Page 27 - J Delaney - City of Cessnock Education and Schools

22.

ABERMAIN NO. 2 SHAFT SCHOOL

Abermain Extended Progress Committee, wrote to the Deparmtent of Public
Instruction seeking the establishment of a school in the village. He
gave his contact address as 'Clo Anderson's Store, Weston'. A petition
from the residents of the 'Shaft' area showed that at 4th January 1912,
there were seventeen (17) families who had twenty-eight (28) children
of school age.

This encouraged the Department of Public Instruction to direct
its senior inspector, W. Cornish, to make enquiries and furnish a report.
Inspector W. Cornish found that there was indeed a · need for a school.
One of the parents, A. Colton, indicated that he was prepared to rent
a structure, known in the area as the 'Hall', for a weekly rental of
three shillings ($0.30¢). The owner A. Colton, also agreed to clean
the school weekly without a charge. The 'Hall' had been used previously
as a dance hall. Mr. Colton's only restriction was that he had also
allowed his building to be used for Sunday religious services and for
a Sunday School and he wished these to continue. Because there were
no other premises available, Inspector Cornish recommended that the
Department should accept Mr. A. Colton's offer and establish a school.
In his recommendation, he pointed out the problem of overcrowding at
Cessnock Public School, the nature of the intervening country between it and
the Abermain No. 2 Colliery and the lack of public transport. Mr. Cornish's
report indicated that the proposed school structure was thirty (30) feet by
fifteen (15) feet, that it was a rough building with three-fold hessian
bag walls; further that it could accommodate twenty-five (25) pupils.

The Department of Public Instruction accepted their inspector's
rec~mmendation and agreed to establish a school which is shown in the
Department's records as 'Abermain Sinking Shaft School'. Later, the
Department refers to it as the Abermain No. 2 Shaft School. The Depart~ent
arranged for school furniture to be sent from Sydney to Cessnock by rail.
Some difficulty was found in transporting the furniture to the new school
and for two weeks it had to be stored at Cessnock Primary School. Finally,
James Lightfoot, a local Cessnock carrier, agreed to deliver the furniture