-4, Miss Mudie Years 1-2, and Miss Moss Year K-1.

Later in the year (1964) the schools official opening was conducted. It was scheduled for 11:00AM on Friday 16th October 1964.

“Some two hundred (200) adults and one hundred and twenty children (the enrolment at the time) were seated in the school grounds which was hosting the ceremony from a dais decorated with red white and blue bunting”. Advocate Newspaper 21/10/1964.

Special guests included:

Chairman and Principle – Mr A.W. Sandercock

Wyong Shire President – Cr. W. Barrett

Area Director of Education – Mr W.A. Gelfius B.A.

Member for Wyong – Mr R. Maher B.A. M.L.A.

Minister for Education – Hon. E. Wetherell M.L.A.

The dedication was made by the Reverend F.W. Best of Wyong, after which an appreciation was expressed by the President of the Mannering Park parents and Citizens Mrs F. Kearins, and a presentation was made to the Minister by the school captain, twelve year old Kelvin Wynn.

THE FIRST FOUR YEARS 1965 – 1969

This is the period of time in which little is known of the development of the school as few records remain. Luckily some interesting persons in the town and outside have supplied me with what knowledge and information still exists.

1965

At the commencement of 1965 the enrolment was about 120 although as the year progressed the numbers increased up to over 130.Some children left during the year and others moved into the area. This floating population can be directly attributed to the construction of the Vales Point Power Station. The first stage was completed in 1966. The population of the township was slowly but surely increasing. People tended to settle near their work, but also the nature of work was not always long term and the construction workers were prone to short stays and then they moved on to the next construction site.

The staff remained the same during 1965 as did the teaching arrangements. One interesting fact which emerged was that the infant’s classes were now changing from small numbers to large. At the beginning the infants numbers were not high at all. Now they were appearing at the top end of the school as small numbers while large numbers of children were joining the school from kindergarten.

1966

To reinforce this observation the numbers in 1966 were: Year 6 – 16, Year 5 – 13, Year 4 – 26, Year 3 – 22, Year 2 – 27, Year 1 – 18, Transition – 15. This gave an enrolment at the end of 1966 of 137.

There were however some changes in staff and teachers classroom arrangements during this year. Mr. J.M. Boughton replaced Mr Morris, Mrs Turnbull replaced Miss Moss, and the other two teachers, Miss Mudie and Mr Sandercock remained at the school.

Mr Boughton taught Year 5 and 6 while Mr Sandercock decided upon a change and chose Year 3 and 4. Miss Mudie administered Year 2 while Mrs Turnbull taught Year 1 and Transition.

At the beginning of 1966 there were 126 children enrolled in the school with an extra nine arriving before the end of the year.

1967

In 1967 Miss Mudie left and was replaced by Miss MacDonald who taught Years 1 and 2 while Mrs Turnbull taught Kindergarten – Transition – Year 1. Mr Sandercock remained with Years 3-4 and Mr Broughton continued with the senior composite Years 5-6. Year 6 was an extremely small year with only nine children (six girls and three boys), one of whom left during the year lowering the number to eight pupils. Year 5 was more complete with 21 members at the beginning of the year. Year 4 commenced with 21 students also while Year3 contained 23 children. The primary total at the beginning of the year then was 74 pupils. Year 2 pupils numbered 22, Year 1 and transition combined total was 22 also. Kindergarten boasted 21 new enrolments. The total infants children amounted to 65 and the overall school numbers were 139 during 1967.

1968

In 1968 there were a total of forty seven new enrolments throughout the year. Twenty four of these constituted the Kindergarten. The total enrolment at 31/1/1968 was 131 children. The teachers present were Mr Sandercock, Mr Broughton, Miss Moore, and Miss MacDonald, Mrs Turnbull was the fifth teacher.

1969

It appears that 1969 saw the last year for Mr Boughton, Miss Moore and Miss MacDonald who all left. Numbers of children in the school began to decrease after a period of steady enrolments. In fact in 1969 the number of new children entering the school amounted to only 26. Eight of these children had moved school by the end of 1969.

One important development during 1969 was the construction of another classroom in the form of a permanent brick building. This brought the number of classrooms to five (5).

