A historic local school which opened on May 24 in 1873 with 37 students – 17 boys and 20 girls – last week celebrated its 150th anniversary at the Beenleigh Historical Village and Museum.
The cake was reminiscent of the 1870s.
The Loganholme State School, which was opened beside what was to become the Pacific Highway, cost 290 pounds to build.
Designed as a one-teacher learning facility, in 1975 it was moved to the Brisbane College of Advanced Education at Kelvin Grove where it was used as a one-teacher school museum.
After being donated to the Beenleigh Historical Village the building was relocated and opened for use on July 30, 2010.
Now set up as it was when originally opened, the school hosts groups of schoolchildren who visit the village to learn about the history of the Beenleigh region.
It now operates with a teacher in period costume, and it has furniture from the 1870s so that today’s students can gain an insight into what old-time schools were like.
There are no separate desks, with five children sharing a long pew-style seat with a bench in front of them complete with ink wells.
Each child receives a slate and a writing stick to use during the visit, when the teacher uses an old-style blackboard and chalk.
Flip charts provide lesson plans and there are display cases with emu eggs, feathers and other historical items.
The teacher explains how lessons took place and demonstrates the use of a cane for disciplinary purposes.
Village operations manager Jaye Rose said the fact the school was still being used to educate local kids was due to many hours of hard work by village volunteers.
“All the old buildings in the village take lots of time to maintain and the village would not be able to function without our unpaid volunteers,” Mrs Rose said.
