Forest Hill State School facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Forest Hill State School
Forest Hill State School, residence viewed from the north, 2014
Location	15 Church Street, Forest Hill, Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia
Built	1892–1906 (residence)
Architect	Queensland Department of Public Works
Queensland Heritage Register
Official name: Forest Hill State School
Type	state heritage
Designated	1 May 2015
Reference no.	602851
Type	Education, research, scientific facility: School-state
Theme	Educating Queenslanders: Providing primary schooling
Builders	Luder
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Forest Hill State School is a special school in Forest Hill, Queensland, Australia. It has a very old teacher's house that is considered a heritage site. This means it's an important historical building! The house was designed by the Queensland Department of Public Works and built between 1892 and 1906. It was officially added to the Queensland Heritage Register on May 1, 2015, because of its historical value.

The School's Early Days

Forest Hill Provisional School first opened its doors in January 1893. It started in a small wooden building that followed a standard government design. This building was put up in 1892 on a 1-acre plot of land in Church Street, in the farming town of Forest Hill.

When a new state school building was constructed in 1898, the original provisional school building got a new purpose. It was changed and added to, becoming the teacher's house. More additions were made around 1906. Even though the main school buildings from 1898 and around 1913 have been replaced, the old provisional school building is still used as the teacher's home today.

Two large bunya trees stand tall, marking where the entrance to the 1898 state school building used to be.

How Forest Hill Grew

The small town of Forest Hill was once a very busy place for farming. It was one of the main spots in Queensland where farm produce was loaded onto trains. The land around Forest Hill originally belonged to the Yuggera people. In the 1840s, it became part of a large farming area called "Rosewood" station.

Later, the Queensland Government took back some of this land to allow more people to settle there. This land was then sold in the 1860s. In 1868, a company called Jondaryan Estates bought several farm areas near Forest Hill. They divided the land into farm and town blocks in 1886, calling it the Laidley Plains Estate.

The Railway and Town Growth

The main reason Forest Hill grew was because of the Southern and Western Railway. This railway line ran along the northern edge of the town. It was built to help farmers in the Darling Downs region transport their goods. The section of the railway near Forest Hill opened in 1866.

In 1880, a farmer named Major AJ Boyd bought land south of the railway. He asked for a train stop, or "siding," on the line. This stop was first called Boyd's siding, but by 1881, it was renamed "Forest Hill" after his property. In 1886, the siding moved to where the current Forest Hill railway station is today. By 1890, Forest Hill had a produce business and a blacksmith.

Why Schools Were Important

As the town grew, it needed a school. Providing education was very important to the governments in Australia back then. Building schools was seen as a key step for new communities to succeed. Local people often gave land and helped build the schools. The school then became a central part of the community, showing progress and making people proud.

From 1869, if there were fewer than 30 students in a rural area, a "provisional school" could be set up. These schools could open with as few as 15 students (later 12). Local groups would provide a building and find a teacher. The government would then pay the teacher's salary based on how many students they had. Provisional schools were temporary until a proper state school could be built.

Building the First School

In August 1890, the people of Forest Hill started looking into getting a provisional school. A committee was formed, and they began raising money to build it. Jondaryan Estates gave 1 acre of land for the school in September 1890.

An application for the provisional school was made in 1891. The school was built for £98 by Mr. Luder, with the government providing half the cost (£49). The Forest Hill Provisional School followed a standard government plan. The Queensland Government created these plans to make sure school buildings were consistent and affordable. Most Queensland school buildings from the 1860s to the 1960s were made of timber, which was easy and cheap to build, even in faraway places.

The Forest Hill provisional school building had a classroom that was about 24.6 feet by 14 feet. It also had a 7-foot wide front verandah and an 8-foot wide back verandah. The building was checked in December 1892, and Provisional School No. 697 opened on January 23, 1893.

Becoming a State School

Forest Hill Provisional School became a state school in 1899 because the local population was growing. The government bought back 6,000 acres of fertile land near the railway station in 1896, which helped the town develop even faster. The Queensland Agricultural College was also built nearby in 1896. Between 1898 and 1906, three hotels were built in Forest Hill. The town's first bank opened in 1901, and the first police station in 1902.

Provisional schools only needed 1 acre of land, but state schools needed at least 2 acres. The Department of Public Instruction helped buy an extra 3 acres of land in 1898, making the school grounds a total of 4 acres. In mid-1898, plans were made for a new state school building, to turn the old provisional school into a teacher's house, and to build fences. The new state school was approved in October 1898, and construction began.

Most Queensland state schools had a teacher's house on site, especially in country areas. Queensland was the only state in Australia that offered free housing to male teachers. This helped make up for lower wages and encouraged teachers to work in rural areas. It also meant someone was always on site to look after the school.

The new teacher's house at Forest Hill State School was not a standard design. It was made by changing the old provisional school building. They added a wall to the main classroom, created two bedrooms on the back verandah, and added a storeroom, kitchen, and servant's bedroom at the back. The new state school officially opened on May 1, 1899. By August 1899, there were 70 children enrolled.

School Beautification and Growth

By 1910, two bunya trees were planted on either side of the front gate to the state school building. Both of these trees are still there today! Planting trees and gardens was part of making schools more beautiful. "Arbor Day" celebrations, where people planted trees, started in Queensland in 1890. Educators believed gardening taught young people hard work, improved classroom behavior, and encouraged them to stay in farming.

Forest Hill continued to grow after the state school opened. More land was sold for farms in 1903, and town blocks were sold north of the railway line in 1904. Forest Hill became a busy town. By 1908, the Forest Hill railway station was sending out more farm produce than older towns like Gatton and Laidley. Forest Hill claimed to be the biggest loading center in Queensland in the early 1900s.

