In 1874 only 20 years after the Eureka Stockade, a school was born in the beautiful hamlet of Woori Yallock. Described as one of the most beautiful districts with beautiful views, rich soil, hunting, fishing and lots of running creeks. Woori Yallock was perfectly named by the Wurundjeri people with its meaning being, running creek.
The first school, number 1259 was born in a tent and things didn’t start that well with the school unable to attract a teacher in 1873. But in 1874 the first teacher/principal was Mr O’Halloran. The school had 21 pupils when it began. Mr O’Halloran struggled as anyone would with the weather extremes and teaching in a tent. He resigned due to the poor conditions in 1875. The school did however, continue on and in 1877 a portable building with teachers’ quarters was erected. The early school had between 20 and 30 students for a long period of time.
The railway came through the Valley in 1901, which opened Woori Yallock up to more trade, particularly timber. That brought more people to the region and the school grew in size. At this time the school had between 30 and 40 pupils. The biggest issue of the day was the creek as there was no bridge. There were days that students who lived on the Seville side of the creek could not attend school because it was too treacherous to cross the creek.
In 1914 the school was given 500 pounds for the erection of a new school building. There was discussion at this time to move the school closer to the railway station however, it was finally decided to leave the school at its original site as it was more central. The official opening of the new school was a very special occasion in the district and a concert and dance was held at the school.
In 1974 the school had its centenary which was celebrated over three days. Farms were being subdivided to provide more housing which meant the school continued to grow in terms of enrolments.
In the early 1980s, the school lobbied for a new school to be built as the school on Farmhouse Road was simply not big enough to handle the enrolments. In 1983 the school had 230 students attending. The government approved the building of the new school and also purchased land on Healesville Road to build the new school. The school continued to grow in the 80s and the 90s with younger families moving out to the Valley.
There was a decline in the late 2000’s. In 2011, the school had 160 students. A new dynamic Principal, Danny Hyndman took over, and the school went from strength to strength with increased outcomes which brought more numbers. In 2016 the school was nominated in the state education awards for ‘Outstanding School Advancement’.
In 2017 the school started lobbying for a new building. The Honourable James Merlino announced in the 2019 state budget that the school would receive 10.6 million to upgrade the building that was built in 1984.
150 years have gone by since Michael O’Halloran packed his bags and became the first official teacher at Woori Yallock Primary School. From 1874 to 2024, 150 years of educating thousands of students, the school has of course had its trials and tribulations but many triumphs along the way.
The school continues to serve the community, which is proud of their local school – to guide and teach children and to establish strong friendships and relationships. The school has become very popular in the Valley with its excellent reputation and is now easily the largest primary school in the district with 415 students currently enrolled.
