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Chapter Two The Planting
CHAPTER TWO
THE PLANTING
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The beginning of the 1981 school year was fast approaching, but the buildings, delayed by a late start and bad weather, were far from ready. Emergency arrangements were quickly put in place. The church hall in Carey Lane behind the church was made ready, set up with desks, chairs, blackboards, books and storage. It was to be the temporary home of the new school for two months.
The opening of enrolments had quickly proved the need for such a school. Enrolment enquiries and applications had flowed in steadily at the rate of up to ten per day. Principal Joe Dickerson was contacted about enrolments even on Christmas Eve, the day of his arrival in Southport. On opening day, 27th January 1981, 73 students were in attendance. One absentee was ill, another still travelling from Victoria. Among them were five grandchildren of Eddie and Lila Mackenzie The three teachers were installed in office at a service in Trinity Lutheran Church on 22nd February. A choir of students sang at the service, the beginning of a rich musical tradition which was to develop in the school. As the school grew, this installation of teachers became an important annual event. Mrs Lyn Mackenzie taught Grade 1 in the separate hall annexe. In the main body of the hall, divided only by screens, Years 2, 3 and 4 were taught by Mrs Karen Mitchell, and Grades 5, 6 and 7 by Mr Joe Dickerson. On at least one occasion the six upper classes had to abandon their classrooms when congregational activities, organised long before, took precedence. In wet weather all were confined in the building. Youthful creativity produced lunchtime activities for their own amusement. Narrow unsealed Carey Lane became a cricket field. Hitting a six onto the roof of an adjacent building with a tennis ball was an achievement, but not popular with those who had to retrieve the ball!
It was not only the facilities which were rudimentary. Mr Wilf Cambridge, the School Council treasurer, came to the school every fortnight to pay the teachers in cash. He also became a frequent visitor to the school on its permanent site to coach the school sports teams and as a regular at working bees.
By the end of March, the new buildings at Cotlew Street were finished and ready for occupation. Parents with their vehicles were recruited to assist in the
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The opening of Stage 1
urgently awaited move. It took only 45 minutes to load all the vehicles and transport the whole of the little school’s furniture and equipment to the new buildings at Ashmore. This cooperative effort was the first of countless examples in the following years of loyal support and assistance from a committed body of school parents. A community was being created.
The new buildings were dedicated on 24th May 1981 by Pastor R J Mayer, President of the LCAQD, and officially opened by the Premier of Queensland, Mr Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
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At once the work on the grounds began. It was sorely needed. To enable students and teachers to negotiate their way across the clay and rough ground, wooden planks had to be laid. It was especially difficult in wet weather. Most of the students enjoyed playing on the rough dirt and stone, but it could not be allowed to remain so. Regular, often weekly, working bees were organised, calling on both members of the congregation and school parents to begin the landscaping of the grounds. A pattern of volunteer assistance was established which continued for many years.
The Stage 1 buildings
The first buildings before landscaping Mr J Bjelke-Petersen opening Stage 1
The beautiful, well-tended grounds of the campus today owe much to the volunteer work done by large numbers of committed parents and congregational members in the early years of the school. The shared effort cemented an intimate three-way relationship among school, parents and congregation. Retaining walls were built, clay and stone removed and large areas raked in preparation for spreading of soil and planting grass. Steep banks were stabilised and planted, soil spread and turf laid. The Issell family, school parents, owned a nursery and were landscaping contractors.
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Working bee Working bee
Working bee
Working bee A finished project
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At the end of any contract or order Mr Issell brought any excess turf and planted it, often assisted by the children. Trees and shrubs were provided in the same way. At times the children used the fire hydrant to provide water for the newly planted grass and plants.
As long as his health allowed, Eddie Mackenzie was among the workers. For several years he made a practice of closing his factory early almost every day so that he could come to the school to water plants and newly laid grass. Teachers of the early years remember him working during the day outside their classrooms at gardening and landscaping tasks.