As the town expanded, so did the teacher's house. The first head teacher, James McNally, had six children. Because the house was too small for his family, additions were approved in June 1906. These additions included a new sitting room, dining room, and bathroom. Another verandah was added at the back, connecting to the kitchen area.

The town's population grew even more when the railway line was doubled from 1911. In 1914, Forest Hill State School reached its highest number of students – 166 pupils with 5 teachers. A new room had been added to the state school building around 1913. By 1937, there was even a tennis court near the teacher's house.

Modern Changes and Continued Use

After World War II, farming was still the main industry. However, by the 1960s, road transport started replacing trains. Forest Hill's importance as a loading center for farm produce decreased, and some businesses moved to Gatton.

Despite this, Forest Hill State School received a new school building, which was used from March 1965 and officially opened in May 1965. The old state school buildings were sold and moved that year. A classroom was built under the new school in 1969. Later, a library and a portable building were added between the 1965 school and the teacher's house.

In the 1980s, there were ideas to remove the bunya trees because their nuts could fall and be dangerous. But the community loved the trees, so they stayed, and a garden was made beneath them instead. A special early education unit opened on the grounds in 1982, which later became a pre-school. More land was added to the school grounds by 1987. Today, the school grounds cover about 4.5 acres.

The old provisional school building is still used as the teacher's house. Some small changes have been made over time, like adding a toilet and a laundry. The inside has also been updated to create larger living spaces.

In 2025, Forest Hill State School continues to be very important to the town and the surrounding area. It has been operating since 1893, and many generations of students have learned there.

What the Teacher's Residence Looks Like

The teacher's residence and the two large bunya trees are located within the Forest Hill State School grounds. The school is on a site of about 1.8 hectares, bordered by Church, Kent, and Dyer Streets. The teacher's house is at the southeastern end of the Church Street side, and the bunya trees stand along the Church Street fence, northwest of the house.

The Teacher's House

Front view of the residence, 2014

The house was built in three main stages. The original provisional school building from 1892 forms the main part. A kitchen area was added at the back in 1898, and a side extension was built around 1906. The building is made of timber and has timber weatherboards on the outside. It stands on low concrete stumps.

It has a front verandah and an enclosed, L-shaped verandah at the back. Because it was built in stages, the roof has different shapes. The main part has a gable roof, and other parts have different roof styles. All the roofs are covered with corrugated metal.

The front verandah has stairs in the middle, a timber railing, and special posts. The posts at the top of the stairs have decorative ball shapes on top.

The house still has some of its original windows and window hoods. The oldest windows are timber-framed with six small glass panes. Other early windows have two panes. The window hoods are either curved metal or timber with decorative brackets. The side of the main part of the house has a rectangular vent with louvres (slats) for air.

Inside, the main part of the house has a central hallway with two bedrooms on one side and a long living room on the other. The kitchen area is a large room used for both cooking and dining. The side extension has two large rooms and a bathroom. The back verandah is now enclosed with sliding windows.

The floors are timber, covered with modern carpet or linoleum. The inside walls are mostly single-layer timber boards. Different types of timber boards and rails show where the house was extended over time.

The house has two types of old timber doors: some are simple doors made of vertical boards, and others are four-panel doors, some with small windows above them. Most of these doors still have their original or early handles and locks. The front door even has an old doorbell.

A laundry room has been added to the back of the kitchen. There is also a raised water tank near the house, in the same spot where an older one used to be.

The house is set back about 10 meters from the front fence and has a fenced yard. Its size and style fit well with the other old timber houses and churches on Church Street. You can see the house from a distance along Church Street.

The Bunya Trees

The two large bunya trees are a famous feature of the street and the area. They are very tall and have wide canopies, which spread out about 5.4 meters in 2014. The trees are about 8 meters apart and stand 1.8 meters back from the front fence. They are surrounded by a garden bed.

Why It's a Heritage Site

Forest Hill State School was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on May 1, 2015, because it meets several important criteria:

It shows how Queensland's history developed. The Forest Hill State School teacher's residence, which started as a provisional school in 1892 and became a house in 1898, is important for showing how state education and its buildings changed in Queensland. It's a good example of a standard government-designed provisional school building that was later made bigger to become a state school teacher's house.

The original building shows the Queensland Government's policy from 1892, where they paid up to half the cost for provisional schools built to their plans. Its later change into a house shows the policy of providing homes for married male head teachers in country areas and reusing old school buildings as houses.

It shows the main features of its type of place. This place is important because it shows the main features of early Queensland schools. This includes using standard designs, changing older school buildings into teacher's houses, and planting trees.

The Forest Hill State School residence shows the main features of a Queensland provisional school building that was turned into a teacher's house. It still has the school's low shape, narrow width, old windows and doors, front verandah with its special roof, and central stairs. It also has the louvered vent in the gable roof. The additions from 1898, like the kitchen area and turning the back verandah into bedrooms, show what was needed to change the school into a home. The rooms and bathroom added in 1906 show how homes needed to be changed over time to fit teachers and their families.

The two bunya pines, planted before 1910 facing Church Street, are great examples of the special trees planted in Queensland school grounds.

It has a strong connection with the community. Schools have always been a very important part of Queensland communities. They usually have strong and lasting connections with former students, parents, and teachers. They also provide a place for people to meet and volunteer, and they are a source of pride, showing local progress and hopes.

Forest Hill State School has a strong and ongoing connection with the Forest Hill community. The teacher's house was built as a provisional school in 1892 thanks to the local community's fundraising efforts. The school is important because it has helped educate the people of Forest Hill for many years. The bunya trees are also a well-known landmark.

See also

• List of schools in West Moreton
• History of state education in Queensland