Page 155 - J Delaney - City of Cessnock Education and Schools

178.

HEDDON GRETA SCHOOL

was more necessary now than some possible future school at Stanford Merthyr.
Mr. Reece Lewis, contractor of Maitland, was directed to remove the school
at Stanford Merthyr and to re-erect it at Hedden Greta. Lewis' quote had
been £125.6.8 ($250.68). The work was completed on 21st November 1905 and
opened at the beginning of the 1906 school year.

William Kain of Dagworth, on 14th September 1906, was paid an amount
of £48.4.0 ($96.40) for his work in clearing the school grounds, erecting fences
and gates ' and connecting the school to the newly constructed Hunter District
Water Board Mains. The fence did not prove satisfactory and a paling fence
was built on 17th March 1908, at a cost of £65.0.0 ($130.00).

During the latter part of 1908, Mr. William Horton of Heddon Greta,
lodged a complaint with the Department of Public Instruction that his son
had been cruelly treated at the school. The boy, who was six years old, was
said to have torn a girl's handkerchief. His teacher, Miss E. Tipper, had
punished the lad · by making him stand on a chair in the corner. The headmaster,
E. Salling, on querying the reason for the chair incident, also added more
punishment by giving two cuts of the cane on the legs. He followed this
further by keeping the young boy "in" after school hours. The inspector who
investigated Mr. Horton's complaint, reported to his Department that the
punishment for a minor offence was unneccessary and severe. The Department
of Public Instruction reprimanded the teacher for his actions.

Over the next two or three years, there had been some slight
increase in school enrolments. Inspector Cornish, after completing an
annual inspection, recommended the erection of an additional classroom.
He estimated the cost at £360.0.0 ($720.00). However, a fire in Heddon
Greta Colliery on 9th December 1911, saw a sudden and dramatic drop in
school attendance. Displaced Heddon Greta Colliery miners soon found other
employment at the many new developing coal areas on the South Maitland field.
Such changes of employment at this particular time generally meant a change
of abode closer to their new place of work. When enrolments dwindled,
Inspector Cornish withdrew his recommendation for an additional classroom.