Third Time Lucky

In the years following the closure of the second South Brisbane school, several Adventist schools had been established on Brisbane’s northside and in a number of country centres. But Adventist parents in the expanding suburbs south of the Brisbane River were still denied the provision of Adventist schooling for their children. Many felt uncomfortable with this state of affairs. Delegates to the 1962 Queensland Conference session therefore did two things: they affirmed the importance of Christian education; and they empowered the Conference Executive Committee to establish new schools within the Conference. Hopefully one of these would be located south of the Brisbane River. This mandate was taken seriously by the Conference administrators and the Executive Committee. A search for a suitable parcel of land led to a nine-acre (3.64 hectares) lot located on Broadwater Road, Mt Gravatt. Deemed suitable for a school, the land was purchased and Adventist builder-architect, Evan Coulston was commissioned to draw the plans for and to construct a school to consist of three-classrooms, a library and an administrative office. Coulston not only delivered the foregoing, but by using the slope of the land to advantage, was able to provide the school with covered play space under the high-set building.

Coulston also effected savings wherever he could and this included the use of voluntary labour provided by the members of Adventist churches on the Southside. The cost of the initial building was therefore a very modest $40 000.

The Southside Adventist Primary School opened its doors to scholars at the beginning of the 1966 school year. With three classrooms, the new school had a notional enrolment potential of 120 students, that is, forty students per classroom. It was expected that the school would commence as a two-teacher school with an initial enrolment of about fifty scholars. In fact eighty-five fronted up to be founding students of the new school. A third teacher was quickly procured. The first teachers were Mr Alex Lowe, headmaster, Ms Gem Blank and Ms Marion Gibbons (Mrs Marion Shields).

The official opening of the school took place on 6 February 1966. This proved a gala occasion with over 400 persons present. It was also an opportunity for good Adventist public relations and the Queensland media—television, press and radio—were all present. It was reported that these various media each gave excellent coverage of the event in their evening presentations. The official party consisted of Pastor David Sibley and Dr Geoffrey Rosenhain, from the Trans-Tasman Union Conference, and Pastor Keith Parmenter and Mr Oliver Twist, president and secretary-treasurer respectively of the Queensland Conference (in 1968 to be renamed the South Queensland Conference). Dr Rosenhain gave the official address in which he emphasised that “True religion is concerned with the development of the whole man, physical, mental, and spiritual, therefore it is impossible to separate education from religion, for it is an integral part of it.” Dr Rosenhain also had the privilege of cutting the ribbon and declaring the school officially open. The school did not long keep its Southside name. In fact the Minutes of the first School Board meeting were headed, “The Adventist Church School, Mount Gravatt.” Within a short time the school was being referred to as Mt Gravatt, reflecting its geographical location. By 1967 the record of School Board affairs were simply “Minutes of the Mount Gravatt Church School.” There is no evidence in those same minutes of any formal action to re-name the school Mt Gravatt Seventh-day Adventist Primary School.

