Palmyra Primary School

Statement of Significance

The Palmyra primary School is significant for the following reasons: Aesthetic value: The substantial Federation building lying well within landscaped ground, maintains a significant visual impact without dominating it suburban settings. Historic Value: One of the first schools to be opened in Melville as part of the rapid expansion of mass education. Social Value: The school became a symbol of local progress and stability and the focus for community activity. Authenticity: Original fabric of the building remains unaltered and it's continued function as a primary school. Palmyra Primary School is significant as the first State School in the Palmyra locality, established in 1913 to serve the educational requirements of a new suburban subdivision Palmyra. The new and initial State School building of two classrooms constructed in 1915 on the School site at the intersection of Aurelian Street and McKimmie Road, Palmyra, to accommodate the enrolment at that time of sixty students, is important as the beginning of a school development which has grown since that time to become the Palmyra Primary School on the same site today in 2007. The significant elements of Palmyra Primary School comprise the south, west and east wings of the classroom complex, the two separate toilet blocks (one for boys and one for girls), the mature landscape on the School site, the School bell dated 1869, and the oval and perimeter vegetation to the oval site. The library, transportable classrooms, the covered play area and central courtyard treatment are not assessed to have heritage value. SIGNIFICANT ITEMS: The form and materials of the external presentation of the original brick and iron building.

Physical Description

Imposing single storey school building set in well established grounds. Palmyra Primary School is a State Government Primary School comprising classrooms and landscape elements dating from the initial section of the School in 1915 and subsequent substantial additions and minor adaptations up to the present-day in 2007. The School is located on a corner site at the intersection of McKimmie Road and Aurelian Street in Palmyra. The development on the site commenced at the southwest corner of the lot in 1915 and subsequently extended in a U-shape in that area. Transportable classrooms have been introduced in the same southern section of the site. The northern section of the site has been developed as a large grassed oval circled at the perimeter with mature tree planting.

History

The original and first Palmyra State School was established in 1913 and was conducted in the Palmyra Mechanics Institute Hall located at the corner of Tamar and Carrington Streets, Palmyra. The Government leased the Hall for use as a school during daylight hours for £12 per annum. The School opened officially on 30 June 1913. The School was opened by Mr. T. Wynne-Kinnear; the original Head Teacher was Mrs. McDonald, with one assistant, to teach the nineteen enrolled children. Growth in the local residential population necessitated the construction by the State Government of a new two-classroom school on a site nearby at the corner of Aurelian Street and McKimmie Road, Palmyra, the site of the present Palmyra Primary School. That initial school building comprised two classrooms in timber-framed construction with a hipped roof clad in corrugated galvanised iron and with an open verandah along the greater part of one side of the building. In 1915, contracts were let for a new permanent school building, the first stage in brick and stone of the school complex that is to be found today on the McKimmie Road site. The building was constructed by Mr. G. Lithgo for the sum of £2,200 and was completed on 22 October 1915. At that stage, there were sixty students enrolled with two teachers, housed in the two new classrooms. That first stage of the State School coped until 1922 when over one hundred children were enrolled. School records show that on 28 January 1920 eighty-seven children were enrolled with twenty new enrolments. By 25 June 1920, the number had risen to one hundred and nineteen on the roll. In 1925, one hundred and fifty-two children were enrolled with between one hundred and thirty-eight and one hundred and forty-eight in attendance. By February 1955, the enrolled had grown to three hundred and sixty-nine, increasing to five hundred and eighty-two by 23 December of that year. The records also show that two additional classrooms, a staffroom and a storeroom had been added to the original building by August 1955. The early history of the School and enrolment statistics are recorded in a booklet entitled Palmyra Primary School Established 1913, a brief history commemorating the 75th Anniversary in 1988 of the School in Australia’s Bicentennial year. At that time in the Anniversary year, the Principal was Ron Byrne who acted as Principal from 1986-1988.

Integrity/Authenticity

Modifications: Yes Extent of Original Fabric: Most

Condition

Very Good.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

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