THE SECOND PERIOD 1970 – 1978

The commencement of 1970 saw enrolments stand at 143 children on the 27th January. However, unstable conditions continued to dominate and by March the numbers had fallen to 130 children.

Two new teachers were appointed to Mannering Park in 1970 during January. They were Miss Dobbs and Mr Fisher.

The Parents and Citizens representation for 1970 consisted of:

President – Mrs Parker

Vice Presidents – Mrs Ryan, Mrs Whitbourne

Secretary – Mrs Kearins

Treasurer – Mrs Morton

In April class loading stood at 35 per teacher. There was some difficulty in obtaining a fifth teacher. The problem was finally overcome in June when Mrs Carroll was appointed.

1971

By 1971 the school population had dropped to 120 children. Miss Dobbs left and was replaced by Miss Binskin at the beginning of term. Because of falling numbers Miss Binskin was then transferred to Toukley. In September Miss Murrell left and was replaced by Miss Morgan from Toukley.

1972

Only one major change to the staff in 1972; that being Mrs Cormick replacing Mrs Carroll. The enrolment only permitted four teachers at this stage. Twenty one children were accepted for enrolment on 2/2/1972. Sixteen were placed in Kindergarten.

There was a total of fifty new children for the year while twenty two pupils did not manage to continue to 1973. Gail Laird who had originally enrolled in Kindergarten in 1964 now was the longest serving pupil at the school. The school numbers amounted to 83 on the 2/2/1972. They steadily climbed to reach 109 by later in the year.

1973

In 1973 the enrolment reached 129 children and two specific needs first arose. The first of these involved an extra teacher for remedial work. This job was assigned to Mrs Morgan. Other teaching staff and their class structures are as follows:

Kindergarten and Year 1 – Mrs Cormick / Mrs Lock

Years 2 – 3 – Mrs Turnbull

Years 4 – 5 – Mr Pitt (replaced Mr Fisher)

Year 5 – 6 – Mr Sandercock

Mrs Cormick was replaced by Mrs Lock in July 1973

The second need was for a permanent library structure. The school had experienced difficulty in locating a library amongst its available space in hat rooms. From this time on the Parents and Citizens committee continually corresponded with the Department. Success was not forthcoming until enrolments had risen quite rapidly. The magic number was 199 and this was not reached until 1978

1974

Sadly, 1974 marked the end of Mr Sandercocks principleship at Mannering Park. He retired due to ill health. Mr Gartner from Toukley remained in charge as relieving Principle from March to December 1974.

On September 20th, the same year, Mr Sandercock was afforded the honour of a Testimonial Dinner at Toukley RSL in recognition of his dedication and hard work at Mannering Park Public School for twelve years. It is interesting to note an error in the report by the Gosford Star. It only concedes Mr Sandercock ten years as Principle whereas the Advocate newspaper clipping nominates his term as being twelve years. The later of course is correct.

The same teachers assisted Mr Gartner as previously worked with Mr Sandercock in 1973. The school populationfigure was 130.

A clerical assistant – Mrs Briggs was appointed in July 1974.

1975

At the commencement of Term 1 1975 Mr Peter Pritchard was appointed permanent Principle. Also there was quite a noticeable change in staff. Mr Pitt and Mrs Turnbull remained however newcomers besides the Principle were Mrs Tyndall, Mrs O’Connor. The enrolments stood at 137, a slight rise over the previous year.

Mr Pritchard instituted some changes during the year. One was the incorporation of an ‘Open Class’ concept within the school. A second change resulted in the school hours being changed from 9:30AM to 9:00AM and departure times from 3:25PM to 2:55PM. Also some fixed equipment was placed in the playground for the children’s benefit.

At about March 1975 Mr Pritchard requested repairs and maintenance be carried out on the roof and guttering of one particular room. This was the beginning of a series of telephone calls, letters, and telegrams requesting repairs which eventually led to a walkout of children twelve months later in March 1976. Incidentally the problem still exists today in 1983. Its history apparently goes back to 1969 when a problem was first encounted.

1976

Mrs Turnbull who had been a long serving member of the staff transferred and was replaced by Mr Tam. Mr Pitt was transferred and Mrs Clark was the other teacher. The enrolment was now 150 children. 1976 demonstrated a gradual increase in numbers

Mrs Tracy was appointed as a domestic Arts teacher at the commencement of the year however she resigned and Mrs Yates became a hand craft teacher one day per week in July.

