page_title: Tarampa State School
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Tarampa State School / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Interior of the playshed (2014)
context_page_description: Tarampa State School is a heritage-listed state school at 18 Manthey Road, Tarampa, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Robert and John Ferguson, Queensland Department of Public Works and built from 1886 to 1897 by J G Schlecht. It is also known as Tarampa Provisional School. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 May 2015.
context_section_description: Tarampa State School opened in 1880 as Tarampa Provisional School on a four-acre (1.62ha) site within the small agricultural settlement in the Brisbane Valley, to serve the sparse but growing rural population. As settlement increased, the provisional school building was replaced by a Ferguson-designed teaching building (1886) and other structures and landscape elements were built, including a playshed (1897) and a new teacher's residence (1934). The school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity.
  European occupation of the Brisbane Valley dates from 1841. Tarampa Station, a large pastoral lease stretching from the D'Aguilar Range to Glenmore Grove and from Prenzlau to Coominya, was established by Charles Cameron in the 1840s. Agricultural settlement followed in the early 1860s on the Tarampa Agricultural Reserve, created under the Agricultural Reserves Act 1861. The settlers around Tarampa were predominantly of German origin. Primarily subsistence farmers, they raised livestock and grew mixed crops.
  Tarampa Provisional School opened in a private house on 1 April 1880 with 20 children attending on the first day. Construction of a school building on Lot 374, a four-acre (1.62ha) site purchased from Michael Kerlin, was undertaken by Mr Graff in 1880 for £60.
  The provision of state-administered education was important to the colonial governments of Australia. Following the introduction of Queensland's Education Act 1860, which established the Board of General Education and began standardising curriculum, training and facilities, Queensland's public schools grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875. The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.
  The establishment of schools was considered an essential step in the development of early communities and integral to their success. Locals often donated land and labour for a school's construction and the school community contributed to maintenance and development. Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents and teachers. The inclusion of war memorials and community halls reinforced these connections and provided a venue for a wide range of community events in schools across Queensland.
  To help ensure consistency and economy, the Queensland Government developed standard plans for its school buildings. From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas. Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting and ventilation. Standardisation produced distinctly similar schools across Queensland with complexes of typical components.
  Tarampa benefitted from the extension of the Brisbane Valley railway line to nearby Lowood in 1884, which provided local farmers with improved access to markets for their produce and stimulated the timber industry in the area.
  Due to increased enrolments, Tarampa's provisional school was upgraded to a state school in 1886. In colonial Queensland, provisional schools were a convenient means of providing an elementary education for the small, scattered and often transient rural population and became an integral part of the educational landscape. A provisional school could be opened with as few as 15 (later 12) pupils. The Board of Public Instruction gave financial assistance to local committees to set up and maintain these schools. The local committee provided a building and found a teacher, while the Board paid 
caption: Interior of the playshed, 2014
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