New private school in Barcaldine
In 1922, the Church of England opened St. Peter’s School with Rev. E. Robinson in charge and an intake of primary students.
With the help of country families, in particular the Ferguson’s and Millers, dormitories were constructed and by 1924 when H. S. Steer took over, attendance was above 50 pupils, mostly boarders.
On the third annual Speech Day, the Headmaster said:
Our beginnings are small but our outlook is immense.
Challenging times
At the fifth annual Speech Day, A M Ferguson said it was difficult to find anything encouraging to say about 1927.
Bishop Crick, who had started the school, had left the district, attendance was low, and country support had dried up.
The school was forced to close in 1932. It had struggled through fluctuating fortune and changes of policy and administration.
Headmasters were Rev. E. Robinson 1922-24, H. S. Steer 1924-26, Rev. L. Poole 1926-28, Rev. V. Burrows 1928-1929 and Rev. Aldington Hunt 1930-1932.
At first there was co-ed enrolment but in June 1926 St. Peter’s became a boys’ secondary school and girls were admitted to St. Faith’s in Yeppoon at no extra charge to parents.
In 1927 scholarships were offered as incentive to enrolment but by 1928 the school was back to accepting both girls and boys at primary level and had only 19 students.
In 1929 numbers were up again and rose to 40 but at no time did the school pay its way and scholastic achievement was always ow. Evidently parent of bright children found the money somehow for city schools. N.E.G.S. at Armidale in New South Wales was a popular choice for girls.
At the final speech night on December 9, 1932, there were bitter words as St. Peter’s closure was announced.
A.M. Ferguson, who had been associated with attempts to establish a private school in Barcaldine from the days of Arthur McKail in1909, blamed lack of consultation with local supporters. The Headmaster said,
In my view a public school can never exist in Barcaldine while the central west is what it is. People neither appreciate nor understand what public school means and implies.
In 1943 over 100 girls from St. Faith’s of Yeppoon, run by Anglican sisters of the Sacred Advent, occupied the old St. Peter’s School. Though crowded, the accommodation was adequate and St. Faith’s stayed three years in the west. In fact, Sr. Bernardine, who was in charge, stated in her 1943 speech day address that the school would be happy to remain ‘indefinitely’.
When St. Faith’s did leave at the end of 1944, it was proposed that the building should be used to establish a secondary school for the west but the Department of Public Instruction ruled out the idea as ‘unsuitable’.
Fires broke out in the unoccupied buildings on January 29 and again on February 4, but were quickly controlled.
One of the buildings was sold to J. H. Paterson of Home Creek for removal.
