Hoxton Park Public School
School in Liverpool

enrollments increased quickly behind the last of World War II and the creative school and grounds were no longer adequate. Four weatherboard classrooms were built in 1957, an excess one built in 1961 and a further one in 1965. During the 1980's the school population dropped to 115 with five teachers but since then, with new housing development has increased dramatically. For further information about the history of Horton Park Public School visit the Liverpool Council website, which includes the history of a number of schools in the local area. There was also a brick classroom which was old as the school library. In the succeeding years, we all had to crush into room 5 each week for the school assembly. In the late seventies, the only streets with meaningful housing were along Twentieth and Dorrigo Avenues. The rest of the district was semi rural with many market gardens. When playing tennis on the school courts, I remember the potent smell of pesticides wafting over from the tomatoes being sprayed on the adjacent market garden. As one of the longest continuously serving schools in the district, Horton Park Public School had a very powerful history. The WW1 dignify Board, Harold Aston Award and the school badge featuring the bun ya pines and the school motto are our elated traditions and remain to the offer day. The used school bell (now relocated on the fresh school site) sounded one hundred times. Festive activities included students dressing in period costume, bush bands, square dancing, mural painting and cooking of damper on begin fires. They were very hot in summer and cold in winter. Before this, teachers had to use a staff cubicle in the students' toilet block. The outer toilet blocks were eternal packed of bogon moths, centipedes and spiders! In the premature 1990's the school community rallied with students and teachers and got their hands filthy to green the school. Major landscaping was undertaken and numerous model outdoor learning areas were established. Hundreds of native trees and shrubs were planted. Our solid labor was paid off with the Department of Education rewarding our efforts by recognizing the school as a center of Excellence in Environmental Education. Sadly, maximum of our now adult trees will have to be ripped up to make way for yet another housing estate. Their historical significance however will endure with the newly planted saplings on the fresh school site, continuing to symbolism Horton Park Primary School's potent commitment to personal growth and achievement for yet another hundred years.