History
In the beginning…
1853
At the original land auctions held in 1853, Mr G. Orr purchased 36 acres at four pound ten shillings per acre. The school now stands on a portion of this land.
1930
After being resold a number of times, Mr C. West bought the land and operated a dairy on the site. Blackburn Road was known as May Road at this time.
1957
A.V. Jennings Industries bought the farm to develop a housing estate. The school site (5.3 acres) was an integral part of this development. The housing estate was named “Pinewood” because of the row of pine trees leading up to the farmhouse from Blackburn Road.
The 1960’s
1961
The school opened on Wednesday, 27th September, 1961. There were 149 children and six classrooms in the main school building. Mr A.C. Hughes was the head teacher and there were four other teachers.
It was just a building in a paddock with no boundary fence and no assembly area. The row of pine trees were in the north-west corner, the new shopping centre was to the east, the S.E.C. transmission lines were to the south and Toombah Street formed the western boundary. The only other building was a shelter shed near the corner of Wallabah Street.
1962
A school sign facing Pinewood Drive was erected.
1963
The school had 275 students, 8 classrooms, a head teacher and 10 other teachers.
Site works completed this year included laying of paths, assembly areas, kerbing, channelling, lawn and suitable playing areas. Gardens were established. Over 200 boundary trees were planted. The school oval was commenced.
1964
A sealed cricket pitch was laid. The final stage of the building of classrooms in the main wing of the school was completed. The front area of the school was completed with additional sealed areas for playing and an area for outdoor playing equipment for junior classes. Mr D. Cunningham was the head teacher from 1964 until 1966.
1965
The school had 420 students, 10 classrooms, a head teacher and 12 other teachers. A water reticulation scheme was added to the oval.
1966
The school library was built and ready for use in 1967.
1967
The school had 512 students, 14 classrooms, a head teacher and 15 other teachers. Mr A.P.H.Cooper was the head teacher from 1967 until 1968.
1969
The school had 740 students, 14 classrooms and 4 portables, a head teacher and 22 other teachers. Mr Frank Seddon was the head teacher from 1969 until 1973.
The 1970’s
1970
The school had 841 students, 22 classrooms, a head teacher and 25 other teachers. Eight classrooms were added to the library to complete a new block of rooms.
1973
The school had 963 students, 22 classrooms and 6 portables, a head teacher and 32 other teachers.
1974
Miss J. G. Fortman became head teacher in April.
1976
The building of the Mulgrave Freeway and issues surrounding this prompted the grade 6 students to enter ‘The Age Environment ’76 Schools Project Contest’.
The 1980’s
1980
The Education Department announced a grant of $45,000 to help construct a community centre at the school. The estimated cost of construction was $102,000. The other groups involved in the project agreed to provide the balance of the funding. These were the Pinewood Primary School Council, Waverley Council, Waverley Bridge Club and the Notting Hill Youth Club.
In June 1980, Pinewood shopping centre celebrated its twentieth birthday.
1985
Frank Holmes was appointed Principal.
As part of the celebrations for Victoria’s 150th, a Schools Procession and Pageant was held at Jells Park on Sunday 31st March.
1988
An Out of Hours program began and it was run by parents.
1989
Jenny Walker started working at the Out of Hours program and her long association with the school had begun.
1993
Joan Romeril was the Principal for the first term. Caroline Snow became the Acting Principal.
The 1990’s
1994
Maurice Baker was appointed Principal in Term two.
1995
The Waverley Links Group was formed in 1994 and began operating in 1995. The Principals and School Council Presidents from Pinewood, Syndal South, Highvale, Wheelers Hill and Glen Waverley Primary Schools met on a regular basis. These smaller schools within the City of Monash combined to improve the educational and social outcomes of their students. Some initiatives included sharing of resources, combined curriculum days and professional development activities, sporting events, leadership program and a gifted and talented network.
1997
There were 212 students enrolled on census day. There were 10.3 permanent teachers with two of the specialist teachers being funded by School Council for two days. Five specialist areas were taught: Art/Craft, Music, Library, LOTE (Japanese) and Physical Education.
The herb wheel was constructed as well as a Koori garden bed around the totem poles. Garden beds were also developed around the hall.
1998
There were 235 students enrolled on census day including two part-time integration students. There was 11.3 staff funded by the Department of Education and two by the School Council.
