Mitcham Primary School

Mitcham Primary School is a South Australian State school serving the Mitcham area and situated on Hillview Road, Kingswood. It is the oldest continuously operating school in South Australia.[1][2] It has an enrolment of approximately 766 students from Reception to Year 7 and an Out of School Hours Care Program. The school predominantly serves the suburbs of Kingswood, Mitcham, Hawthorn, Netherby and Torrens Park. The school opened in 1847 with Thomas Mugg[3] as the teacher[4] in a hut on Mitcham Reserve. The school moved to the Mitcham Institute in 1870[5] and then to a purpose built school on Bulls Creek Road (Belair Road) in 1880. A new Primary school opened on the current site in Kingswood in 1953 and the Infant school and Primary came together on this site in 1981.[6]

History

South Australia was first settled by colonists from Britain in 1836 and by the late '40s Adelaide was a thriving community, with Mitcham being a significant village a few miles to the south. A combined Chapel/School building was erected, paid for by subscription of local families, and opened as a school in 1847[7] with the teacher Thomas Mugg who had been a cabinet maker in London. As attendance steadily increased the classroom became very crowded. Mugg continued as the teacher to 1868 teaching a very basic curriculum and enforcing strict discipline with regular use of a cane.[8]

Growth
Mitcham Institute,

At this time the community of South Australia was struggling with the problem of how to manage and extend public education in the colony. The Central Board of Education heard complaints about the quality of teachers in community run schools. Of 290 teachers supervised by the Board in 1875 only 135 were certificated as teachers.[9] In 1875, the South Australian parliament passed the Education Act,[10] establishing a public school system. All licensed schools such as Mitcham became Public Schools. The Act made schooling compulsory for children from 7 to 13 years (but not full-time).[11]

The crowded conditions continued to 1880 when a new purpose built school was opened on Bulls Creek Road (now Belair Road). Three years later the Mitcham Railway Station was opened next to the school on the new Adelaide-Aldgate line, creating with the school, a new centre of the Mitcham community. The close proximity of the school to the main Adelaide-Melbourne railway line entertained generations of children but severely restricted the expansion of the school grounds. The school continued to grow and enrolment was approximately 200 in 1900 and 200 by 1930.[12]

In 2013 the Junior Primary and Primary schools were consolidated under one principal.

Old Mitcham Primary School

Head Masters/Principals
Primary School Years Title
Thomas Mugg1847–1867Teacher
William Anderson1867–1868"
Charles Webb1868–1878"
Paul Mueller1878–1891Head Teacher
Fred Kruger1892–1899"
James Fowler1900–1905"
Josiah Willmott1905–1918"
Isaac Jacobs1918–1927"
Robert Alexander1927-1828"
Walter Huntley1928–1930
Dennis Murphy1931"
Henry Hudson1932"
Charles Pearson1932–1936"
Roy Devonshire1937–1944"
Primary School Years Title Infant/Junior Primary Years Title
Don Charmichael1945–1950Head MasterRosina Naughton1948–1950Infant Mistress
Edgar Sexton1950–1951Head Master
John Blizard1951–1952"Irene Harmer1950–1955"
Herbert Townsend1952–1955"Elizabeth Eardley1956–1957"
Francis Hussey1956–1957"Una Macdonald1957–1958"
Raymond Koehne1958""
Garry Habich1959–1966Master of MethodMonica Naylor1958–1966"
Alick Smith1966–1974"Rita Atkinson1966–1970"
Rex Hosking1975"Margaret Tscharke1972"
Ross Carthew1976–1980PrincipalJudith Smith1972–1976Principal
Anthony Earle1981Acting Princ.Polly Graetz1976"
Denis Vance1982–1985PrincipalVirginia Watts1977–1985"
Gerald White1986–1990"Daphne Liebelt1986–1987"
John Travers1991–1998"Patricia Cosh1988–2003"
Rod Tyney1998–1999Acting Princ.Gaye Glade-Wright2004–2008"
Steve Adams1999–2010PrincipalSuzie Sangster2009–2012"
Maryanne Tiller2011–2012"Jodie Kingham2012-2012"
Primary School Years Title
Maryanne Tiller2013 - 2018Principal
Scott Greenshields 2019 - Principal

Notable students
Name Years attended Notes
Thomas Playford II1847–...One of the first students at the school, later became a farmer, member of parliament and Premier of South Australia, whose father, Thomas Playford I, was one of the founders of the school. His grandson Thomas Thomas Playford IV was also Premier of South Australia from 1938 to 1965 – the longest serving Premier.
Bill Kibby, VC1914–...William Henry Kibby was a volunteer in the Second Australian Imperial Force who served in World War II and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the face of the enemy.[13]
Julia Gillard1967–1973Prime Minister of Australia from 2010–2013, and Australia's first woman Prime Minister. Gillard continued her education at Unley High School.[14][15]

References
  1. "No BER problems at Julia's primary school". Jodie Minus. The Australian. 28 June 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  2. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press, 1997, p. ix.
  3. Mitcham Chronology retrieved 6 March 2014
  4. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press Press, 1997, p. 7.
  5. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press Press, 1997, p. xiv.
  6. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press Press, 1997, p. xv.
  7. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press Press, 1997, p. 6.
  8. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press Press, 1997, p. 8.
  9. Thiele, C. Grains of Mustard Seed. Education Department of South Australia, 1975, Griffin Press, p.3.
  10. Education Act 1875 retrieved 1 February 2014
  11. samemory.sa.gov.au retrieved 3 February 2014
  12. Cornwall.C. Mitcham School 150 Years of History: 1847–1997. Griffin Press Press, 1997, p. 201.
  13. Gammage, Bill (2000). "Kibby, William Henry (Bill) (1903–1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Australian National University. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  14. "Prime Minister Julia Gillard visits Mitcham Primary, recalls 'happiest days of her life'". www.news.com.au/. 20 May 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  15. "AUSTRALIA'S PRIME MINISTERS Julia Gillard". primeministers.naa.gov.au. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
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