General News
16 October, 2023
Timor families to gather for special anniversary celebration
Saturday will be a big day for Timor Primary School as it marks 150 years of providing education to local students, a significant milestone for the community. The school will open its doors to welcome former staff, students and community members to...
Saturday will be a big day for Timor Primary School as it marks 150 years of providing education to local students, a significant milestone for the community.
The school will open its doors to welcome former staff, students and community members to its 150th anniversary celebrations on Saturday, October 21 from 10 am until 2 pm.
An official welcome will take place at 11 am before a whole school photograph will be taken at 11.30.
School principal Andrew Tatchell said it’s a proud occasion for the school and broader community.
“It’s a massive achievement for the school,” he said.
“Over the years we’ve had varying enrolment numbers — the community and school council have done an amazing job to keep the school going.
“We’re all really excited for the weekend, we’ve had a lot of interest stemming from even interstate from people saying they’ll be coming along which is great.
“The 150th will be a really proud moment for the whole community, I’m certainly very proud to be working here and all the school has achieved over the journey.”
The school, number 1207, had humble beginnings in the Sunday School of Timor’s Wesleyan Church which was situated on today’s Maryborough-Timor Road.
The impetus for a school came from local residents, many of whom were miners, searching for a formal school with Timor storekeeper Scrafton Brown leading the charge.
Local meetings were convened and contact with the Board of Education was made to request “aid, instruction, and the necessary forms of procedure” to enable the school to be founded.
The community’s drive paid off on March 12, 1873, when the school opened its doors with an initial enrolment of 203 students and was overseen by principal Cornelius McCarthy.
In June the same year the school relocated to the Mechanics Institute Hall as debate over the best site for the school moving forward continued in the early years.
The school’s present day site was gazetted in April 1878 and tenders for the building were called for in April of 1879, with the building erected at a cost of £2305 and almost seven years to the day, students began lessons at the new building.
Three years after opening, the school was at its peak, catering for 650 students — a stark contrast to today’s enrolment of around 50 students.
Former notable students include VFL footballer Bert Boromeo and local principal and historian, Tren Du Bourg.
The school bell tower is still in working order. It is emblematic of the school community that has found a way to survive and thrive into its 150th year.
One local with strong ties to the school’s history is Timor resident Mark Ipsen, whose son Jack is the fourth generation of Ipsens to attend the school.
“My grandfather, father and myself all went to school at Timor,” Mark said.
“We grew up three kilometres away, it was the closest school and so it made sense for us to go here even though my mother taught in Maryborough.
“It also makes sense for Jack to go to school here, it’s close to home and there’s that family connection as well.”
Starting school at Timor back in 1989, Mark said he remembers there was a push for the school to be closed down while he was there — adding another element of celebration to its 150th anniversary.
“I do have pretty fond memories of going to school here, I remember we were down to 14 students at one stage and there was a movement to close the school down for most of the time I was here,” he said.
“It’s a good thing the school has made it to 150 years, a lot of money has been spent since I was here and it’s changed a lot too — there used to be a playground out the front and the oval was just a gravel pit.
“The outbuildings the school has now are all new, we only had two classes back then so to see these changes and how far the school has come is great.”
Finger food and tea and coffee will be available at Saturday’s celebration, as well as photographic displays and an opportunity to tour the school building.
There will also be a commemorative school history book available for purchase or order at a cost of $30 and the opportunity to purchase a commemorative brick at a cost of $25, which will have the name of purchasers engraved and displayed at the school for years to come.