The Early Years Literacy program in Years Prep – 2 was introduced.
The computer room was upgraded to Apple Quadra and LC2 computers with colour monitors run on a Novelle network from a file server. Two Pentium 2 computers were purchased for each classroom and linked to the file server.
A number of building and ground improvements were completed: new car park on western side of school, drop off zone in lane way, Japanese Garden, fernery and frog pond, paving northern end of hall with brick pavers engraved by students, cabling the school for the computer network, rose garden and log seats relocated to the edge of the oval.
The 2000’s
2001
There were 273 students enrolled on Census Day. There were 15.2 staff funded by DEET and five part-time teachers employed on local payroll.
The pavilion and barbecue were officially opened on March 23rdby Anna Burke, Federal Member of Parliament for Chisholm. She also presented students with medallions to celebrate the Centenary of Federation in May.
There was a visit by the “Pinnacle of Terror” from Delhuntie Park as a reward for the exemplary behaviour of the 5/6 students during the camp.
Mary Delahunty, the Minister of Education visited the school.
We won the Schools’ Garden Award for the Eastern Metropolitan Region and a Special Award for consistently demonstrating an outstanding degree of garden and grounds development.
2003
On Census Day there were 286 students.
There were 17.1 teachers funded through DE&T and .2 teachers employed on the local payroll.
The athletics team won the Syndal District Athletics Sports for the fifth consecutive year. The students also won the Syndal District Cross Country Championships. Eleven students qualified for the Eastern Zone Championships.
A synthetic surface was laid on the basketball court and one bat tennis court during the summer holidays.
The Wakakirri team performed at the Schools Garden Awards. Pinewood was presented with the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Award and the highest award in the Award of Merit category.
2004
On Census Day there were 286 students.
There were 16.1 teachers funded through DE&T.
We were awarded $22,000 for the Nestle Community Environmental Program.
The Pinewood Fiesta raised $10,000.
Pinewood received accreditation for being a Waste Wise School.
2005
On Census Day there were 269 students.
Staffing remained the same as last year.
There were 12 classes.
The Habitat Haven was officially opened on Friday 1st April, 2005.
We received $110,000 for three projects through the Investing in Our Schools Project which was funded by the Federal Government. A synthetic surface was laid on top of the netball courts at the front of the school, new fencing was erected along the front of the school and part way down the sides and carpet was laid in both corridors.
2006
On Census Day there were 300 students.
There were twelve classes and 16.8 teachers funded through DE&T.
The computer room was refitted with new computers and a new server. This included 30 flat screen monitors.
2007
On Census Day there were 303 students.
There were thirteen classes and 16.8 teachers funded through DEECD.
A storeroom was added to the hall.
Four interactive whiteboards were installed.
We received a further $38,281 from the Investing in Our Schools Project to upgrade the entrance and the administration area.
2008
On Census Day there were 294 students.
Staffing and classes remained the same.
The fitness track was renovated.
2009
On Census Day there were 315 students.
There were still thirteen classes and 18.8 teachers funded through DEECD.
We received money from the National School Pride program and used it to sink a bore on the edge of the oval, install a desalination unit, a 10,000 litre underground tank and a watering system on the oval.
Twelve interactive whiteboards were purchased so that there would be one in every room.
Planning began for the new building project funded through the Building the Education Revolution project.
The old kiln in the Art room was replaced with a new Tetlow kiln.
The 2010’s
2010
On Census Day there were 340 students, 15 classes and 21 staff.
The library wing was demolished and the building of a new library and six classrooms began.
2011
Pinewood celebrated 50 years and the opening of its new building with a festival on May 14th. The current enrolment is 332. There are 15 classes and 6 specialists teachers (Art, Library, Music, Reading Recovery, 2 computer technicians). There is also one principal, an assistant principal, 2 office staff and 10 part-time staff at the Out Of Hours Program.
This information has been compiled by Helen Dent (teacher at Pinewood since 1999) and Jan Beecroft (bursar at Pinewood since 1997) from the following resources;
- Centenary of State Education in Victoria, Histories of the Schools in Monash Inspectorate, Compiled in 1973 by various authors, Edited by James A. Baines, (Principal, Clayton North Primary School)
- Bound volumes of old Waverley Gazettes
- Newspaper articles held on file at the Waverley Historical Society
- Waverley Historical Society, newsletter issue 34, images in albums, vertical files, news clipping files