BIG MILESTONE FOR LITTLE SCHOOL WITH HUGE HEART

Telegraph communication was still in its infancy, rail was yet to arrive and memories of the outrages of bushrangers such as Dan Morgan were still fresh in local minds when a little village on a rough bush track took a major step towards a future whose legacy lives on today.  

The track was the Great Southern Road (now the Hume Highway), the village was a cluster of wooden buildings surrounded by booming pastoral runs and the step into the future was the opening of the community’s first public school.  

It was 1873 and the dot on the map known as Tarcutta had moved into the education age, with a small wooden building and its single teacher charged with the responsibility of teaching local children the three Rs and other skills they would need in a rapidly changing world.  

Thus began the life of the Tarcutta Public School, an important educational journey that reached a remarkable milestone this month – exactly 150 years of nurturing, instructing, and training generations of children who called Tarcutta home.  

On Friday, 20 October, I was honoured to join current and former staff and students and local community leaders in celebrating the school’s sesquicentenary, or a century and a half of public education in an important corner of the Wagga Wagga electorate.  

Among those reminiscing were former students and staff, who began their education or careers at Tarcutta Public School as far back as the 1950s, with some former alumni visiting from across NSW and as far afield as Queensland and Victoria to remember the “days of the old school yard”.  

A highlight for me was meeting Gloria Davies, wife of long serving principal Ray Davies who led the school from 1972; and it was wonderful to be introduced to Cynthia Gibbs and Sally Schilling who had children at the school and not only celebrated the school’s centenary in 1973 but also returned this month for the 150-year milestone.  

Special mention should also go to former students June Blake (Lewin) and Wal Paton who attended the school during the fifties in the era of bobby socks and the birth of rock n’ roll, as well as Dave and Helen Westman who made the journey back “home” from the South Coast.   

Memories of the occasion were cemented by the unveiling of a plaque in the presence of Wagga Wagga Mayor Cr Dallas Tout, Director of Educational Leadership, Russell Graham, and the school’s substantive principal, Kirralee Post.   

Of course, it would not have been a celebration without a cake, and it was great to see the first slices cut by relieving principal Kim Webb and Wagga Wagga Citizen of the Year Alan Pottie, a former student of the school. 

 And last but certainly not least, special mention should go to current school captain Gabi Lustenberger and former captain Bonnie Burke who did a terrific job representing the young leadership that has helped their school along an amazing journey.  

The support shown for this little school with a big heart has shown the strength of the community that underpins its success, and we can hope Tarcutta Public School continues to guide its students towards bright futures for another 150 years or more.