The Board of the new school met for the first time on 21 February 1966. The minutes reveal that Pastor Wal J. Taylor had been appointed inaugural chairman. Ex officio members were a representative from the Queensland Conference and the school principal. The latter acted as secretary. Each of the Seventh-day Adventist churches south of the Brisbane River appointed two representatives. As this was the first Board it is appropriate to list their names: Mr David Crabtree, Mr Wally Dagg, Mr William (Bill) Glover, Mr George Hedges, Mr E Heidik, Mr Sam Kimpton, Mr Edgar Lamprecht, Mr Cliff Lang, Mr Russell Lang, Mrs M Rielly, Mrs W Spector, and Mr George Sprott. The Board acted quickly to provide the school with some basic equipment: $35.00 for craft tools, $75.00 for two sewing machines, $30.00 for library books, and $10.00 for supplementary textbooks for teacher use. It was also decided to request the Conference to share in the purchase of a S.R.A. Reading Laboratory on a dollar for dollar basis. The Board also approved a budget of $400.00 for the annual operating expense. The Board and principal proved sound financial administrators for the first minutes for 1967 revealed that the first year was operated with a balanced budget and a small credit of $66.03. There was early evidence of the goodwill of parents and others in supporting the new school for those same minutes record that a letter of appreciation be sent to Mr Rielly for providing three desk book racks, two bulletin boards, two display boards, and two mirrors for the toilets. Likewise it authorised letters be sent to Mr Don Craig for an offer to provide the school with a flag pole and to Mr David Crabtree for an offer to provide the bricks necessary to construct an incinerator. Of a more formal nature was the appointment of members of the inaugural Home and School Association. Mr Bill Glover was appointed president, Mr John Stackelroth, vice-president, Miss Marion Gibbons secretary-treasurer, and members Mr Ben Hutton, Mr Glen Woosley, Mr Pavel Dudarko, Mrs Woodward, Mrs Joyce Ballard, and Ms Dell Topel. Subsequent Minutes reveal that the Home and School Association quickly developed momentum in assisting the new school with raising funds for more equipment, including a piano, and the basic necessities. In recognition of the H&S Association’s importance, at the Board’s first meeting in 1967 it was voted that the president of the Association be an ex officio member of the Board. It should be noted that unlike its unsuccessful pre-cursor, the South Brisbane school, Mt. Gravatt held several major advantages. First, it had the strong support of the Queensland Conference whose capacity to assist financially far exceeded church resources earlier in the century. Secondly, it was directly supported not by one but six existing Adventist churches, and this support base increased during the next two decades as the number of SouthsideAdventist churches increased considerably. Thirdly, it commenced with an enrolment that exceeded the critical student mass to guarantee success. Fourthly, in the absence of train and bus routes to service the school, it was recognised that a school-operated bus program was essential.

As a consequence of these advantages, the school quickly gained the appellation of being ‘the fastest growing Adventist school’ in Eastern Australia. The 1967 school year began with 105 students and the following year with almost 150. Within three years the staff had grown to five. By 1972 the school enrolment was in excess of 200 students, with a teaching staff of seven. This was a school going places! Enrolment growth has to be matched by facilities and staff growth. The first of these took place late 1967 when two extra classrooms were constructed and ready for the 1968 school year and the Conference authorised the appointment of a fourth teacher. The founding principal was Mr Alex Lowe who came to Mt Gravatt from being head of the primary department at the Newcastle Adventist School. He had, however, prior experience in establishing a new school. In 1950, as a raw graduate from Avondale College, he was appointed to start a Seventh-day Adventist primary school at Corrimal in the Wollongong district of New South Wales. Having once survived being ‘thrown in at the deep end’ as it were, Lowe was ready for any challenge asked of him at Mt. Gravatt.

And challenges there were! All of Lowe’s previous teaching experience had been within New South Wales. When he came to Brisbane he had to quickly come to a working knowledge of the Queensland curriculum and other educational requirements. As Lowe recalls, “I had four weeks in which to stock the school with basic equipment, and adjust to a new system of education.” Usually, when teachers relocate to another State, they have the benefit of the curriculum documents developed within the school by previous teachers and the records held in their daily work books. None of these existed. Fortunately for Lowe, he found the Queensland system of education to be highly structured and officers within the State Education Department proved extremely cooperative and willingly offered guidance and help. Whatever uncertainties Alex Lowe may have personally felt, these were not perceived by parents as from the very first the school enjoyed the confidence of its community. This was evidenced by its rapid growth outlined above. One of Lowe’s lasting memories was the strong support the school received from church members and parents. He noted that apart from the teachers, all school activities relied for success upon volunteers. The numerous working bees which focused on improving the ‘primitive’ school grounds were well attended. There was great participation in the end of term clean-up program and there was massive attendance at school concerts. The adjectives great and massive were Lowe’s words to convey how strongly the community supported its school. Volunteers from the churches operated the weekly school canteen on a rotational basis and also provided all the food. The bus drivers were volunteers as were those rostered for the weekly cleaning of classrooms. The music and sewing teachers also volunteered their time and expertise. People will give of their time and means to support something in which they truly believe. BAC began with incredible contributions by volunteers. It can be said that one of the characteristics of the school, and one of its major strengths, was the high level of parental and church-community identification with the new school.

Mr Alex Lowe - Founding Principal