Tuckombil
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STATUS QUO MCMLIX This publication presents the schools of the Ballina Inspectorate at this time – Education Week, 1959 – and their origins. TUCKOMBIL PUBLIC SCHOOL The original Tuckombil School, an unfenced weatherboard building about 2Oft. x 12ft., was erected in 1882 and occupied a site opposite the present school, on the property owned by the late Owen Daley, and now by his grandson, Mr. Frank Daley. The first teacher at Tuckombil was Miss Buckley, who later resigned to marry a local resident, Richard Barlow and rear a family, all of whom attended Tuckombil School. When two acres of land opposite the original site was donated to the Education Department by the late Mr. Whipps, the present building was erected. This building, 3Oft. x 18ft., has remained open since, except for a short period during 1939, when lack of pupils caused its closure. A list of teachers in order of service is as follows: Miss Buckley, Miss Kidd, Miss McKinnon, Miss Peard, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Miller, Miss Johnston, Mr. Goulding, Mr. Oswin, Mr. Costello, Mr. Simes, Mr. Nance, Mr. Robinson, Mr. Clifford, Mr. Heard, Miss Daley, Mr. Malone, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Hill, Miss Ramsay, Mr. Schumacher. Tuckombil Public School is situated three miles east of Alstonville overlooking the sea north of Ballina. The surrounding district lends itself to the pursuit of various primary industries, the main ones being dairying, banana and peanut growing. School enrolment during the years has fluctuated between thirty and eleven, but the present enrolment of sixteen should be maintained for some years. CHOICE OF SECONDARY SCHOOLS On completion of their primary education, pupils from Tuckombil proceed to Lismore, where they attend Richmond River High School, or to the Alstonville Central School. Under the stalwart leadership of Messrs. J. Whipps and D. Shaw an active Parents and Citizens' Association has supplied much equipment for this school, the most notable contribution during the past four years being the formation of an excellent graded fiction library as well as the nucleus of a good reference library. Playground beautification has added to the appearance of this school. The level playground, kept mown by the P. and C. owned motor mower, the erection of a park type fence, the removal of coral trees and their replacement with attractive shrubs, provides a pleasant setting for the school As there is no public hall, the school provides the focal point of the community. Here the pupils strive to justify the confidence placed in them by a community which has set an excellent example in civic habits and by its actions has encouraged the pupils to become conscious of the benefits to be derived from education. |