Page 136 - J Delaney - City of Cessnock Education and Schools

143.

DAIRY ARM SCHOOL

by six (6) inch square ironbark timbers .
2. Cover the openings between the slabs with

strips of galvanised iron.
3. Erect an eight (8) feet wide verandah with

a corrugated iron roof on the northern end
of the school building.

Mr. W.E. Woodbury, of Cumberland Street Cessnock, on 3rd September
1907, wrote to the Department of Public Instruction complaining on the
condition of the Dairy Arm school. In his letter Mr. Woodbury stated:-

"That the building ·was so small and so low in wall height
that it was cruel to both teacher and children to work
in it during the summers".

With an enrolment of 17 pupils, on 15th October 1910, the
Department of Public Instruction decided to raise the status of Dairy
Arm school to that of a 'Provisional School'. Wattagan school, which at
this date had only 8 pupils enrolled, was joined with Laguna School
with an enrolment of nine (9) pupils, as 'half-time' schools. A new
teacher, Ernest Byrnes, had been appointed to the Dairy Arm 'Provisional'
school. A new teacher, A.L. Corry, took over the Wattagan and Laguna
'Half-Time' schools.

The Dairy Arm 'Provisional' school, as at October 1910, was a
structure twenty one (21) feet by twelve (12) feet and nine (9) feet high.
It was lined with canvas but was not ceiled. The galvanised corrugated iron
roofing had been placed over the top of the bark roof .. It was considered
by the local residents to be an ugly building. They requested the
Department of Public Instruction to erect a new school. Early in 1911,
Inspector W. Cornish arranged for W.E. Woodbury, of Cumberland Street,
Cessnock to make some minor repairs. Two new lavatories were constructed
and eighteen (18) hat pegs e~ected inside the classroom. The windows
. required sash renewals and glazing. The work was completed on 26th June
1911 and Mr. Woodbury was paid £16.7.6 (32.76).