Key information
- Address:
- Blackwood 3458
- Opened:
- 1 July 1867
- Closed:
- 31 May 1925
- School type:
- Primary
- School number:
- 885
- Other names:
- Barry's Reef Common School, Barry's Reef State School
How to find enrolment and other school records
If the school is open: contact the school directly to access your records.
If the school has closed: contact the Archives and Records branch via email archives.records@education.vic.gov.au or 1800 359 140 and they will assist you.
The history of Barry's Reef State School
1867
Barry's Reef was opened as a common school in 1867. Classes were taught in the local Wesleyan Chapel.
The number of students averaged 45.
The name ‘Barry's Reef' is from the ‘reef' of gold said to have been found there by local man Barry Francis.
1869
A schoolhouse was built in 1869.
The number of students was increasing as more people came to mine gold.
1870s
The school became a state school at some stage between 1873 and 1878.
The number of students at the school was now 116 and the schoolhouse was too small in 1874. The school rented the Wesleyan Chapel to use as a classroom.
Another classroom and four-room house for the head teacher was built in 1875.
The number of students enrolled at the school was now more than 300 in 1877. The school rented a local hall and the Wesleyan Chapel to use as classrooms.
In 1879, the number of students enrolled had grown to 400.
1881
Student numbers were falling rapidly as people moved away from the goldfields.
1891
The number of students attending the school now averaged around 80.
1900
The head teacher's house was empty and the garden was taken over by stray goats and cows.
1907
The head teachers' house was rented out.
1910
The school won a ‘first-class' certificate for the best kept garden.
1925
Barry's Reef was closed in 1925 when there were only 3 students.
The old building was sold.
Find more information about this school
The Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of Victoria's State and local government. They look after some of our oldest school records, and we can use these records to help us understand what school life used to be like.
PROV currently only have paper records for this school.
Updated