Did You Know?
In 1912 Hugh Victor McKay gave £2,000 and 4½ acres of land to the Education Department to establish a school for apprentices in Derby Road, Sunshine.
Sunshine Technical School was established and Hugh Victor had a training school for his apprentices. His was an enlightened approach to training,
he allowed his workers time off on pay to attend the school.
The school was officially opened by the Lieutenant Governor of Victoria, Sir John Maddern on the 9th October 1913, although classes in Fitting and Machining,
Moulding, Carpentry and Sheetmetal had commenced on the 7th July of that year with 91 students, 47 of whom were apprentices from the Harvester Works.
More had originally enrolled but when a fee of ten shillings per term was introduced many left.
A caretaker was hired at £2 per week, however was later dismissed the following year for using bad language to some of the boys, his wife and children also did the same!
1915 Commercial classes were introduced for the girls and two teachers were hired to teach shorthand and typing. 1916 there were 110 students.
Wounded returned soldiers were provided places in the college but it was noted at Council one night in October 1919 that drunkenness among these returned
soldiers had to be firmly dealt with. These classes were discontinued after 1920.
The Spanish Flu swept the world soon after armistice and hit Sunshine so badly that the school was directed not to open on the 4th of February that year.
Next month it was "commandeered" to be used as a hospital. The electrical room was used as the hospital kitchen. When the school was finally restored parents
were reluctant to send their boys back for fear of catching illness from the buildings. As if this wasn't enough, the ubiquitous scotch thistle had invaded the grounds
and three of the biggest boys were set to cutting them down.
A girls school was established with Miss Nash being appointed headmistress in September 1921. By 1924 there 93 girls, dressmaking, art, cookery and
laundering classes had commenced. Her salary was increased from £162 to £192 after the inspectors had this to say: "Drawing - Girls class under Miss Nash.
The work seen was excellent. Some of the designs displayed quite exceptional quality and although the class has been at work only since February,
work in this direction compared quite favourably with other schools".
In 1920 there were only 22 apprentices attending. In 1921 they screened an advertisement "at the picture show in Sunshine".
Gymnasium classes were held after school on a Friday night.
The Great Depression hit the school as it did Sunshine. The maintenance grant - money from the Education Department to run the school - was cut by 2%.
A fancy dress basketball game was held in 1930, in the first quarter no rules were observed and no goals were scored.
During interval they sold sweets and in total raised 30 shillings for the Library.
The Government gave the school the same amount, giving a total of £3 for the purchase of books.
In 1938 the foundation stone was laid for the new £12,000 girls school by Sir John Harris. The architect of the new building Mr Percy Everett
told the gathering that the building "was designed on a modernish plan but was not freakish". The curved front room was to be the dressmaking room.
In his address Sir John noted that the girls would learn how to cook in the new building "and it was a jolly fine thing for a man to come home and find
something tasty to eat after a hard days work".
In 1937 the school's first magazine "Golden Gleams" was produced with separate sections for girls and boys.
From their form notes we see a world of flower filled form rooms, the occasional vase falling on someone's head, teachers riding their horses to school,
girls chewing gum in classes and sometimes very small classes. "There are only six girls left in our form, the others having gone out into the cold world
to earn a living, so that when we are having art and dressmaking, it seems more like a social gathering than a lesson".
The girls of B1 Form seemed a jolly crew. "Though our form room is the detention room we dispel any air of depression with the scent and colour of many flowers.
Other decorations take the form of art work, which is always on exhibition in the room. It is also in Room 6 that we shake care from our shoulders and sing.
One disadvantage in having Room 6 as a form room is that it adjoins the staff room!"
"During the year there have been great changes in hairdressing styles. Whereas only half of us had curls, how we all have them".
Jack Secombe wrote the "C Form" notes and his comment reminds us that it wasn't until the eighties that the use of the strap ceased.
"Although the boys complain they do not like school, on the whole they are inclined to like it as much as ever, except when something flexible falls on their hands and tingles"
On 10th October 1940 the new Girls School was opened and almost immediately lobbying for a new boys school began.
The school's first official robbery was noted in April 1940. Someone stole a micrometer. The police were informed.
By 1943 a request for a new building had been made but nothing came of this it seems. The same year the Oslo lunch was introduced to the school, which cost of 9 pence.
In 1944 the Chief Architect visited the school to look at the possibility of constructing an assembly hall.
With the war in the Pacific raging, bomb shelters were constructed in the school grounds where the hall now stands.
81 boys and 12 girls served during the war and returned, however the school lost a number of ex-students during the war:
T.J. Clayton
K.G. Roberts
G. Wills
S. Saliba
V.C. Tallintyre
K.G.T. Boreham
In 1945 there were still demands for a new building for the boys and by March 1947 the red brick Henty block was opened.
