North Kalgoorlie Primary School

Statement of Significance

Significance: Assessment of Significance: North Kalgoorlie Primary School is a competently designed brick, render and iron roofed school building in the Federation Arts and Crafts style, made more visually complex by the honest expression of each stage of development. One of its finest features is the imposing central hall with its painted, reed-moulded Oregon lining supported on a queen-post truss system. (Criterion 1.1) North Kalgoorlie Primary School, in its open landscape and surrounding tall trees, is a local landmark in contrast with it's suburban setting. (Criterion 1.3) North Kalgoorlie Primary School is significant in the pattern of the history of Western Australian schools demonstrating the rapid development of the City of Kalgoorlie with each of the stages of development being clearly distinguishable in the fabric of the place. (Criterion 2.1) North Kalgoorlie Primary School has a close associations with prominent former students who included: educators Dr T. L. Robertson, Mr Harry Dettman, E. Halliday and W. Halliday, writer Gavin Casey, Matron Edis of the Home of Peace, Tom Eyres a Vice President of the Stock Exchange, F. C. Edmondson, engineer and J. Hocking the Editor of the Kalgoorlie Miner. (Criterion 2.3) North Kalgoorlie Primary School is associated with Government Architects George Temple-Poole, John Grainger and Hillson Beasley, who were responsible for many of the era's public buildings. (Criterion 2.3) North Kalgoorlie Primary School has been highly valued by the local community for social, cultural, and particularly educational associations since 1902. (Criterion 4.1)

Physical Description

North Kalgoorlie Primary School is a single-storey red-brick primary school building with a hipped and gabled zincalume custom orb roof based on the central school hall and surrounding classroom model. It is situated on a lot bounded by Campbell, Keenan, Russell and Addis Streets and contains the built evidence of the Senior School built for the Education Department in 1902. North Kalgoorlie Primary School is located in a suburban setting to the north of central Kalgoorlie. It is surrounded by generously wide streets with wide verges planted with Eucalyptus trees. The school grounds are fenced with galvanised steel tube framed link mesh fencing. The grounds are open grassed areas and bituminised play and parking areas. The 1902-14 school buildings are set amongst later buildings including a modern library resource centre to the east, transportables to the east and north, toilets to the north and modern classrooms to the north east. There are sparse plantings of Eucalyptus trees around the grounds. The old school quarters site lies to the north of the site and there is no above ground evidence of the is building. The plan North Kalgoorlie Primary School is organised around rectangular school hall which is a double square proportion plan. Classrooms are arranged around the hall and these elements were built up progressively. This arrangement of classrooms clustered around the large volume of the hall gives the school its visual expression. The design is restrained and almost utilitarian externally with hints of the Federation Arts and Crafts (Apperly et al, 1989) styling and proportions. Later buildings around the site are simple utilitarian types. The main North Kalgoorlie Primary School building is brick with cement enriched string courses. Windows are tall double hung sashes with awning lights over. The roof is gambrelled and is covered with custom orb Colorbond sheeting. Each stage of construction can be distinguished in the changes of the brickwork, changes in window arrangements and in the progressive simplification of detailing. Internally similar distinctions can be made through changes in detailing; for example the early classroom have fireplaces located at the mid point of external walls and later classrooms have fireplaces located in the corners of classrooms. Recent changes to the east corner of the school are sympathetically executed in style similar to the existing building. The interior of North Kalgoorlie Primary School is planned around the main hall. The hall is generously proportioned with a clerestory roof carried on large queen post timber trusses. The hall retains its original features, including its reed moulded Oregon timber soffit lining, though decorative treatments are recent. Unlike other goldfields schools North Kalgoorlie Primary School does not have a fireplace in the hall. Classrooms are either entered from the hall directly or from the four corridors which lead off the hall. Few rooms have been untouched by modernisation and four have been joined together to form larger rooms and this alteration was already in place by 1910. Changes have been made to the administration area in the eastern corner and this represents the most far reaching changes since the completion of the core group of spaces. The work done in this areas has changed all finishes, ceilings and floors. Elsewhere in the school the changes generally have left much of the existing fabric in place and removed minor elements, together with introducing modern services. The place is generally in good order. The spaces are generally used for the same or similar function to those for which they were designed. The hall is perhaps the least altered space. The exterior of the place is little altered since 1914, except where the minor addition was made in connection with the administration offices and reception in the eastern corner. With the minor exception of the management of damp penetration, termite control and maintenance of pointing, North Kalgoorlie Primary School is in good condition. Although North Kalgoorlie Primary School has undergone much minor change, the place continues to perform the basic functions envisaged when the design was conceived. North Kalgoorlie Primary School remains little altered externally and the hall is also little altered. Changes to the rooms began early in the history of the place and have continued through time to accommodate changing requirements.

