General News
28 October, 2023
Hundreds at school 150th assembly
THE quadrangle was crowded at Bridgewater Primary School on Saturday when hundreds of former students returned for the school’s 150th anniversary. Old class mates took almost an hour to be ready for the official reunion photograph as thousands of...
THE quadrangle was crowded at Bridgewater Primary School on Saturday when hundreds of former students returned for the school’s 150th anniversary.
Old class mates took almost an hour to be ready for the official reunion photograph as thousands of stories were shared by people who had travelled from across Australia.
Principal Linda Kingsley and current captain Rylea Bailey were constantly ringing the school’s historic bell throughout the day.
In classrooms, ex-students including Jack Lucas were signing a commemorative scroll.
Jack, who turns 94 tomorrow, was the oldest former student at celebrations.
“I attended here from 1934 to 1941 - there were 80 kids back then,” he said. Jack became an electrical engineer and now lives in Kangaroo Flat.
He chatted with sisters Jean Wheeler and Dorothy Arnold who arrived at the school a few years after Jack left.
Their father Bill Richardson was head teacher between 1944 and 1949 when he took promotion to primary schools in Maryborough.
Several generations of families joined in celebrations that saw parent Andrew Ferguson and son Gus, the current vice-captain, unearth a time capsule buried on the school’s 125th anniversary. The capsule contained a now obsolete computer floppy disk.
Ms Kingley said: “After a drop in enrolments due to the impacts of closure of local businesses and COVID-19, we are on an upward trajectory. Our school is currently in a period of growth with projected enrolments for 2024 of 16.”
Saturday’s celebrations included the display of photographs and other memorabilia.