The support of parents was formally harnessed by the initiation of the P&C Association under the chairmanship of Robin Mackenzie, followed in 1982 by Mr Les Mathies. Already in the first year the parent body included a large number of families from a professional background, and they put their diverse range of skills into the service of the fledging school. This potent mixture of skill, generosity and commitment was to be an outstanding characteristic of the school for the whole of its history.
Joe Dickerson, a strict disciplinarian, established strong expectations of students very early in both their learning and their behaviour. He insisted that the teachers were to couch their instructions to students in positive terms rather than with negatives and prohibitions. Years before official encouragement of sun safe practices, he was insistent on children wearing their hats when out of doors. Physical education was introduced early, and students were transported by bus to a local swimming school for swimming lessons. It was the beginning of a strength in the school which developed into a special characteristic.
The small flat area at the bottom of the hill became the large oval of today at an early stage. The Gold Coast City Council had a crew doing drainage works on Nerang Road where the creek crossed under it. In conversation with the foreman, Joe Dickerson learned that large amounts of soil and fill were to be stockpiled and then transported elsewhere for dumping. In an agreement which benefited both parties, it was arranged that the soil would be dumped and spread on the adjacent school site, thus creating the basis for the large and useful sports oval of today. Trinity students played team sports in a local school competition. Karen Mitchell coached softball, Joe Dickerson soccer, and Wilf Cambridge, the School Council treasurer, cricket, and later soccer also.
Enrolment enquiries continued to flow in. The 1982 school year began with 104 students and two new teachers, Mrs Dagmar Chivers and MissLexeen Kowald.Mrs Lyn Mackenzie took a year of leaveto complete her studies for accreditation as a Lutheran teacher, returning in 1983.More teaching spaces became an urgent need, and planning for Stage 2 began in order to provide four more classrooms. The new building was opened on 11th October 1982 by Mr Doug Jennings MLA, the local Member for Southport and dedicated by Pastor David Stolz, Vice-President of the LCAQD. Already the little school was developing a reputation for effective teaching and learning, strong discipline, high standards of behaviour, and Christian teaching and care. The motto of the school, No other foundation- JesusChrist, was being lived out day by day.
The school camps which were to become a loved feature of school life began early, though in a simple format. The older students undertook a three-day (two night) camp close by, on the site which later became the college’s Ashmore Street campus. There were no amenities, facilities or accommodation, but abundant wildlife. In the fine weather the children constructed their own bush humpies to sleep in.
At the end of 1982 Joe Dickerson left the school to accept a call to become principal of a new Lutheran school in Ceduna, South Australia. The school was to serve aboriginal children who were being relocated from scattered camps to a central school in the town. Joe Dickerson’s experience with ethnic communities and with schools in challenging social situations
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equipped him well for the role, and the LCA gave approval for the call to be issued to him even though the statutory four years of his current call had not yet elapsed. He had served the new school at Ashmore faithfully and effectively, with all the difficulties and sacrifices which accompany pioneering, and holds the honour of being its founding principal.
One of the foundation teachers, Mrs Karen Mitchell, resigned from her teaching role at the end of 1982, but continued her involvement with part time assistance in the library.
Once again, the congregation was unsuccessful in its calls to prospective principals until, finally, an interim arrangement became necessary. Mr Malcolm Ruediger was a recently retired Principal of government schools in South Australia. He agreed to come to Southport as Acting Principal in 1983 until the position could be filled permanently. With an enrolment of 128 in its third year, the school operated in consolidation mode, as he could not be expected to take the initiative for future developments. When he returned to South Australia at the end of Term 2, teacher Michael Groves undertook the principal’s tasks in the short term.
With an eye to the future a time capsule was filled with relevant material, including miniatures of the school uniform, handwriting samples, and other examples of school work from every student, and was laid down beside the first classroom by Eddie Mackenzie and Jack Strohmeyer at a ceremony on 24th May under a rock which had been “liberated” from a property in the hinterland. The time capsule was duly opened as intended twenty-five years later in 2007 but, sadly, it proved not to be water tight and many of the contents were damaged.