History

North Kalgoorlie Primary School is a single-storey red brick primary school building with a hipped and gabled zincalume custom orb roof based on the central school hall and surrounding classroom model. It is on a lot bounded by Campbell, Keenan, Russell and Addis Streets and contains the built evidence of the Senior School, constructed for the Education Department in 1902, and some more recent structures which are not of heritage significance. The Teacher's Quarters, pavilion classroom, Infant's School and other buildings transported in from Yellowdine and Boulder Airport have been removed. Elementary education became compulsory in Western Australia in 1871. The system adopted was a dual one of Government and Government-assisted private or church schools. The church schools were of concern to the Governor of the time, Aloysius Weld, who was the first Roman Catholic Governor in Western Australia. In 1890, following Responsible Government and before North Kalgoorlie Primary School was built, state aid to church schools was abolished and the Education Department was established to provide free secular education along the lines of the New South Wales model. At this time there was an influx of teachers from the depressed 'Eastern Colonies' to teach in the schools being built in Western Australia, many of which were being established in the rapidly expanding goldfields. Cyril Jackson, who was appointed Chief Inspector of Schools in 1897, brought new ideas utilising the ideas of Froebel, who focused training on the development of the child rather than regimented rote learning. Jackson also noted the architectural inadequacies of the many school buildings: "they were not oriented to local climatic conditions and there was little provision of trees for shade in the playgrounds. As a result, Jackson instituted Arbor Days to encourage the planting and appreciation of trees". In his 1897 report on schools in Western Australia, Jackson commented on the standard design of classrooms, in which light entered the rooms from behind or in front, rather than the sides (Smith, 1995). These and other matters, such as replacement of fluted mini-orb iron used to line the schools, influenced the designs of the schools built after this time. Light from the left hand side of the room became a guiding principle in the preparation of new school building designs. Jackson also introduced syllabus reform, including gardening, botany, woodwork, metalwork and cooking, all of which required additional facilities. Furthermore, the new Education Act of 1899 made education compulsory from 6 years to 14 years, and space had to be found to keep the children at school for two years longer. The number of schools in the State was doubling every five years, and the rate of growth on the goldfields was even higher, with the added problems of shifting population that accompanied each new rush. To minimise costs and streamline the work of an overloaded department, the Public Works Department of WA used the same school pattern for the construction of many schools, while introducing subtle variations. George Temple-Poole favoured uneven fenestration, while Grainger and Beasley (who followed Poole as the primary Government architects) grouped the windows in even numbers. In many areas, rapid population growth led to additional classrooms being required within months of the opening of a new school. The clever use of a modular design, based around the central core of a hall provided a cohesive presence and proved sufficiently durable in concept to accept subtle changes. By 1902, Kalgoorlie Primary School (1900) and Boulder Primary School (1898) were becoming overcrowded and were expanding into additional temporary accommodation. North Kalgoorlie Primary School was opened, initially in temporary canvas premises, to provide alternative school accommodation. Despite the temporary nature of the first buildings, the children no longer had to trek to Kalgoorlie Central, St Mary's or the Church of England School, which were the alternatives (Hunter, n.d). North Kalgoorlie Primary School was designed by the Public Works Department, under the Chief Architect John Grainger and his assistant Hillson Beasley. The original pattern upon which the design was based had been developed by George Temple-Poole. Grainger and Beasley adapted Poole's designs to suit a variety of situations. The high-pitched gabled roofs of Poole were decreased, the ceilings were lowered from 14 feet to 12 feet and the windows had both uneven and even fenestration. However Grainger and Beasley continued Poole's design of grouping classrooms around a central hall (the hall at North Kalgoorlie Primary School is a particular feature of the school). Like many other schools of the time, North Kalgoorlie Primary School began as a nucleus to allow for progressive expansion. The first stage of the building was erected for the cost of £1331 and provided for 125 pupils (Rooms 8 and 9) (Hunter, n.d.). The school was opened on September 15, 1902 by Mr McMillan of the North Kalgoorlie School Board (Hunter, n.d.). The school quarters were erected in the northern corner of the site for the cost of £474 (the quarters were demolished in 1978). The initial intake of 105 pupils rose to three times that number in four years as the suburb of North Kalgoorlie expanded. The enrolment increased by 60 pupils in the first week alone. To keep up with the increase in students, the school expanded at a rate of almost a room a year until 1910. In that year there were 500 pupils; in 1917 there were 600. Student numbers hovered between these two figures until 1922, when the numbers halved. They did not rise again until after World War II, when pupil numbers returned to 600 in 1958 (Hunter, n.d.). Additions to the school which commenced in 1903 were completed in April 1904 (plans signed by MJC WBH, PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). This work provided two more classrooms for 100 additional pupils. Further classroom additions in 1905, which included a girls washroom, accommodated 50 more pupils (plans signed by MJC WBH, PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). Another 50 pupils were accommodated in 1906 bringing the number of classrooms to six to house the 360 pupils. An additional boys washroom was also built in 1906. In March 1909, Miss Halbert had 90 infants in her