History
Since Fairfield Primary School was first established in 1885 it has been part of a community that has grown from a small village some distance from the city of Melbourne, to a thriving, residential inner city suburb. It has witnessed its families torn apart by war and a great economic depression, but united by community events like the grand opening of the Grandview Hotel Coffee House in 1888; regular boating and canoeing carnivals at the Fairfield Park Boathouse; and the rescue and rehabilitation by the Darebin Parklands Association since the early 1970s of the area's surrounding bushland. The FPS community has also seen its area blossom with the post-war immigration of European families seeking a safe and prosperous life.
Many of its families have been living in Fairfield for two generations or more and have seen tremendous changes to the physical, social and cultural landscape. They attended Fairfield Primary School as children and sent their own children to the school when their time came. Some families are even seeing their grandchildren at this school.
In 2010 FPS celebrates its 125th anniversary. Some of the current students have already embarked on the FPS History Project and discovered much about the former families of the school and their local community. They have been learning to be historians by asking questions of people, documents, maps and photographs and by looking carefully at the clues to the past left by their schools historical markers.
Next year the FPS History Detective Club will be established and welcomes any interested students to get involved in detecting and understanding the FPS Community History.
One of the ways this will happen is through our oral history program involving current students. They will learn a bit about their interviewees, plan an interview and think about the best ways to talk to people about the past and their memories. Students will conduct a recorded interview and use material from it in written and pictorial projects that will all form part of the 2010 celebration.
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If you have any photographs or stories that will help the children piece together the puzzle of their community's past, or would like some more information about the FPS History Project, please contact:
Hamish McPherson
FPS Teacher & History Project Coordinator |
Emma Russell
Historian & School Parent |
