Fluctuation of Enrolments As Families Moved Into and out of Districts Around the Temora

Fluctuation of enrolments as families moved into and out of districts around the Temora Shire led to the establishment, improvement, downgrading and eventually, closure of a number of small district schools which serviced the early population of our shire.

One of these such schools was Narraburra, with the following information garnered from correspondence, maps and other information which has come to hand during the researching of members of the Narraburra, Morangarell Grogan History Group.

On the 23rd May 1884, Mr Thomas Kite, requested the necessary forms to make formal application for the establishment of a school at Narraburra.

An application for the establishment of a public school was lodged shortly thereafter, with 30 children nominated from the O’Keefe, Kite, Byron, Payne, Standen and Muir families, to attend the proposed new school.

On the 26th July, 1884, Inspector LL Lawford recommended that the school had about 25 children with an average attendance of about 18, which was insufficient for a public school. He further recommended that a provisional school be established at Narraburra, and that residents be informed through Mr Thomas Kite that the Minister would grant them aid to the extent of 57 pounds, when they report that a building has been erected on the selected site, and furnished with a table, chair and bookshelf, that were to be obtained from the surplus stock at Temora Public School.

The NarraburraProvisionalSchool was erected in 1885, on the Narraburra Creek, where the road to Young crosses the creek about 13 miles from Temora.

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Numbers varied, with 20 children attending in 1890 (Ruth Kite, Tom Kite, Ted Kite, Alf Kite, Jinnis Kite, Alice Kite; Kate Muir, Janet Muir, Sarah Muir, Mary Muir and Harry Muir; Robert Payne, Christy Payne, Rebecca Payne, Dora Payne; Cambell McDonald, Alick McDonald, Charlie Byron, Michael Byron and George Byron. Their teacher was Miss A Mullaney).

The Kite family lived a quarter of a mile from the school, while the Muirs and Paynes were about a mile and the McDonalds and Byrons travelling the furthest, about two and a half miles to school each day.

The common mode of transport for these children was walking.

The O’Keefe (four children), Granlees (two children) and Gay (four children) families also had land selections in close proximity and were said to be likely students, once the families took residence.

Mr Charles Fagan, wrote to Inspector CW Friend Esquire, in 1893, requesting repairs to the school, which was now under his charge, owing to the shrinkage of the timber which resulted in a series of draughts, rendering the school extremely cold.

Mr Fagan thought the request timely, as the building was to be painted in the near future, and was of the belief that the repairs be better undertaken before painting.

By 1898, enrolments had declined, with Chief Inspector Friend ordering the schools at both Narraburra and Willundry, be reduced to form half-time schools, from the 19th May, 1898, with Mr Alf Phillips acting as teacher, travelling the nine miles between the two sites

The schools went on to operate successfully in the half-time format, with WH Conroy engaged as the teacher in 1910, then followed James Becks, the teacher in 1913, who noted in a claim for forage allowance that he used a bicycle for travel in fine weather, but during wet weather found it necessary to rent a horse, to travel the 45 miles per week to service both schools.

Around 1914, numbers declined and the school was thought to have been closed, as application for re-opening NarraburraSchool was declined in March 1915, with students forced to travel to the proposed ProvisionalSchool at Narraburra East.

School Inspector, Mr Ravenscroft advised a Mr WJ Williams, on 24th May 1931, that the chances were against the site ever being needed for a school at least for a long time to come, as it was only three miles from SunnymedeSchool.

The following month, Mr Ravenscroft ordered that the land be disposed of, with portion 13, of two acres, and portion 75 of 10 acres, in the parish of Narraburra, county of Bland, be returned to Mr GS Noack, under a permissive occupancy.

Narraburra School is just one of a series of schools within the Narraburra, Morangarell, Grogan districts currently being researched in the next step of recording the past of those areas.

Already, the district’s history group has installed interpretive panels marking the sites of past hotels and post offices, with schools to now occupy the focus of the group.

Anyone interested in contributing to the research of history of the schools is urged to contact the following relevant contacts –

Grogan School, Lila Warren; Wollundry, Dale Wiencke, Sunnymede, Jenny McRae; Narraburra, Kris Dunstan; Narraburra East, Bruce Robinson; Little Red School, Ros and Ellis Hartwig; Morangarell, Jenny McRae and Janet Heinjus.