The demand for a Christian school in the area had been judged correctly. As the reputation of the new school grew in the community, new enrolments were still being registered in large numbers. The policy of the Lutheran church in Australia was that its primary schools should be single stream, one class at each year level. In Queensland this meant a maximum enrolment of 210. (It was assumed that 30 students could be enrolled in each class!) This pattern was about to be challenged at Trinity. Already, in 1980, visiting representatives of the Commonwealth Schools Commission, when they became aware of the demand for schooling in the area and the potential growth, asked why the congregation was planning for only a single stream school. In early 1982 the architect, in planning the Stage 2 building, became aware of the enrolment pressures and asked about the possibility of expanding the planned enrolment. During 1983 the School Committee reviewed the growing enrolment application list, considered the option seriously and decided to introduce double streaming at once, beginning with two Year 1 classes in 1984. An application to the District Schools Council met with some suspicion, especially as the school was still in its early growth phase. But the numbers were compelling and the school was operating successfully. Approval was granted, making Trinity Lutheran Primary School the first in the Lutheran Church of Australia to double stream.
In this year of transition, the School Council encountered some difficulties. It was a committee of Trinity congregation and made governance decisions on its behalf, such as planning for Stage 2 of the building program. In the absence of a permanent Principal, however, it was compelled also to make management decisions normally reserved for the principal. Peter Stiller, Chairman of the School Council, spent every day at the school when he was not rostered for work as a police officer. Lines of responsibility and accountability became blurred for parents and families unfamiliar with Lutheran schools. The confusion was quickly resolved with the arrival of the new principal. What remained clear and unchanged was the welcoming and accepting attitude of the congregation to school families, some of whom were finding a church home there.
Construction of Stage 2 Opening of Stage 2
Pastor Prenzler and Eddie MacKenzie laying down the time capsule Malcolm Ruediger Michael Groves
Peter Stiller Filling the time capsule
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School fete School fete
Barn Dance School fete
Arts and Crafts Show Dinner auction Kleinschmidt’s barn, site of Farm Days and Barn Dances
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Ladies’ Christmas function Dinner auction
Arts and Crafts Show
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An active P&C Association under its chairman, Dr Darrel Price, was establishing and started enduring traditions. It was in 1983 that the Association presented the first Trinity Art Show under the leadership of Mrs Cynthia Williams, a role she continued for four years. Held in the classrooms and on the wide verandas, the display of art and craft was the beginning of a tradition which endured for more than thirty years. Every second year it was combined with the school fete. The Dinner Auction and the Fashion Parade also established long traditions, and continued to build the strong sense of community which surrounded the school. The 1983 Art Show profit of more than $2,000, together with $5,205 raised by the Ladies Auxiliary, as well as strong support for working bees, were evidence of loyal parent involvement. 1982 had witnessed the beginning of another long P&C Association tradition, the Barn Dance at the Kleinschmidt farm at Otmoor, Upper Coomera. Chairman Les Mathies and his committee had postponed the event because of bad weather but, after a week without rain, it was rescheduled. On the night a sustained downpour resulted in fifteen centimetres of farm mud and water through which the 325 guests had to wade to the venue. It wet the feet but did not dampen the spirits and the Barn Dance became a popular annual event. Both events typified the energetic and loyal involvement of the parent community, which was to be an enduring feature of the school. Trinity congregation had previously held congregational services in The Barn on the Kleinschmidt farm. The school now began a tradition of a Farm Family Day, including a church service, another tradition which endured for many years. More than 200 people attended the first occasion in 1983.
All this was achieved as the search for a permanent Principal continued. Mr Robert Hoff was the Principal at St Paul’s Lutheran Primary School at Blair Athol in suburban Adelaide. During his eleven years as Principal the enrolment had risen from 30 to 280 (P-7). He had declined the call to be the founding Principal of the school but, when he received a second call to Trinity, he accepted and took up the position in Term 4 of 1983. He was installed at a special service in Trinity Lutheran Church on 9th October. A new Principal’s residence had been built at the top of the ridge adjacent to Nerang Street and was ready for occupation when the Hoff family arrived – Robert, his wife Sandra, and their two daughters. The house was dedicated on 9th October, the same day as his installation service.
Greeting by Pastor Sam Simpfendorfer Installation of Robert Hoff Oct 1983
