Reunion of Shelford West Primary – the school that no longer is

IT may no longer physically exist, but the little school that was once Shelford West Primary remains alive in the minds of former pupils who are now planning a reunion for May this year.

The portable school building was set up in 1957 on the Mount Mercer-Shelford Road to cater for the influx of soldier settlers families, but closed down in 1971.

The building was then removed leaving little trace that Primary School Number 4796 ever existed on what is now private property.

Former pupils Margaret Bufton and Trevor Kearns still live in the wider area and are keen to get in touch with any fellow students or staff who’re all being invited to attend a reunion set for Sunday 24 May in Shelford.

They’re also hopeful that there are people out there with memorabilia and photos from those old school days and they already have one or two treasured images.

Among them is a photo of pupils from 1961, including Mr Kearns and his twin brother Norman, both of whom plan to attend the reunion along with their younger sister Helen.

Now aged in his 70s, Mr Kearns remembers attending Shelford West Primary before going on to complete his secondary schooling in Ballarat.

“I was one of the first enrolled there along with 26 others in 1957,” he said.

“We attended the Shelford Primary prior to that, but due to the influx of soldier settlers the education department decided to move another school further west.

“It was a little school with a curtain down the middle. The male teacher, Brian Matherson I think his name was, he looked after grades four, five and six, and the other side of the curtain was one, two and three.

“It was just a building on a bare piece of ground with a shelter shed out the back and lots of thistles. I remember us kids, to fill in time through lunch and playtime, we used to dig up rocks.

“I remember in those days before school started we’d all stand out on a concrete pad and sing God save the Queen.

“I remember having spelling bees and I think we might have had a wood heater in the room itself. There were big blackboards at the front with all our wooden desks. It was two people to a desk and an ink well in the middle.”

Mrs Bufton, who completed all of her primary schooling there, said it would be the first reunion ever held for the now non-existent former primary school.

“We’re hoping as many as possible will attend and we will just have a BYO lunch and chairs, and probably plenty of reminiscence,” she said.

Former pupils and anyone else with information or memorabilia are being encouraged to contact Mr Kearns on 0488 584 884 or Mrs Bufton on 0417 388 341.