Coorparoo State School is a heritage-listed state school at 327 Old Cleveland Road, Coorparoo, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by the Department of Public Works (Queensland) and built in 1907. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 June 2017.
History Coorparoo State School (established 1876) is located in the Brisbane suburb of Coorparoo, approximately four kilometres southeast of the Brisbane CBD. It is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture. It retains two urban brick school buildings (Block B: 1928–33; Block A: 1942) and a 10-post playshed (1907); set in landscaped grounds with retaining walls and fences (1920s–1940s), a sundial (1932–35), sporting facilities, and mature trees.
Traditionally part of the land of the Jagera and Turrbul people, government auction of country allotments in the vicinity of the later Coorparoo State School began in 1856. A rural community developed and by 1875 residents proposed a primary school. Local landowner, Samuel Stevens, donated of land fronting Old Cleveland Road for the school site, excised from Portion 177.Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Heritage Database and Register. <https://culturalheritage.datsip.qld.gov.au/achris/public/public-registry/home>, accessed 29 March 2017Judith Rechner, The Old Coorparoo Shire: A Heritage Drive Tour, BHG, Brisbane, 1991, p. 2DNRM, CoT10327248, 27Jul1878. The name for the school, a variation of the Aboriginal name for the area, Cooraparoo, was proposed by the school committee.Peg Bolam, Coorparoo State School 1876-2001 125th anniversary: a Coorparoo chronicle. Coorparoo State School, Coorparoo, Qld, 2001, p. 6Michael A Endicott, Coorparoo Stones Corner Retrospective, Augustinian Historical Commission, Manly Vale, NSW, 1979, p. 9.
Coorparoo State School, comprising a low-set, two-room timber building with verandahs, and a school residence, opened on 31 January 1876, with 37 pupils enrolled. It cost to erect, of which was paid by the local community.Bolam, Coorparoo State School 1876-2001 125th anniversary, pp. 6-7.
The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of new communities and integral to their success. Schools became a community focus, with the school community contributing to their maintenance and development; a symbol of progress; and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.Project Services, "Mount Morgan State High School" in Queensland Schools Heritage Study Part II Report, for Education Queensland, 2008, pp.4-5Paul Burmester, Margaret Pullar and Michael Kennedy Queensland Schools A Heritage Conservation Study, a report for the Department of Education, 1996, pp.87-8.
The Coorparoo district continued to grow during the 1880s as Brisbane's population increased rapidly and moved to outlying areas, assisted by the development of public transport and the subdivision of land holdings. In 1887 a tramway was extended to Buranda, close to the western end of the Coorparoo district. In 1888 development had progressed so far that Coorparoo Shire, which included Stones Corner and parts of Holland Park and Camp Hill, was established. In 1889 the Cleveland railway line opened through the northern extent of Coorparoo Shire, adding to Coorparoo's popularity as a residential area. Coorparoo railway station was located about northeast of the school. The concurrent increase in Coorparoo State School pupils led to the school building being extended in 1885, 1887 and 1889.Leslie E Slaughter, Coorparoo Stones Corner Centenary 1856-1956, publisher, Brisbane, 1956, p. 71, 2017Project Services, "Coorparoo SS", p. 10Google maps, 2017: McKellar's Official Map of Brisbane & Suburbs (reflecting 1880s subdivisions), Queensland Gvt Printer, Brisbane, 1895, sheet 9.
However, development in Coorparoo Shire slowed after floods in 1889, 1890 and 1893 widely affected the district and the 1893 economic depression affected land sales. In 1900 there were fewer houses in Coorparoo than in 1890.Project Services, "Coorparoo SS", p. 4.
Nevertheless, improvements continued at the school. The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, as school sites were typically cleared of all vegetation, the provision of all-weather outdoor space was needed. Playsheds were designed as free-standing shelters, with fixed timber seating between posts and earth or decomposed granite floors that provided covered play space and doubled as teaching space when required These structures were timber-framed and generally open sided, although some were partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, p.16v. The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron. Playsheds were a typical addition to state schools across Queensland between s and the 1950s, although less frequently constructed after , with the introduction of highset school buildings with understorey play areas. Built to standard designs, playsheds ranged in size relative to student numbers.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.21, 97. Type B/T5 There was a playshed on site at Coorparoo State School by 1887; located directly behind (southeast of) the school buildings. A new playshed, replacing the earlier one and in a similar position, was constructed by RS Exton for in 1897. The final and only remaining playshed, with ten posts and a hipped roof, was constructed in late 1907 by James Price for .QSA Item ID14289, Series 12607 School Files (Correspondence) for State School, Site Plan 17 Mar 1887 attached to Memorandum from Supt of School Buildings to Under Secretary, Dept Public Instruction, 14 Mar 1887'Official Notification', The Queenslander, 16 Jan 1897, p. 150'Public Works Department', The Brisbane Courier, 9 Nov 1907, p. 14Department of Public Works. Report of the Department of Public Works for the Year ending 30 June 1908, p. 11'Coorparoo School', The Brisbane Courier, 11 Feb 1911, p. 14.
