Windback Wednesday - Marryatville Primary School

Did you know the old Marryatville Primary School was planned to be twice its original size when it was constructed?

The school opened on the corner of Kensington Road and Eastry Street (now Tusmore Avenue) in June 1884, with 242 students enrolled under head teacher William Kennedy. Demand for a local school was so high at the time that it was opened when the building was only half-completed, and the second half of the building was never constructed.

Because of this the original building was not fit-for-purpose as enrolment increased into the 20th century. The need for expansion became urgent by the 1950s and with a lack of vacant space available for the school to expand, the Department for Education decided to shift Marryatville Primary School to an entirely new site.

New buildings were commissioned at the school's current site on Dankel Avenue and students were gradually transferred over. The old Marryatville Primary School closed on 25 May 1978.

Despite its closure, the original school building still stands today just across the road from the Regal Theatre.

Photograph: Marryatville Primary School, 1956. Burnside Local History Collection.