Moorooka State School is a heritage-listed state school at Sherley Street, Moorooka, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The buildings were designed by Department of Public Works (Queensland) and Frederick George Kirkegard with the first buildings being constructed from 1928 to 1929. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 28 August 2015.
History Moorooka State School opened in January 1929 to accommodate the growing population of a previously rural district on the southern outskirts of Brisbane. The first Sectional School building was extended in 1933 and 1946 with further Sectional School buildings to its northeast and northwest corners. In 1956 a three-storey brick and concrete classroom block in a modernist style was added, as post-war housing construction in Moorooka continued to increase the local population. The standard and purpose-built school buildings are set amongst terraced, landscaped grounds with mature trees. Apart from a brief hiatus during World War II (WWII), the school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
Originally part of an area called "Boggo", which ran from Dutton Park to Rocky Water Holes (later Rocklea, ), and which was part of the traditional lands of the Turrbal people, Moorooka's development was spurred on by transport improvements. Predominantly an agricultural area until the early 20th century,Clarke, R and Thomason, P, 1979 (plus 1989 update volume by Thomason, P), Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989: a history of the school and district. Moorooka State School Jubilee Committee, pp.14-5. the coming of the Beenleigh railway line in 1885 increased the attraction of the district for residential development. The Moorooka railway station was established in 1887 and the Moorooka Railway Station Estate was advertised in 1889,Clarke and Thomason, Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989, p.17'Moorooka Railway Station Estate', The Brisbane Courier, 11 May 1889, p.10. but flooding in 1893 deterred settlement of the area for some time.Project Services, "Moorooka State School", in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, January 2008, p.4'Do you know your Brisbane? Moorooka and Rocklea - rich in historic interest', Sunday Mail, 7 July 1929, p.28. By 1900 Moorooka was still primarily rural, with most residents living between Ipswich Road and Beaudesert Road.Clarke and Thomason, Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989, pp.20-1. Moorooka was part of the Shire of Yeerongpilly, prior to its amalgamation into the City of Brisbane in 1925. The house "Greenloaning", built for Robert Bell in 1904, was on land which later became the Moorooka State School's Infant School, and his family lived there until WWII.Clarke and Thomason, Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989, p.24.
Residential development occurred to the west and north of the school site in the early 20th century, assisted by the extension of the tramline to Yeronga Park in 1915.'Do you know your Brisbane? Ipswich Road - a cluster of progressive suburbs.' Sunday Mail, 14 April 1929, p.23. In the 1920s the area east of Ipswich Road, to the south of Yeronga Park, was used for war service housing.Clarke and Thomason, Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989, p.30. The tram line was extended from Yeronga Park, down Beaudesert Road as far as Mayfield Road, in 1937.'Suburban development of Brisbane: bright future of the Ipswich Road District', Courier Mail, 19 February 1936, p.18. The article claimed that Moorooka would become "another Annerley", regarding residential development, thanks to the tram line extension. The tramline was extended to Salisbury in 1940. (Mackenzie, A, 1992. Memories along the Boggo Track, Boolarong, Brisbane, p.108. However, the area around Moorooka State School (east of Beaudesert Road, between Mayfield and Evans Roads) remained largely undeveloped before WWII, apart from some housing between Bracken Street and Sherley Street.Aerial photograph, 17 May 1944, RAAF3-4.
The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of growing communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.
In 1911, the population of Moorooka was 350, rising to 791 by 1921.'Moorooka', www.queenslandplaces.com.au/moorooka (accessed 6 May 2015). Pressure for a state school at Moorooka occurred from around 1912, when the Moorooka Progress Association presented a petition to the Education Department.'Progress Associations: Moorooka', The Telegraph, 13 December 1912, p.4. Moorooka children either attended Rocklea State School, or Yeronga State School (established 1867 as Boggo State School).Queensland State Archives Agency ID5869, "Yeronga State School". A site for a new school at Moorooka, consisting of , was purchased from Charles Robert Parish by the Department of Public Instruction in December 1927.Certificate of Title 11230205, DNRM. The land was originally part of Portion 198, purchased by John Robertson in 1864. The site was transferred to the Crown in February 1943, with a Deed of Grant to the Secretary for Public Instruction in Queensland, the next month. The school was originally intended to be sited west of Beaudesert Road (then called the Southport Road), which would have put it in the Oxley electorate, rather than the Logan electorate in which it ended updespite 95% of the pupils coming from the Oxley electorate. ( 'New State School opening at Moorooka, Department's record', The Telegraph, 18 March 1929, p.7)
The first building constructed for the school, during 1928, was a standard Public Works design. To help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting, and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.