Suburban development in Coorparoo Shire accelerated after an electric tram extension opened in February 1915 from Stones Corner, along Old Cleveland Road, to Coorparoo State School.'Set-back and Recovery', Brisbane Courier, 16 Aug 1930, p. 23Leslie E Slaughter, Coorparoo Stones Corner Centenary 1856-1956, publisher, Brisbane, 1956, p. 71. Enrolments at the school continued to increase and an open-air annexe for infants was opened in October 1916 in the northeast corner of the site, following removal of the school residence.'Coorparoo State School', Telegraph, 16 Oct 1915, p. 10ePlan drawing No 15697693, "Coorparoo State School Rebuilding Scheme (2nd Stage)", 25 March 1930Endicott, Coorparoo Stones Corner Retrospective, p. 39.
After World War I, Coorparoo experienced increased property sales and school enrolments. Between 1911 and 1921, Coorparoo Shire's population more than doubled from 2804 to 6635 residences.Project Services, "Coorparoo SS", p. 4University of Queensland. "Queensland Places: Coorparoo and Coorparoo Shire", <http://queenslandplaces.com.au/coorparoo-and-coorparoo-shire> accessed 22 Feb 2017'Booming City', Daily Standard, 2 Nov 1922, p. 4. School enrolments continued to rise, resulting in overcrowding; with two classes taught in the playsheds and two taught under the infants' open-air annexe. As a result, in 1924, the fifth and last extension to the timber school was built.Bolam, Coorparoo State School 125th Anniversary, p. 22.
An important component of Queensland state schools was their grounds. The early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school, resulted in the provision of outdoor play space and sporting facilities, such as ovals and tennis courts. Also, trees and gardens were planted to shade and beautify schools. In the 1870s, schools inspector William Alexander Boyd had been critical of tropical schools and amongst his recommendations stressed the importance of adding shade trees to playgrounds. Subsequently, Arbor Day celebrations began in Queensland in 1890. Aesthetically designed gardens were encouraged by regional inspectors, and educators believed gardening and Arbor Days instilled in young minds the value of hard work and activity, improved classroom discipline, developed aesthetic tastes, and inspired people to stay on the land.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.4, 48-9.
At Coorparoo State School, the small two-acre site provided only limited space for play and sporting facilities. To address this, more than along Halstead Street were purchased in 1912. In 1925, the school acquired another adjoining Tarlina Lane to the west of the school leading from Cavendish Road, while in 1926 the northeastern extent of the laneway was closed and adsorbed into the school grounds. In the same year, a further of land adjacent to the Shire Hall on Cavendish Road, was purchased from the Brisbane City Council for play space. In the following year, the Department of Education purchased of adjacent land. This, in addition to the previous Tarlina Lane purchase, became the site of the school pool, which opened on 3 August 1928, having cost to build.QSA Item ID14289 Coorparoo No 219 State School correspondence, letter from Crown Solicitor to the Under Secretary, Dept Public Instruction, 7 Nov 1912QGG, 10 May 1926, p. ? in QSA Item ID14290, Series 12607 School Files (correspondence) for State SchoolsCoorparoo State School, Coorparoo SS Centenary, Souvenir History 1876-1976, Coorparoo SS, Brisbane, 1976, p. 13DNRM, CoT 10910017Peg Bolam, Coorparoo State School 125th Anniversary, pp. 22-3.
Meanwhile, lobbying of the Department of Public Instruction by the school committee from 1926 for a brick school building to accommodate the rising school population resulted in approval for a rebuilding scheme comprising two linked, two-storey brick buildings, to be constructed in stages.Bolam, Coorparoo State School 125th Anniversary, p .23.
The urban brick school buildings constructed at Coorparoo State School were an individual design by the Department of Public Works. Brick school buildings were far less frequently built than timber ones, provided only in prosperous urban or suburban areas with stable or rapidly-increasing populations. All brick school buildings were individually designed with variations in style, size, and form, but generally retaining similar classroom sizes, layouts and window arrangements to timber schools to facilitate natural light and ventilation. However, compared to contemporary standard education buildings, these buildings had a grander character and greater landmark attributes.Burmester et al, Queensland Schools: A Heritage Conservation Study, pp.18, 99QSA, Item ID 13693, Deputy Govt Architect, "Preliminary Estimate of Modified Plan - New State School Ascot", 9 May 1919.