Welcome to Brighton State School

Principal's Welcome
Mission Statement
School Profile
School History

Staff
P & C
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School History

Brighton, a bayside suburb on the outskirts of Brisbane, is situated on the shores on Bramble Bay. In the early 1900's it was a small agricultural community, consisting mainly of small crop farmers and fruit growers. The children of the district who attended school had to travel approximately 5-8 kilometres to Sandgate.

A special meeting called by the Brighton Farmers and Fruitgrowers Progress Association was held on October 13th, 1916 for the purpose of establishing a State School. The Under Secretary of Public Instruction was duly informed that a Building Committee had been elected.

Mr A. Mutch, District inspector reported, "As the prospects of the neighbourhood are good and as I think there will be no lack of prospective pupils in the near future, I cannot but recommend the establishment of a school forthwith at Brighton, Sandgate".

Property of three acres with frontages to both Holmes Street and North Road was purchased from Mr George Sackett for the sum of 45 Pounds ($90). The committee cleared two acres of the land using voluntary labour.

The Minister of Education Mr H. T. Hardacre gave consent for the erection of a building in August 1917. On May 1919 approval was given for the expenditure of 585 Pounds ($1170) for the erection of a new State School. The Superintendent, Construction Branch, was instructed to give the matter his early attention and in November 1919, the building was completed, ready for occupation in 1920.

1920 - 1933 THE EARLY YEARS

Mr Alfred Thompson was transferred from Waterford to take up the appointment as Head Teacher of the newly completed Brighton State School. The school opened on 27th January 1920 with an enrolment on 31 pupils. By the end of the year an additional 25 pupils had enrolled.

In the early days Brighton was virtually a bush school and lessons were conducted between the hours of 10am and 4pm as Mr Thompson had to travel by train from Clayfield and then ride his bicycle over rough and hilly roads from Sandgate. In August 1920 a second teacher, Miss Flora Campbell Noble, was appointed to the school; then, Miss Elizabeth Pollard replaced Miss Noble on 9th October 1922. Miss Pollard lived near Zillmere School and rode a pushbike each day except on wet days when her father brought her to school in a horse and buggy. Miss Pollard taught the infant grades until her transfer in 1927.

Many of the children had to travel long distances to school including the Dohle family who lived at Petrie Pocket. They rowed a boat across the Pine River and walked from Buckley's Kiosk!

The original schoolroom soon proved to be inadequate for the increasing enrolment and a new room with a connecting verandah was added in 1924. The furnishings in both rooms were very basic with two rows of three desks, a table, a chair and a press. The buildings were enclosed underneath with corrugated iron on two sides to give the children somewhere to eat their lunch and play in wet weather. The school did not have any amenities, which today would be considered essential. A tank beside each room supplied water. When the water supply ran low in the dry season or became polluted the students had to bring their own drinking water. There was no electricity or telephone. A public telephone was placed on the verandah but this was later removed. As the postman didn't go down Holmes Street the residents fixed their letterboxes to the school fence to allow the postman to deliver their mail.

The growth of the school was slow initially and by the time Mr Thompson retired in 1933 the school population stood at 76.

PUPILS' MEMORIES - 1920-1934

Children were taught ABC and counting, then later geography, history, multiplying and division, and spelling. They did their work using a slate and slate pencil; when they were older they used pen and ink.
A special afternoon was set aside for the unveiling of the flagpole and the first flag, which was erected by voluntary labour. The children sang songs such as "Rule Britannia" and "Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue".
They didn't have computers of T.V. but made their own fun. They made a racetrack where they could race each other with "buzzers". These were made with a pram wheel on the end of a long wire handle with a piece of tin fixed so that it clicked against the spokes when you pushed the wheel. The faster you ran the louder it clicked.
A family who lived in Lascelles Street kept the school clean and tidy. They not only cleaned and tidied the rooms but also got rid of the garbage and cleaned and disposed of material from the lavatories. Another job they fulfilled was that of Billy Boy. As there was no electricity at the school until 1935 there was the problem of making tea for the teachers' lunch. Just before lunch every day, two children from the infants room would be sent down the road to the cleaner's home, where she filled an enamel billy with hot tea, place the lid firmly on and the two children would then bring it back to school.
Boys and girls had their own side of the school grounds in which to play. Even in the classroom the girls sat on one form at the desk and the boys on another. Once a year they had Arbor Day and one of the older children would plant a tree. They also had Wattle Day and cardboard badges would be sold for a penny. Once in a while they would be visited by a travelling one-man show. This gentleman was more often than not a returned soldier. For a few pence children would be entertained for about half-an-hour with magic tricks.