page_title: Irvinebank State School
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Irvinebank State School / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Irvinebank State School - 1891 Playshed, from west (2014)
context_page_description: Irvinebank State School is a heritage-listed state school at High Street, Irvinebank, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Robert and John Ferguson, Queensland Department of Public Works and built from 1889 to 1906 by Thomas Gordon and August Conrad Ferdinand Ohnesorgen. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 May 2015.
context_section_description: Irvinebank State School opened in 1889 in the small private mining town of Irvinebank. As the town prospered, the teaching building (1889) was extended in 1899 and 1906, and other structures and landscape elements were built, including a playshed (1891). The town declined after 1907. In 2015 the school buildings remain remarkably intact. Irvinebank State 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.
  Traditionally the land of the Bar Barrum people, European settlement at Irvinebank began in the 1880s. Irvinebank's existence is due to John Moffat (1841-1918), whose mining enterprises drove much of the economic activity in north Queensland between 1884 and 1914. In 1883 tin lodes at Gibbs Creek were purchased by Moffat's partner in the Glen Smelting Company, George Young, while Moffat was overseas. In 1884 Moffat had a dam constructed at Gibbs Creek, above which he built his residence, Loudoun House, and the locality was named Irvinebank. The Loudoun Mill, a battery and smelter, was constructed and commenced operations in December 1884. A School of Arts building was erected in Irvinebank in 1885, and the first sale of allotments in the town occurred in February 1886. Irvinebank became the centre of Moffat's business empire, and Loudoun Mill was expanded between 1886 and 1904.
  In June 1886 a public meeting was held at Irvinebank to elect members of a building committee to establish a provisional school. Irvinebank Provisional School opened on 18 October 1886, in a building south of Jessie Street. By the end of December 1886, enrolment had reached 16 pupils.
  The provision of state-administered education was important to the governments of Australia. After introducing the Education Act 1860 the number of public schools in Queensland grew from four in 1860 to 230 by 1875. The State Education Act 1875 instituted free, compulsory, and secular primary education and established the Department of Public Instruction. 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.
  Irvinebank soon had the population to support a state school, thanks to increased tin production. The economy of the town experienced two peak periods of prosperity - 1888-90 and 1899-1904 - boosted by the opening of the Vulcan tin mine in 1889, and by expansion at the Loudoun Mill. At its peak in the early 1900s, the Loudoun Mill was the largest tin battery and smelter in Australia. In 1888, the School Committee sought to upgrade Irvinebank Provisional School to a state school and raised 20 percent of the cost of a new building, as the Department of Public Instruction refused to allow the existing facility to be used. A new site, steep but closer to the centre of town than a surveyed school reserve further northeast, was reserved in May 1889; comprising 2 acres (0.81 ha), 1 rood 19.8 perches (1,510 m²). Construction tenders were called in May 1889, and the new school buildings (teaching building and teacher's residence) were completed soon after. The upgrade to a state school was officially approved on 25 July 1889.
  The teaching building at Irvinebank was built to a standard design by architect John Ferguson. The government developed standard plans for its school buildings to help ensure consistency and economy. 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,
caption: Playshed from the west, 2014
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