SCHOOL HISTORY PAGE

LALOR WEST PRIMARY SCHOOL       

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OUR SCHOOL

In 1978 the school's population was 730 plus children and a staff of 40 plus Teacher Aide Judy Andrews; Don Goodger and two assistants working on his Trolley Maths program (with a Department of Education Grant) in what is now the Junior Department Resource Room and Store Room.  Mr. and Mrs. Christou were the school cleaners and had been since the opening of the school in 1973. The school buildings were similar to this day except that there were 18 permanent classrooms, two small portables (A and B) and a demountable Art Room (now rooms 5 and 6). The school grounds were not very attractive.  The garden beds at the front of the school were overrun with weeds, and those in the asphalt area were rock hard due to the pounding they took from the feet of so many children at playtimes.  There was a great scarcity of trees and shade, the only trees being a struggling Hakea (since removed) and a self sown Apple which had sprung from the earth near the east end toilets.  All the trees and shrubs that are in evidence today are as a result of tree planting schemes initiated originally by Tom Blackney in 1978 when a concerted effort planted over 300 trees in one week.  The wet weekend that followed this planting was just what was needed - consternation on the following Monday, vandals had tom up over 60 of the new plants and thrown them onto the asphalt.  Many were replanted and some of these even survived to grow into shrubs that still remain today. The Principal in 1978 was Des Smith - his first year at Lalor West - following Alan Pask. The other senior personnel were Fay Bryan and Tom Blackney.  Senior teachers were Neville Pearce and John Lawless.  The staff contained 12 new teachers who had graduated from College in 1977 and were in their first appointment to schools.  My appointment to Lalor West was as a P.E. Specialist. 1.had the good fortune to be charged with setting up a P.E. Platoon program for all grades (at the end of the year, 1 had learned the names of each of the 730 children at Lalor West Primary School) collaborating with Fay Bryan, the Vice Principal who had a leadership role in P.E. Language and Discipline across the school. The school facilities were minimal, but 18 permanent classrooms and 2 small portables held 730+ children who were set up in grades Prep -11213 - 41516.  The grades were arranged in double rooms - about 85 to 90 each with three teachers.  The two single classrooms and two portables contained grades of between 30 and 35 children. There was great difficulty in finding teaching space for groups in the multi-grades and the corridors were utilized for teaching groups.  There is still an example of how the corridors were used outside rooms 7 and 8 where the coat hanging space has desk top shelves fitted (in 1980) where grades 3 and 4 groups were taken throughout the day. With the opening of St. Catherines School in Lascelles Drive, in 1983, Lalor West suffered a great decrease in numbers with 150 children leaving in the first year.  The drop in enrolment at Lalor West went from 700 to 550, and as time passed, St. Catherines' number slowly increased and Lalor West gradually declined to about 350 as at present. During the period from 1978 to 1993, the school had three Principals - Des Smith (1978 - 1982), Lorraine Flanders (1983 - 1986), Frank Sgarlata (Acting 1987) and Brian Driscoll (1988-1996). In 1984 two classrooms were destroyed by fire and they were replaced by a double portable classroom placed to the west of the present portable classroom. At about the same time, a single portable was placed on the eastern end of the playground as a store room but was used for years as another classroom. Brian Driscoll was Principal of Lalor West Primary School from 1988 to 1996. During that time Brian was responsible for major improvements in the school’s facilities and environment including:

• Administration Upgrade

• Building of Brick Garage

• Building of Rotunda

• Beginning the Installation of Air Cooling for Classrooms

• Landscaping of School Grounds

• Underground watering systems

Roger Rogers was Principal of Lalor West Primary School from 1996 to 2001. During that time Roger maintained the facilities and grounds to a high standard. He oversaw:

• Installation of Shade Cloth over Junior Adventure Playground Equipment

• Refurnishing Classrooms with new tables and Chairs

• Continued installation of Air Cooling in Classrooms 

Anne Hulett became Principal of Lalor West Primary School in 2001. Since undertaking this role, Anne has continued the tradition of improvements to the school’s facilities and environment including:

• Redevelopment of Old Boiler Rooms into Learning Areas

• Painting and Carpeting of Main Building

• Redevelopment of part of Garage into a Learning Area

• Installation of New Playground Equipment in the Junior Area of School

• Installation of Shade Cloth over the Senior Adventure Playground Equipment

• Installation of Whiteboards in all Classrooms

• New Teacher Furniture for all Classrooms

• New Blinds throughout the Main Building

Within the curriculum area, Anne has overseen the development of the school’s Mission Vision and Values, the school’s involvement in the Quality in Schools program and the implementation of the Thinking Curriculum including catering for Multiple Intelligences. Further developments include focussing on staff and student capabilities for learning and life.

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