January 1974
brings to mind two challenging events, the
Brisbane floods and the opening of the
Springwood North State School. No, I haven't
made a mistake, the original name (published
in the Education Office Gazette, 1973) was
Springwood North State School. The decision
to change the name was taken by "the
Department" six weeks after the school
opened with the consequence that all the
stock of books and equipment from those
yearly day bears the name Springwood North.
The very
mention of stock brings alarms bells ringing
- the stock arrived unannounced in the week
prior to the opening of the school, all
seven ton of it in cartons, packets and
unusual shapes and sizes, to be stored in
the staffroom by a very determined truck
driver who sought to clear his load without
interruption. Teachers and parents worked
tirelessly for days to process the stock and
distribute it to classrooms. However, to the
dismay of all teaching staff, the most
prized teaching resource, class reading
books, were nowhere to be found. Of course,
they were on back order. Necessity in
the mother of invention. After a telephone
call or two I drove my Holden to a large
school in the western suburbs of Brisbane
where a fellow principal and friend of may
years loaded the boot with "spare" reading
books "on loan".
I should
back-track to the weeks before the school
opened. Remember it was a very wet month,
hence the floods. The school buildings were
splendid by oh! horror, the grounds were a
maze of open trenches, piles of dirt,
slippery slopes and no area suitable for
playing. The school had no telephone for the
first two months so communication with
parents and public was particularly
difficult. There were other ways,
newsletters, meetings, fundraising
functions, etc. ad we all became outstanding
at cadging - refrigerator and pie oven for
the tuckshop, sporting gear, prizes for
raffles and the like.
The most
memorable event of all in my view was the
night meeting held to select a school
uniform. Can you imaging 96 ladies each with
samples of material, patterns and individual
ideas of what would be the best uniform,
gathered in a double classroom with one
lonely male principal whose only with was to
have a decision made by the end of the
night. Yes, that was an eventful night but I
hope that the decision taken then have stood
the test of time.
From memory, I
think the enrolment on day one was 280.
School started at 9:00 am and by 9:10 all
classes were in and teachers had started the
long task of getting to know children they
had never met. The eight teachers were
outstanding in their skill and dedication
and met the challenges eagerly. An example
of the effort given by staff is found in the
lengths of which the groundsman went to
establish shrubs and gardens in the rocky
wilderness around the buildings, some
mornings arriving at 4.30 am to water and
tend the gardens. The children, too, seemed
to rise to the occasion. They presented few
problems thought they were in new
surroundings with classmates form several
local schools, from interstate and even from
overseas sharing their classroom and
playground. This was their new school and
they were proud of it.
By the end of
the second year the school enrolment had
grown to 600 with the associated increased
in staff numbers and the continuous
construction program with its stop-gap
measures of locating "temporary" buildings
in the grounds. The first being an old
"tinny" which I believe still adorns the
crest of the hill near the car park. I would
like to pay tribute to the people who worked
to establish a foundation for what has
become a well respected and well loved
school within the Springwood community. The
efforts of teachers, parents, children and
the community was outstanding. Many hours of
work were done by so many without public
recognition.
In those first
years a pride was established within the
school that exists today.
I am sure that the pride will continue and
that the school will serve the needs of the
children who attend.
Lloyd Pickett
Principal 1974 - 1975