Attention to improving light and ventilation to achieve an optimum classroom environment culminated in 1920 with the Sectional School (Type DT/1), a high-set timber structure.School types are detailed in the following study: Burmester, P., Pullar, M., and Kennedy, M., Queensland Schools, A Heritage Conservation Study: Conservation Management, Report for the Department of Education, November 1996, p.30. This fundamentally new design combined all the best features of previous types and implemented theories of an ideal education environment. It proved very successful and was used unaltered until 1950. This type was practical, economical, satisfied educational requirements and climatic needs and allowed for the orderly expansion of schools over time.
Before the Sectional School, all school buildings were generally aligned with street and property boundaries, regardless of aspect. By late 1914, after acceptance of the principles and virtues of providing natural light into classrooms advocated by Eleanor Bourne, (appointed as the first Medical Inspector of Schools in 1911), buildings were being preferably orientated to receive maximum indirect southern light. The Sectional School type was designed to have an unobstructed wall of windows on its southern elevation and verandahs, typically to the north but sometimes to the end elevations, allowing for linkages to other and future buildings. Its blank end walls were also detailed to be removable, so that as the school grew, the building could be easily extended in sections, hence the name. This led to the construction of long narrow buildings of many classrooms - a distinctive feature of Queensland schools.Burmester, P., Pullar, M., and Kennedy, M., Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, November 1996, pp.41-44.
The Sectional School building at Moorooka was aligned approximately east–west, being lowset at the east end, and highset at the west end (due to sloping ground), and consisted of five classrooms , with an northern verandah which wrapped around the east and west sides. A teachers room projected off the northern verandah, and the northeast and northwest verandah corners were enclosed.'Moorooka State School' photo in DPW Annual Report, 1929Plan 143-15-9_16113845, "Moorooka State School Additions", Department of Public Works, 1932. The 1928 plan indicated possible future expansion through the addition of buildings off each corner of the first building, linked by their verandahs;Plan 143-15-9-2_16113856, "Moorooka State School", Department of Public Works, 1928. an expansion approach that accommodated the sloping site. The building (known as Block B in 2015) had a Dutch-gabled roof and was set on concrete piers. About two thirds of the understorey play area, on the west side, was floored with concrete. Three of the classrooms were linked by folding partitions, which could be opened to create an assembly hall. The remaining partitions were fixed, with centred doorways. It was reported that there was room for 200 pupils, with ample light and ventilation provided by large windows on the southern side. The completed cost was £2,607.Report of the Department of Public Works for the year ended 30 June 1929, p.5.
Moorooka State School opened in January 1929 with 139 children and 6 teachers. By the end of the year, enrolments had increased to 230.Clarke and Thomason, Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989, p.39. At the school's official opening on 16 March 1929, Thomas Wilson, the Minister for Public Instruction, noted that the school, built on the elevated part of the site, had a beautiful view to the west, and was positioned to allow for future expansion.'Moorooka, new state school, splendid structure', Sunday Mail, 17 March 1929, p.12'Moorooka: opening of the new school', The Brisbane Courier, 18 March 1929, p.20.
Efforts were made to improve the school grounds and its facilities. The Ladies Committee worked to provide a piano, a sewing machine and a library, and to install electric lights at the school. In late 1929 a concert was held in the Ideal Picture Theatre in Yeronga to raise funds.'School concert', Brisbane Courier, 2 December 1929, p.23. The uneven parade ground between the school and Sherley Street was levelled by government relief workers, and boys at the school helped remove tree stumps from the grounds. In 1931 two tennis courts were opened, southwest of the school building, with money raised by the School Committee, the Ladies Committee, and teachers.Clarke and Thomason, Moorooka State School Jubilee 1929-1989, p.43'Tennis Courts opened', Brisbane Courier, 7 October 1931, p.18. These tennis courts were located south of Block D. See site plan 1637-416-1_11048279, "Moorooka State School Block Plan", Department of Public Works, 1950.