In 1948 Helen Keller, the renowned American deaf and blind woman, visited the school. It was a surprise visit as her stated intention was to visit the girls only.
There was a school assembly and afternoon tea at which she spoke with the aid of Miss Thompson who accompanied her.
She was given a message in braille: "Welcome to Sunshine Miss Keller. We are honoured to have you visit us.
This is from Miss Chisholm and the girls of Sunshine Technical School, in grateful thanks for your graciousness".
Helen Keller passed among the girls lightly touching their faces.
The girls had written to her the year before sympathising with her on the loss of her house in a fire. They also sent her a sachet of boronia.
She replied to their letter on May 25 1947. "How glad I am that you live in that progressive, heroic country! It will hold up to your ideals, I know, that,
followed, it will make you strong, earnest, noble women working towards a splendid destiny. Just keep on trying, dear girls, even when the obstacles
you discover seem too hard to overcome, and, pushing aside, you will be happy to know that you are a part of life's greatness" The letter is signed in a very neat angular hand.
The outbreak of polio in the late forties caused the annual sports to be cancelled and speech night in 1949 was moved to the daytime
to prevent overcrowding and thus reduce the chance of spreading polio. In 1949 Woollies for Britain made by the girls were displayed at the F. & G. store in Sunshine.
The school was lively and interesting in the forties. There were a number of sporting teams and many social events including debutante's balls, bazaars and socials.
An advertised school social event recorded a dance in Room 7: "Girls bring a plate. Boys, one shilling".
In 1951 the Girls School flooded and the Principal noted to the Council "that the cleaning took place by staff without regard to either their comfort or clothing".
In 1952 School Council records note that the entrance exam which had been in existence since the founding of the school was to be abolished and that the
Oslo lunch had reappeared on the canteen's menu once more (when it was removed is not noted).
Teacher shortages, a common situation throughout the sixties, seventies and early eighties were first noted in 1954, when things were so difficult,
that consideration for a plan to put first form girls on a four day week was mooted by the Council. Troubles multiplied that year, the school was broken
into four weeks in succession over July and August.
In the fifties the rural nature of parts of Sunshine was still evident. The school made a complaint to Richards' Dairies about their horses grazing in the grounds.
Later in the fifties the school got its first chaplain, Padre Tooth. It must have needed him for in 1956 the principal wrote: "Remarkable year for students to
experience so many unpleasant features in juvenile life and only a child with balance and tact could withstand the temptation to achieve notoriety cheaply.
I refer to the increase in juvenile delinquency, the growth of the boogie-woogie cult, the impact of rock and roll and the spread of vandalism.
One of the staff at the time, Mr Barberis represented Australia in the Melbourne Olympic Games in weight lifting.
In 1954 he was pictured in the Herald holding aloft a junior boy: for punishment or publicity the caption doesn't say.
The Ex-Students Association was particularly active during the fifties organising for instance, debutante balls, at one of which, attended by 250 people,
Mary Hopkins was declared Belle in her "red frock with black trimming and black mittens". There were regular balls in the fifties, a school choir, flower shows,
stamp, chess, gymnasium photography and radio clubs, a folk dancing group, mannequin parades and plenty of sport. The school seemed to be lively and interesting.
The annual speech night was so popular that in 1955 sixty people could not gain admittance to the hall.
The new decade began with Mr Pittock commencing as the new Principal. In 1962 after considerable time and effort, the assembly hall, seating 1100 was opened,
with the official opening in 1963. Ballroom dancing classes promptly commenced. Much of the money for it had been given by industry.
As far back as 1945 the principal had written to the Education Department requesting plans for an assembly hall. The H.V. McKay Charitable Trust Fund
was apparently contributing £2,750 to its erection then but withdrew after delays from the Education Department.
Later the estate of H.V. McKay donated £10,000 to its construction. Other local industries also contributed. Nevertheless there was a worrying time when
the school was £4,000 short of the total required.
In 1967 an ablution block and physical education rooms were constructed beside the hall. Later an outdoor gym was installed.
Twenty years later and after a number of broken bones it was dismantled. A fire destroyed part of the original school, the administration block,
canteen and science and maths rooms. A decade later it would be completely demolished. Mr Pittock retired in October 1969.
1970 Mr Ollie Roberts was Principal and he was faced with overcrowding reaching crisis point with and article in "The Advocate" telling of sports
taking place on the median strip in Leith Avenue. The McKay Trade Wing was opened in February 1971 and in September of the same year the new
Commonwealth Library was also opened. The same year the school won "The Age" award for the best school newspaper, "Sun Child".
The school at last became co-educational. Boys and girls could mix without fear of punishment, the invisible line had vanished.