Early days of Epping West Public School
1927 - current
The land that Epping West Public School stands on was originally bushland and farming land. The area surrounding the site was used for timber felling, dairy farms, market gardens, poultry farms, cornfields and orchards. The Department of Education officially paid for the land in May 1925, a price of eight hundred pounds. The school originally opened an infants department consisting of classrooms and teachers rooms on 4th July, 1927 and had 43 students enrolled. In 1932, the school introduced a primary department which saw the first portable building moved into the school.
Some of the differences that the school community had then compared to now included:
1930-1931
The then Principal Violet Didriksen (1927-1931) had killed 13 snakes in the playground
World War 2
For the duration of World War 2 - air-raid shelters dug by parents were on the western side of the playground. They were about six feet deep and wide enough for children to sit in, on either side facing each other with their knees under their chin. The trenches were filled in after mid 1943 when the emergency was over.
Sewing was taught by the needlework teacher to girls and boys
Class sizes of up to between 40-50 students
Bonfires were built on the oval and for cracker nights. The bonfires began being constructed up to 4 weeks prior to the event and all contributed to the pile
Students used ink and inkpots when writing
There was no uniform and some students did not wear shoes to school – it was looked upon as effeminate for boys to wear shoes.
Vigoro was a popular sport
Original sport houses
The original sport houses were:- Possums, Kangaroos, Koalas and Emus
Continuous growth
The school has had continual growth in enrolments from its opening in 1927. Epping West has had a continual rich tradition of quality teaching and learning programs.
For more information on the History of Epping West please see the attached documents. The print copies are available in the school library.