KORUMBURRA SOUTH STATE SCHOOL NO.3435 (FORMER)

The Korumburra Primary School No.3077, to the extent of the former Infants' School, and the former Korumburra South Primary School No.3435, at 6-16 Mine Road is significant.

The former Infants' School was constructed in 1913 to a standard design by G.W. Watson of the Public Works Department. It is an example of the 'pavilion style', a standard Edwardian design adopted by the Education Department for Infant Schools constructed between 1907-15, which is based on a substantial red brick half hip/half gable structure with a terracotta tiled roof, serving as a central hall, which is flanked at the east and south ends by smaller half gable and hip combinations. There is a transverse half gable structure to the west. The main hall, now the library, has tied timbered trusses and a diagonally panelled board ceiling. Classrooms are located to the north (Mine Road) and the east under connecting transverse half hip projecting bays. A built-in corridor links the elements across the south side. Other notable elements include roughcast banded chimneys with terracotta pots, cast iron roof plumbing, rendered dado band and window sills and heads, and grouped single tall double hung and hopper multi-pane timber windows to classrooms.

The former Korumburra South State School No.3435 was opened in 1903 at the Strzelecki Village Settlement and after closing in 1946 was moved to its present site at the Korumburra Primary School. Constructed by local residents, it is a small gabled weatherboard building with a bank of three tall multi-pane windows in the main elevation and small high set multi-pane hopper windows in the north side elevation (one now replaced with an air conditioner). There are louvred vents in each gable end and a brick chimney against the south wall. At the rear is a skillion section with a six-over-six pane timber sash window in the side wall and a six-pane hopper window and a door in the rear wall.

The mature exotic trees between the Infants' School and Mine Road also contribute to the significance of the place.

Non-original alterations and additions and other buildings on the site are not significant.

How is it significant?

The Korumburra Primary School No.3077 is of local historic, aesthetic and social significance to South Gippsland Shire.
Why is it significant?

Historically, the former Infants' School is associated with the significant growth of Korumburra in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when it was the largest town in what is now South Gippsland Shire. It is one of only three Infants' Schools erected within the Gippsland region and illustrates the change in educational philosophy during the early years of the twentieth century toward the provision of buildings to serve the specific needs of very young children. (Criteria A and B)

The former Infants' School is significant as a representative example of the pavilion style schools designed for preparatory grade children during the early twentieth century. It has aesthetic significance as a fine and well-detailed example of an Edwardian school, which is the largest and most architecturally resolved within South Gippsland Shire. Notable details include the picturesque silhouette created by the complex massing and roofline punctuated by the tall chimneys, while internally the trussed and panelled ceiling to the former hall is distinctive. The elevated position on a prominent site makes it a local landmark. The aesthetic qualities of the school are enhanced by the mature trees, which provide a related setting. (Criteria D and E)

The former Korumburra South School is historically significant for its associations with the development of the Strzelecki Village Settlement, while the relocation in 1947 demonstrates the increasing centralisation of schools across South Gippsland Shire in the postwar period. It is one of the oldest surviving school buildings in the Shire and is also significant as a rare example of a school building constructed by the local community. (Criteria A and B)

It has social significance as a place that has strong associations with the local community through its use as a school for over 100 years. (Criterion G)

Group

Education

Category

School - State (public)