1977

1977 saw the beginning of a population explosion in the Mannering Park area. Mrs Lakin was appointed as an additional teacher bringing the number of teachers to six. Unfortunately there was only suitable accommodation for the five teachers. To overcome this concern the Open class was expanded to over ninety children with over three teachers. This highly unsuitable arrangement continued until the arrival of the first demountable.

Mrs Vicki Marshall replaced Mrs Clark while the remainder of the staff were unchanged. When things settled down the classes appeared as follows:

Kindergarten – Miss Marshall

Year 1 – Mrs Tyndall

Year 2 – Mrs Lakin

Year 3 & 4 – Open Class – Mr Tam, Mrs O’Connor

Year 5 – 6 – Mr Pritchard

Mrs Craig replaced Mrs Briggs

Further development of office extensions were constructed as well as a Weather Shed and storage shed. A library was still urgently required and the P&C were maintaining their correspondence vigil with the Department.

A GREAT LEAP FORWARD 1978-1983

1978

This was a year of many changes and developments for Mannering Park Public School

1. Change of Principle – Peter Pritchard transferred to Lindfield and Mr Peter Newman was appointed Principle.
2. There was no open class but instead straight classes and composites.
3. The Principle was no longer a class room teacher but an Administrator (late in the year)
4. Mr Whiteman and Mr Dean replaced Mrs Lakin and Mrs O’Connor remained
5. Mr Tam transferred during the year, Mrs Tyndall returned from Long Service Leave
6. The arrival of a Library in the form of a demountable
7. The appointment of a Librarian two days per week (Mrs Lawler)
8. The introduction and first presentation of school awards 13/12/1978

Kindergarten – Miss Marshall

Year 1 – Mrs Lakin

Year 2 – Mr Whiteman

Year 3 – 4 – Mr Tam until 11/9/1978, Mrs Tyndall

Year 4 – 5 – Mr Dean

Year 6 – Mr Newman until school reclassified at commencement of 1980 school year

1979

A great influx of families arrived in Mannering Park to work at Vales Point Power Station (the second section was opened in 1980). Some significant developments were.

1. Mr Newman was non-teaching
2. The enrolment was 186, although it increased rapidly to 200 by the 12th March 1979
3. Mrs M. Baigent replaced Mrs J. Lakin.
4. Mr. R. Prysent transferred from District Relief (Budgewoi) to permanent position.
5. Mr. I. Lahiff joined the staff as an “additional” on 12/3/1979 as numbers increased.
6. Mrs. S. Bales replaced Mrs. Lawler as Librarian.
7. The school grounds underwent a beatification process. A BBQ was established.
8. Arrival of second demountable (for myself) in October 1979.

Kindergarten – Mrs Tyndall

Year 1 – Miss Marshall

Year 2 – Mrs Baigent

Year 3 – 4 – Mr Prysent

Year 4 – 5 – Mr Whiteman

Year 5 – 6 – Mt Dean

The primary was rearranged on my arrival:

Year 3 – Mr Prysent

Year 4 – Mr Lahiff Year 5 – Mr Whiteman

Year 6 – My Dean.

1980

This year was important for two main reasons.

1. The appointment of a new Principle – Mr. R.T. Weeks
2. The appointment of a Deputy Principles position – Mrs. R Keevers

The school numbers rose over 200 children and this necessitated the addition of a further teacher, bringing the total to seven assistants, one deputy and one principle. (Mr. S. Brown)

A teachers aid was employed the first time – Mrs. M. Black.

Further developments included the erection of a new school sign and new seating in the playground

A third demountable was positioned during July.

The class organisation appeared as such:

Kindergarten – Y1 Transition – Mrs Tyndall

Year 1 – Miss Marshall

Year 2 – Mrs Baigent

Year 3 – Mr Prysent

Year 4 – Mr Lahiff

Year 5 – Mr Dean

Year 6 – Mr Brown

Year 3,4,5 – Mrs Keevers

1981

The school had expanded to 255 pupils in January 1981. This called for:

1. The addition of an additional teacher – Mrs. A. Glashoff
2. The number of demountables rising to four

Other notable changes included: