Collection 685 - Coolac Public School

Coolac Provisional School, in the County of Harden, was opened in February 1872. In 1874 the school was converted to a public school. Coolac Public School continued to operate until May 1981, when it closed. (1)

The basic elementary schools in the New South Wales education system, were known as public schools from 1867. Originally the attendance of thirty children was required for the establishment of a school, but this was reduced to twenty-five in 1867 and twenty in 1880; in 1957, when provisional schools were converted to public schools, the minimum figure was reduced to nine. (2)

Provisional schools were first established in 1867 in areas where at least fifteen children, but fewer than the twenty-five required for a public school, could be expected to attend. In the 1880s the minimum number was reduced to twelve; from 1898 the minimum was ten, and from 1945 it was nine. (3)

Endnotes

1. Government Schools of New South Wales 1848-2003. NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p.51.
2. Government Schools of New South Wales 1848-2003. NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p.18.
3. Government Schools of New South Wales 1848-2003. NSW Department of Education and Training, 2003, p.17.