Official history of The Gums State School
At a public meeting held at Richmond, Victoria on 17 May 1910 a Building Committee was elected to promote the establishment of a school at The Gums. This committee consisted of members of the Fargher families. The proposed site for the school was five acres of Crown Land situated on The Gums Reserve adjoining the main road.
In August of that year, Mr W H Smith, Inspector of Schools, reported that settlement of the district seemed to be progressing fairly well and that the completion of the railway to Tara would assist in the development of the area. He observed that the school would have at least eight pupils and he envisaged that enrolment would increase quickly to about twenty. For these reasons he recommended that the school be opened.
The Department then wrote to the secretary of the Building Committee, Mr R M Bilson, requesting suitable accommodation and transport arrangements for a new teacher. Mr Bilson informed the department that the Kentish family had a room available at 12/6 ($1.25) per week and that the new teacher could travel to Warra by train, by mail coach from Warra to Tara, and there be collected and taken to The Gums.
On 28 August 1910 the minister approved the erection of the state school at an estimated cost of £240, subject to the payment of a local contribution of £48. Apparently the Hon Godfrey Morgan paid part of this contribution and he was never repaid.
By May 1912 the construction of the school building had not commenced. Mr Kentish contacted the Department and communicated that timber was in the ground and that the roads were in a good condition for the carriage of materials. He requested that work on the construction of the school be started and direct action be taken immediately to afford children in the district some education.
In December 1912 the Inspector of Works reported that the construction of the school building had been completed satisfactorily at a cost of £280.
Alexander Davison, on transfer from Palm Tree, opened the school 20 January 1913. His annual salary was £110 plus expenses. He later advised the Department that he could “do nothing” on that date because necessary teaching requisites had not arrived. On January the 29th, with eight children enrolled at the school, the first formal lesson was taken at The Gums State School.
The small number of pupils enrolled at The Gums was a continuing problem for the school in it’s early years. In January 1916, for example, Mr Cecil Kentish wrote to the Department advising that a fall in attendance was due in part to the effects of a severe drought. Very few people had a horse left for the purposes of work, let alone to transport their children to school.
A lack of pupils led in fact to the closure of the school several times in it’s early years. The school was closed in July 1932 and twice in 1938.
Some improvements and additions to the school were made later in its history. In March 1955 approval was granted for the construction of an official residence for the head teacher. Shortly after, an additional classroom was also built. In April 1966, the Hon. J. Bjelke-Petersen, then Minister for Works and Housing, granted approval for the erection of additions and improvements to the school. The existing classroom was converted into a library and health services room by the erection of a central partition and a replacement classroom was built at a cost of $10, 500.
In 2007 renovations were undertaken to allow for the first intake of Preps. The central partition was removed between the library and staff room to allow for a separate classroom for the year 4-7 students. In 2009, under the Federal Government’s initiative ‘National School Pride’, the P-3 area was renovated to include the veranda. New lino, windows and security doors were also included and classroom furniture purchased. In 2009 the Investing In Our Schools Program allowed for the enclosure of the concrete shaded area to become the tuckshop/multipurpose room. A new library building was erected in 2010, funded by the Building the Education Revolution Fund. In this same year the small library was converted into the administration office.
The history of The Gums State School offers a fascinating insight into the early life of the district. We can observe the great importance of the horse as a mode of transport and for the purposes of work. We can also observe the real isolation of the early settlers as we imagine a teacher’s long trek from Warra to Tara and finally to The Gums. We can admire the determination and courage of the battling farmers who raised the considerable sum of £48 and achieved for their children the right to an education.