Introduction - History of Carlingford Public School

Carlingford Public School, like many other schools in New South Wales, owes its foundation to the Public Instruction Act of 1880, and in particular to the clause of that Act which withdrew state aid from church schools at the end of 1882. The 30 year old Pennant Hills Church of England School was voluntarily closed on that date, and officially converted into Pennant Hills South Public School in January, 1883. For the next few years the Public School operated in the old church school buidling. In 1887 the school was renamed Carlingford and moved into the brick building which still stands today.

By the late 1870's most people, apart from the Roman Catholic clergy and much of the laity, had accepted the gradual shift of opinion towards one system of elementary schools catering for all children. Parliamentary action was finally sparked by the Catholic bishops with their pastoral letter of 1879, attacking government schools as "seedpots of future immorality, infidelity, and lawlessness". In a bitter sectarian atmosphere, the Public Instruction Act of 1880 was passed. It withdrew all aid from church schools as from December 1882, a decision which was calmly accepted by all except the Catholic schools; most of the other church elementary schools were closed or converted into Public Schools. The new Act also introduced a number of reforms, including the establishment of the Department of Education under a Minister, a limited degree of compulsory education, provision for secondary education in government schools and the extension of education to the smallest rural communities.

While the role of government and church schools was debated throughout the colony, the Pennant Hills community, which was mostly made up of members of the Church of England, was served by St. Paul's Church of England School. The opening date of this school is not known, but it was in operation by 1853. It seems likely that it opened around the same time as St. Paul's Church itself, which was built on a site given by William Mobbs in the "wilderness" of Pennant Hills, and consecrated in July 1850. The earliest details available about the school are for 1858, when David Thomas and his wife were teaching about 80 children. There was ample accommodation in the stone church, a spacious playground and a teacher's residence. However, the inspector noted that

"The children are much employed by their parents in picking fruit for the market, hence the general progress of the scholars is not so satisfactory as might be expected".

By 1863 the enrolment was up to 107, and Thomas and his pupils were a little crowded until the church was lengthened by 6 metres that year. During the early 1870's the enrolment fell considerably: in 1872 it was 71, 58 of whom belonged to the Church of England and the other 13 were Roman Catholics. However, during that year a new brick schoolroom was built, which was to remain standing until the 1970's and was to serve the needs of Carlingford Public School on several occasions.

David Thomas, a very earnest teacher, who was highly respected in the district, left the school in 1873. The school declined in numbers and reputation under his successor George Molster, but quickly improved under Charles Gow from March 1877. The Reverend William Cakebread of St. Paul's asked the Council of Education to appoint Gow to Pennant Hills from Mulgoa School, with Gow's consent. He was to prove very popular as the teacher first of the Church of England school and then of Carlingford Public School, and was to remain at Carlingford until his death on Christmas Day 1894.

During 1878 the Council of Education paid Joseph Shields, a local farmer, to carry out 50 pounds worth of repairs to the schooIroom, including complete painting inside and out: rain had penetrated the brick walls to such an extent that much of the mortar had been washed out of the joints. At this time the school was growing very rapidly, the enrolment having risen from 60 in 1876 to 100 in 1878; by 1881 it was to be 130. The average attendance fluctuated between 60 and 75 until 1881, when it jumped to over 90. Under the rules of the Council of Education, which were to be followed by the Department of Education from 1880 to 1908, a school was entitled to a pupil teacher if the average attendance was over 50 or to an assistant teacher if the attendance was over 70. Pupil teachers began their four-year apprenticeships between the ages of 13 and 16, and taught full-time during the day and were given an hour's instruction out of school hours by the principal teacher. The rule was that a teacher had to have a second class certificate in order to supervise a pupil teacher.