The Nineteen Seventies Toward the end of the 1972 school year Mr Alex Lowe accepted an invitation to transfer to the Wahroonga Adventist Primary School where he served as principal for fourteen years until his retirement. Of the seven years he spent at Mt. Gravatt, Lowe perceived them to be amongst the most rewarding of his experience as a school administrator. He recalled that they were exceedingly busy years, but made extremely enjoyable by the strong support he received from all associated with the school. Lowe’s replacement was Mr Wal Dawson. Dawson came to Brisbane from the principalship of the Primary School located on the campus of Avondale College. Like Lowe, Dawson had taught in small one-teacher schools— Ophir Glen and Mullumbimby. Survival in these small schools required a strong physical constitution, above average teaching skills, and the capacity to organise one’s program and energies. They made excellent training grounds for later administrative experience. Dawson led Mt. Gravatt for three years, 1973-75. There were no major building programs during these years, but there were improvements to the existing physical plant. These included excavating and enclosing the area under the 1967 extension to provide valuable storage space. Dawson did his best to improve the recreational amenities for the students. Small-scale tennis courts were painted on the cement area and bat-tennis was introduced.
A far larger project was the construction of the playing fields between the school and the creek. This required the removal of trees and their stumps. Dawson recalled the use of dynamite to remove particularly difficult stumps. This dynamiting took place on Sundays. Dawson did not state, however, whether the school ever received protests from the local residents at having their Sunday mornings punctuated with sonic booms. He did recall that the labour force came from the churches and were ably led by Ken and Barry Hiscox and Sing Poi Hung. The strong emphasis at Mt. Gravatt on music may well stem from Dawson’s time. In addition to a school choir, Dawson also fostered the learning of musical instruments, including the piano, and violin. Visiting music teachers, such as Mrs Faith Overson, were employed to provide individual tuition. Dawson was proficient in playing the mouth organ and ukulele and offered instruction in these two instruments. Thus began the strong music tradition that characterises BAC today. In his teaching Dawson became aware that some students failed to realise their full academic potential because of specific learning difficulties. He felt that with remedial work these students could be helped academically and with positive spin-offs in self esteem and social development. He therefore proposed that a teacher be employed to work at Mt. Gravatt for three days a week and to spend the other two days at other Adventist schools near Brisbane. To his surprise and disappointment he received no encouragement from the educational hierarchy. Determined to provide some assistance to disadvantaged students, Dawson arranged for a friend at Mt. Gravatt Teachers College who worked in remedial education to provide before-school help. Dawson’s efforts in this regard were an early recognition that difficulties in learning were not necessarily an indication of below average mental capacity, but rather stemmed from problems in receiving and processing information. Furthermore, these problems could be overcome. The development of a Special Education unit at Mt Gravatt came later and for Dawson was a vindication of his dream.
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