charge necessitating a further classroom. Room 5 was built in 1910, providing accommodation for 52 more pupils (Hunter, n.d.; Hillson Beasley, PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). Rooms 6 and 7 were added in 1911 when the infants washroom was built (Hunter, n.d.). With the rapid development that occurred at times, the staff had to be ingenious. In 1913, the pupils and staff built their own classroom in the hall made of hessian and timber, painting and decorating it in their holidays. In addition, a library was housed in a converted washroom from c. 1913 (Hunter, n.d.). The boys also made desks for the infant classes (Hunter, n.d.). In 1914, a pavilion classroom, with sliding or lifting canvas shutters on three sides was added to relieve overcrowding. This classroom, one of the first in the state of this type, was either demolished later or moved to another site. The staffroom and Room 10 were removed during the 1920s (one went to Orange Grove). At times of overcrowding, the nearby Methodist Hall was used for school accommodation (Hunter, n.d.). Western Australia went into a low level depression from about 1913, when most of the mining was done in deep shafts and the effects of Federation were depleting the nascent industries. The sale of gold was embargoed in 1914 for the duration of World War I, which caused the development of the goldfields to slow. The war had a profound effect on education, limiting the staff available, reducing salaries, and removing funding for school expansion. The first Headmaster of North Kalgoorlie Primary School was Arthur H. Russell: "A solidly built man (some say 15 stone) with the black beard and moustache….He was the first of twenty, each of whom left behind them some relic of their personality either in the shape of a piece of equipment, or some form of procedure, a scrap of tradition, or a school rule" (Hunter, n.d.). In line with Inspector Jackson's directives, Russell introduced the first Arbor Day to the school. Japanese Pepper (schinus molle) trees were planted because a hardy tree was required to withstand low rainfall and the ravages of goats and sandstorms. The school was a stepping stone for ambitious teachers. Three headmasters, Telford, Rabourne and Jeans, and a first Assistant, J.W. Hatfield, went on to become District Inspectors. However, North Kalgoorlie Primary School is more celebrated for the achievements of its pupils than its teachers. Former students included the Director General of Education, Dr T. L. Robertson; Deputy Director, Mr Harry Dettman; E. Halliday, Director of Physical Education; W. Halliday, Principal of Graylands Teachers College; Gavin Casey, a noted author; Mr. F. C. Edmondson, foundation General Manager and Chief Engineer of the State Electricity Commission of Western Australia; Matron Edis of the Home of Peace; Tom Eyres, Vice President of the Stock Exchange, and J. Hocking, Editor of the Kalgoorlie Miner. Affection for the North Kalgoorlie Primary School was particularly high in the local community, as Hunter states: "There has always been a close liaison between the school and the community in various community projects, the peak here being reached when Mr Potter was Headmaster. He was the means of establishing Adult Education discussion groups which met in the school with a lecture being given each month" (Hunter, n.d.). The local North Kalgoorlie Dramatic Club and North Kalgoorlie Ladies Choir used the school facilities. Involvement in the 'war effort' was also undertaken as communities were more active at such times and the sense of cohesion was evident (Hunter, n.d.). Storms and cyclones damaged the buildings at North Kalgoorlie Primary School removing roofs, blowing down the chimneys, destroying shelter sheds and flattening fences at frequent intervals. A major storm occurred in 1928 causing further damage (Hunter, n.d.). Assisted immigration was revived after World War II and the population of the State expanded rapidly. A burst of building activity occurred, assisted by Commonwealth funding. In 1945 a classroom was moved to North Kalgoorlie Primary School from Yellowdine (PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). This was demolished in the 1980s, under the direction of Barry Godley (Hunter, n.d.). Additions commenced construction in 1946-1948 and were completed in 1948-1949. A wartime building from Boulder's aerodrome was converted for use, and repairs and renovations and new latrines and sewerage work were undertaken (PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). There were shortages of materials in the immediate postwar years and construction was often delayed. Further additions were undertaken in 1950-1952 and completed in 1952-1953 (PWD 32254 and 18910 Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). The second mineral boom in the 1960s and 1970s saw renewed activity in the goldfields. The Poseidon Nickel Boom increased pressures on schools. Changes in educational aims and methods and in technology saw the phasing out of many of the older buildings. The Infants School was demolished and a new open-plan Junior School was built to replace it. Shelter sheds and other structures were also removed. A series of working drawings were undertaken by local architect Bruce Williams for additions/alterations in 1970 (PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). A Dental Therapy Centre was added in 1976 (PWD Att. To 6/696/0 Book 1). Williams also designed the upgrade and conversion of the administration area in 1978 (PWD Att. To 6/696/6c). In the 1980s the wooden ceilings of the hall were painted white (Pat Hooper, Headmaster, North Kalgoorlie Primary School, conversation with Dorothy Erickson and Philip Griffiths, site visit late 1996). In 1995 the Administration section of the school was reorganised and a new library built (Lorraine Cowie, Librarian, North Kalgoorlie Primary School, conversation with Dorothy Erickson and Philip Griffiths, site visit late 1996). North Kalgoorlie Primary School is currently being used as a primary school servicing the population of North Kalgoorlie. The historic 1902 building is the central core of a group of much later school buildings.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Authenticity: Moderate to High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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