A short account of a long association - J.C.Hoskin

My association with Carlingford School extends over some fifty years, back to 1930. At that time I was living with my family on an orchard at Marsfield and the school was situated in the beautiful rural fringe of Sydney.

As a result of an intensive recruiting effort by the then Headmaster Mr. Ben Tollis, my brother Keith along with several other pupils, including Douglas Christie, left Marsfield school to begin their secondary education at Carlingford District Rural School.

District Rural Schools had been set up in a large number of appropriate centres throughout the State, to offer pre-vocational courses in agriculture and allied subjects to the boys in the area served. The broad aim was to improve the scientific background of future farmers and farm operatives.

Indeed, other than the relative few who attended Hurlstone and Yanco Agricultural High Schools, Hawkesbury Agricultural College or the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Sydney, there was no systematic agricultural education available.

On gaining the Intermediate Certificate (after three years) my brother, Keith, together with Douglas Christie, proceeded to Hawkesbury Agricultural College to follow a three year diploma course in agriculture, leading to the Hawkesbury Diploma in Agriculture (H.D.A.)

In the meantime, I had enrolled in the Faculty of Agriculture at Sydney University with the idea of becoming a graduate teacher of agriculture in our secondary schools. Part of my training during the four year degree course involved practice teaching the schools and I elected to do this at Carlingford District Rural School (C.D.R.S.).

By this time, Mr. Tollis had been succeeded as Headmaster by Mr. Mallett and the teaching of Agriculture was in the care of one who was to do a great deal for secondary school agriculture, Mr. Wallace Jones.

I brought to my practice teaching little skill but great enthusiasm for the subject of agriculture. My main class was 1C. The great majority of the class came from either the Church of England Homes or the Methodist Dalmar Homes. In the Homes the lads had great cunning thwarting organised authority and I found myself completely at their mercy - that is, until I received some 'good advice' from the teachers supervising me.

Even so, I liked those kids and thoroughly enjoyed the teaching inside and outside the classroom. I particularly liked the work on the plots. Here they were growing pasture grasses, cereals, green manure crops and vegetable and flower gardens of many kinds. The boys were really at home there.

The teachers were dedicated and I learned much from them and the pupils were happy with a fine school spirit. The boys took up to eleven subjects for the Intermediate - Agriculture I (Crops and Livestock), Agriculture II (Soil Physics and Entomology), Agricultural Botany and Practical Agriculture. The girls did Home Science and Needlework instead of agricultural subjects.

Over the years, I kept in touch with Carlingford District Rural School. I visited the school when Mr. Wright H.D.A., was Headmaster. With Mr. Ernest Breakwell he wrote an excellent textbook for secondary students of agriculture. Another, Headmaster, Mr. Irwin Giovanelli, was a personal friend of mine and I saw him both at Carlingford and Grafton - his home town.

In 1959 I was appointed as the founding Headmaster at Carlingford Agricultural High School. The school evolved from an annexe of the Carlingford District Rural School set up in September 1956 in Felton Road with Mr. Charles Mullavey as Master-in-Charge.

In the first two years, the students had to journey from the Felton Road site to C. D. R. S. for their instruction in woodwork and metalwork. They affectionately referred to C.D.R.S. as the 'top school' - meaning the school up on the hill.

In April 1959, the Department agreed to change the name Carlingford Agricultural High to James Ruse Agricultural High to pay tribute to our first farmer, a Cornish convict James Ruse.

To perpetuate the relationship between C.D.R.S. and James Ruse A.H.S. I named three of the four school sporting houses for people closely associated with the C.D.R.S. - Mr. Wallace Jones, for some years teacher of Agriculture at C.D.R.S.; Mr. Harry Frater, Headmaster of the school when the annexe was established and Mr. Charles Mullavey, Masterin-Charge of the annexe and the first Deputy Headmaster of James Ruse.

I witnessed the transfer of the remainder of the secondary pupils to the Cumberland High School site to form the nucleus of the pupils to found that school.

Thus from Carlingford District Rural School had come the foundations of what are now two outstanding High Schools, leaving an excellent Primary School to carry on at the original site.