Dumbleyung School

Statement of Significance

The original Dumbleyung School building has aesthetic, historic, representative, social and rarity cultural heritage significance. The school has a symmetry and architectural features that make it pleasing to the eye. It displays many characteristics desired by the local community. Its good condition, high integrity and history combined with its long association with the Dumbleyung District make the school socially and historically significant. The school is a fine and uncommon representative of country schools built prior to World War I.

Physical Description

Some of the notable features of this place include: • Location in Harvey Street, surrounded by trees • Distinctive appearance - building is unusually tall in relation to its other dimensions • Weatherboard construction, resting on stumps • Hipped corrugated iron roof • A pair of brick chimneys • Tall wooden framed sash windows

History

The Dumbleyung School was first built in 1912. This was the result of much agitation by parents to get the Education Department to supply funds for a purpose built school. Previously Dumbleyung students had been taught in one half of the Town Hall (the other half was the Roads Board Office). For its first year it was a half time school sharing the week with North Dumbleyung. The first room was opened with an enrolment of 29. A second room was not opened until 1923. These two rooms were to be used to the limit until post World War Two. Notes from the Principal's (formerly Head Teacher) School Journal show the interesting and at sometimes difficult aspects of life in a country school. The students distance from school, overcrowding, absenteeism during bad weather, poor ablution hygiene, home and farm help and intermittent failure of the school buses all led to varying class sizes making education a challenging task for some teachers. With numbers in the school increasing, compounded by the extra children from the city and Prisoners of War during wartime, classes overflowed to the hall for several years. With 150 students enrolled in 1951 the Government built two prefabricated schoolrooms. This relief was only to be short term as by the late 1950s a class was moved to the RSL Hall and then Warm's Shop for tow years. For a whole year in 1958 these students used wooden planks for desks and chairs. Both the RSL Hall and Warm's Shop have since been demolished. In 1960 owing to rising student numbers, to 212, Dumbleyung School classrooms expanded. The new classroom was the first of its design built in WA. At the end of the 1990s this room held the computers. In 1968 after much lobbying the High School was built and in 1980 the library was added. An on site Pre-Primary was added in 1998. In the 1970s the Education Department was going to remove the original school building. However, the Parents and Citizens Committee (P&C) protested and it was agreed that if the P&C would take responsibility for the maintenance of it, the schoolroom could remain. The P&C paid $700 to have it painted. In 1999 owing to declining numbers, the Dumbleyung High School status changed and it returned to a Primary School standing (this occurred only after much debate from the local community). According to the Principal of 2001 the old Dumbleyung School building which was being used as and art and resource room is now empty and the Education Department will no longer fund the maintenance and up keep of the building. Its future is now in question (2002).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Degree

Condition

Good

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update