Unley Girls' Technical High School

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Unley Girls' Technical High School was a secondary school in South Australia. It opened in 1927 as Unley Central Girls School and in 1965 merged with Mitcham Girls' Technical High School, moving to new premises. The development of the boys' section of Unley Central School and Unley Technical High School, which occurred in parallel, is mentioned in passing.

History[edit]

In 1925 the Education Department of South Australia added secondary schools to the grounds of nine of Adelaide's largest primary schools: Croydon, Hindmarsh, Goodwood, Lefevre's Peninsula, Nailsworth, Norwood, Port Adelaide, Thebarton, and Unley, this last resulting in the formation of Unley Central Girls School, the first students (around 100) being drawn from Parkside, Highgate, Mitcham, Gilles Street, Flinders Street and various county centres. The Central Schools were intended as an alternative to high schools (such as Unley High) for students who were not academically inclined but required advanced education. Apart from the usual subjects of English, mathematics, geography and so on, students were taught technical skills of dressmaking, millinery, art and craft, housewifery and cooking.[1] Typewriting and shorthand were added later to make them better suited to commercial occupations.[a] The first headmistress was Helen Janet Thomson[4] (1878–1962), who retired in 1938.[5] The fine two-storey brick building was located at the corner of Wattle and Rugby streets, Unley, and had separate accommodation for boys (whose technical subjects included wood and metalwork, housed in less imposing tin sheds) and girls.[6] The boys' headmaster was John Michell.[5]

The next change of name came in 1940, when "super primary" (roughly ages 12+) "Central" schools were renamed "Junior Technical", and the primary grades (roughly 7+) became simply "Primary" schools,[7] so Unley Central School became Unley Junior Technical School, with both boys' and girls' sections. The date when Unley Junior Technical became Unley Technical High has not been found, but must have been around 1945.[8]

One author remembered Unley Girls' Technical High School as a fee-paying school to Intermediate (third year of high school) grade in the 1950s, located in Wattle Street, off Unley Road, and offered a mix of technical and commercial subjects. In her time the headmistress was a Mrs Maschmedt,[b] and many graduates went on to training as nurses at the RAH. Students included mixed-race Aboriginal girls from Colebrook Home and Tanderra Aboriginal Hostel at Parkside; notably Lois (later Lowitja) O'Donohhue and Doris Kartinyeri,[10] sister of Doreen Kartinyeri.

In 1965, faced with declining enrolments, Unley Girls' Technical High School was absorbed into Mitcham Girls' Technical High School, moving into the old Unley High School building on Kyre Avenue, Kingswood, between Victoria Terrace and Rugby Street.[6] For some years there was an embarrassing duplication of equipment.[11]

Some teachers[edit]

  • Gladys Ruth Gibson, who in 1941 succeeded Adelaide Miethke as inspector of schools for girls
  • Miss N. Davies, "the human history book"[12] A senior teacher, she argued for less time to be spent on literature and more on science.[13]
  • Phyllis May Stoward (1901–1967), art potter,[14] encouraged craftwork.[15] A daughter of Tom Hardy Stoward, she was a member of the Hardy family of winemakers.

Notable students[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The school may have been renamed "technical high" around this time. No announcement of either development has been found, but was a "technical high" by 1947.[2] South Australia's first Technical High School, an offshoot of the "School of Mines" (South Australian School of Mines and Industries), was called exactly that (initialized THS), then from around 1930,[3] Adelaide Technical High School (ATHS).
  2. ^ Z. A. Maschmedt, moved to Unley from Port Pirie West in 1941.[9]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Work Display by Students". The News (Adelaide). Vol. XXIX, no. 4, 457. South Australia. 4 November 1937. p. 15. Retrieved 29 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Bridgewater". The Mount Barker Courier and Onkaparinga and Gumeracha Advertiser. Vol. 66, no. 3674. South Australia. 8 November 1945. p. 1. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Results of 1930 Intermediate Public Examinations". The Register News-pictorial. Vol. XCVI, no. 27, 912. South Australia. 30 January 1931. p. 10. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Miss Thomson". The News (Adelaide). Vol. VII, no. 959. South Australia. 10 August 1926. p. 7. Retrieved 29 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ a b "Unley Headmistress Retires". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 14 May 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 29 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ a b G. B. Payne; E. Cosh. History of Unley, 1871–1971. Corporation of the City of Unley. ISBN 0-9599174-0-3.
  7. ^ "Education Changes". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 20 November 1939. p. 16. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "China Post for Adelaide Girl". The News (Adelaide). Vol. 46, no. 7, 126. South Australia. 5 June 1946. p. 3. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "News from the Country". The Chronicle (Adelaide). Vol. LXXXIV, no. 4, 783. South Australia. 21 August 1941. p. 12. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ a b Veronica Brodie, as told to Mary-Anne Gale. My Side of the Bridge. Wakefield Press. ISBN 978-1-86254-557-1.
  11. ^ "Time for herself after 40 years". Hills Gazette. No. 241. South Australia. 14 December 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 29 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ ""Human History Books" In Final Test Tonight". The News (Adelaide). Vol. 46, no. 7, 121. South Australia. 30 May 1946. p. 1. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Teacher Favors More Science". The News (Adelaide). Vol. 42, no. 6, 447. South Australia. 28 March 1944. p. 5. Retrieved 18 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Unley Art Teacher". The News (Adelaide). South Australia. 20 September 1941. p. 2. Retrieved 30 September 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "Today's News for Women". The News (Adelaide). Vol. 38, no. 5, 824. South Australia. 27 March 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 18 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ Kathleen Lawton (1974). The Singing Bird: Tina Lawton's Story. ISBN 0-85910-013-8.
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