April 29, 2013
A lot of things have changed in the past 50 years … the many changes in Queensland’s education system was a major topic of conversation when about 100 former South Burnett students and 40 of their spouses gathered on Saturday for the “Class Of 1962 50 Year Reunion”.
The former students all sat their Scholarship exam that year, which allowed them to progress from primary school on to secondary school.
And as things turned out, 1962 was the last year Scholarship exams were ever held in Queensland. They were abolished the following year as part of a major education reform to ensure all Queensland children received free secondary education.
All the guests at the reunion had undergone their primary schooling in one of the many small schools that dotted the area around Kingaroy at that time.
These included schools at Benair, Booie, Boondooma, Cooranga North, Coolabunia, Crawford, Cushnie, Gallangowan, Haly Creek, Hillsdale, Inverlaw, Ironpot, Kingaroy, Kumbia, Mannuem, Middle Creek, Memerambi, Nanango, Reedy Creek, St Mary’s, Stuart Valley, Taabinga, Wooroolin, Wondai and the Wondai Catholic school.
Many of these small, one-teacher schools were closed in the 1960s and others in the decades that followed (Memerambi as late as 2006). Today only a handful remain.
The idea for the reunion came out a casual conversation between Kingaroy resident Barry Randall and several friends about six months ago.
They quickly organised a small team and began hunting out former students from the period.
On Saturday, about 40 per cent of the 250 students who were eligible to attend to reunion thronged at Kingaroy RSL’s Tobruk Room.
Organiser Rhonda Smith told southburnett.com.au the committee was “delighted and surprised” at the roll-up, which brought guests from all over the South Burnett, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast and from as far afield as Darwin and Melbourne.
They were treated to displays of historical photos taken at the schools during the 1960s; old class lists; and even a copy of the 1962 Scholarship Exam all of them had sat five decades ago.
Former Kingaroy State High School Deputy Principal Ken Goodhew also put in an appearance. Ken had served at Kingaroy from 1962 to 1972 before being transferred to Biloela and said he had many fond memories of his time in the South Burnett, as well as friends in the region that he still visited regularly.
Colleen Harvey, who travelled from Darwin to attend the reunion, said she thought it was a practical joke when she was first contacted, but subsequent calls from Barry Randall soon convinced her otherwise.
Melbourne’s David Ruscoe said that although he now followed the Hawthorne AFL team and had grown used to Victoria’s weather, his South Burnett roots were still strong and probably always would be.
Denise Tuzes, whose grandfather had helped build the original Taabinga Village, attended primary school at the now non-existent Middle Creek school. There were five students left from the Middle Creek class of 1962 that the reunion organisers had been able to trace, and three of them – including her – were able to attend.
