One of Victoria’s oldest primary schools has reached a major milestone – celebrating 150 years of supporting local students to get the best education.
Victorian Minister for Education Natalie Hutchins visited Porepunkah Primary school to mark the achievement through a ceremony with students and staff.
The school is on Dhudhuroa Country on the banks of the Ovens River, near the foot of Mount Buffalo, and is projected to have an enrolment of 110 students this year.
The school has a long history – opening as a common school on 23 January 1873 with just 62 students enrolled, before becoming a state school in 1875.
In 1924, the school acquired more than 40 acres of Crown Land for a School Endowment Pine Plantation. The first trees were then planted in 1925 and milled in 1955, with the school receiving £750 for the timber and another classroom was built that year.
Since then, the school has undergone a major redevelopment to ensure students have the best spaces to learn and thrive.
In 2010/2011, the original classroom and the 1963 development were retained, while four new classrooms, toilets and a large multi-purpose/ library space were added.