School History
THE HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S
St. John's school has been standing on it's original plot since being built in 1911. It was named as St. John's Council School, Junior Mixed in 1911 and officially opened in July 1912. 197 children were enrolled.
Drill was held each morning outside in the playground and the logbook states that metal discs called tokens, were given out to the children for free dinners.
The pupils were given many half-day holidays throughout the year for good attendance. Other half-day holidays were given for Church festivals, state occasions such as Empire Day, and Juvenile Temperance Fete.
The school was built in red brick with long classrooms on two floors, space for a small office, and a cellar below the level of the pavement. The floor and the steps to the cellar are stone and very well worn and cold. The cellar is made up of several rooms, one of which was the bath house. Two cast iron baths were placed in the room, with one on either side of the space. One bath is still in place today with the ornamental feet still intact.
The school was built in red brick with long classrooms on two floors, space for a small office, and a cellar below the level of the pavement. The floor and the steps to the cellar are stone and very well worn and cold. The cellar is made up of several rooms, one of which was the bath house. Two cast iron baths were placed in the room, with one on either side of the space. One bath is still in place today with the ornamental feet still intact.
Under the current Year 1 classrooms, is a large vault which can be entered from the Weigh House in French Street.
The school as it is today, is made up of the original building, with extensions added in 1962 to include a hall, kitchen, and extra toilets and classrooms, as well as a modular classroom in 2010. The school is now bright, warm and welcoming and so different from it’s original beginnings, though all through the years has remained well regarded and loved by children and families.
We are now a two-form entry primary school, with Eagle Warehouse (on the opposite side of French Street) now a part of our school.
