Vision and Realisation : a centenary history of State Education in Victoria

I have written before about some of my favourite local history resources, and Vision and Realisation : a centenary of State Education in Victoria (full details at the bottom) is right up there at the top of my list. It is a three volume history of State education in Victoria and consists of over 4,100 pages. It includes a history of education in the colony of Victoria from the denominational schools onwards, a history of secondary schooling, technical schooling and teacher education. The most interesting part for family and local historians is a short description of each state school established before 1973. Many of these schools no longer exist, but were created to fill a need at the time. For instance there may have been an influx of children due to gold mining or timber milling or a soldier settlement sub-division so a school was established as a result and when the mine or mill closed the school also closed.

What sort of information can we find in Vision and Realisation? Pictured below is Tynong North School No.4464. This school was opened on June 8th 1930, but the residents had been petitioning the Education Department for a school since 1922. The School building had come from the Nar Nar Goon North School, No 2914, which had a new building erected in 1929. The first Head Teacher was Samuel Bromberger, who served there until 1938. The School closed in December 1951 and the pupils and building were transferred to Pakenham Consolidated School.

Tynong North State School. Courtesey of Bruce Weatherhead.

Our other photograph (shown below) is of the Koo-Wee-Rup North School, No.3198. This school, at Five Mile, started life in 1894 as the Koo-Wee-Rup South School, with Head Teacher, Peter Norris. The original building came from the San Remo School. The name of the school was later changed to Koo-Wee-Rup North. The school was closed in November 1959 and the children travelled by bus to Pakenham Consolidated School.

Koo-Wee-Rup North State School, 1927.
From the collection of the Koo-Wee-Rup Swamp Historical Society.

These two examples show the type of information you can gain from Vision and Realisation. Some entries are just a small paragraph and some run for over a page. The three volume sets is out of print, but I have seen it on secondhand book sites for around $150.00

Vision and Realisation : a centenary history of State Education in Victoria, edited by L.J. Blake. Published by the Education Department of Victoria, 1973.

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