The Warburton Primary School celebrated its 150th anniversary on 19 October where students, parents, teachers and community gathered to mark the momentous occasion.
Over 400 people attended the day and Warburton Primary School principal Nathan Van Der Monde said the turnout was incredible.
“It was a fantastic day. The students had performances and the school captains gave speeches, as well as myself. We had some representatives from the Department of Education,” he said.
“So it was quite nice to have that sort of all the official parts of the day.”
Local Wurundjeri woman Stacy Piper gave a moving Welcome to Country ceremony and the day’s celebrations followed shortly after.
Mr Van De Monde said the school captain’s speeches were a highlight of the day as they spoke about what makes the school special.
“They spoke about the fact that it’s taught them that they do have a voice and they can make change, I think it’s really amazing that that’s what they took with them.”
With food stalls, a student musical performance, tree planting and a historical memorabilia display, the day had plenty on offer.
The rich history of Warburton Primary School instills a lot of pride in its students and Mr Van De Monde said it was good to showcase that.
“They’re pretty well aware of their school history and something that we’re very proud of.
“We talk about it a lot as a school, but I think it was nice for the community members, ex-staff and ex-students to come in and see,” he said.
Mr Van De Monde was grateful for the funding from the Upper Yarra Community Enterprise to help run the event as it wouldn’t have been “quite as grand” without it.
“They value what schools do… and they wanted to provide some funding to help us to have that day and to celebrate it with the community and make it a really big event.”
Looking back on its 150 years of history, Mr Van De Monde said a common thread of community support has formed the foundation of the Warburton Primary School.
From raising money for new school buildings, petitioning for better resources and simply having the belief that education is important, it’s always been a team effort at Warburton Primary School.
But, Mr Van De Monde said the school’s strong connection to the environment over the years had formed its “heart and soul”.
“Looking through old records, Warburton primary school also has championed a lot of those types of programs.”
He noted an old principal, Mr Bleakley, from the first half of the 20th century as pioneering many agricultural and environmental programs from his pine plantation.
Mr Van De Monde also thanked the Planning Team coordinator Jessica Eden for her leadership in organising the day, alongside all the other volunteers who helped make it as successful as it was.
“I also wanted to thank the parent planning team for all of their work because it was a massive amount of work.”
