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Newcastle East Public School is a public school located in the New South Wales town of Newcastle, Australia. It is the oldest continuously running school in Australia, established in 1816 by a convict on conditional pardon, Henry Wrensford.〔Braggett, E. J. From Convict Era to Modern Times: Newcastle East School 1816-1966. (Newcastle: Newcastle East Public School Parents and Citizens’ Association, 1966).〕 The current site of Newcastle East Public School has a long history dating back to 1878. The school is located in the suburb of Newcastle on the corner of Tyrrell and Brown Streets. The school site overlooks the Newcastle CBD, only two blocks west of the Christ Church Cathedral that housed the original school in its earliest years. This location provides students and teachers with ready access to the many services of the surrounding city such as museums and galleries, theatres, beaches and sporting fields, all of which are located within walking distance of the school. The school is surrounded by places of historical significance, such as the Lead Light Tower, the Obelisk, Christ Church Cathedral and many terrace houses. The Tyrrell Street school is now a site of historical significance in Australian education. It is of itself a building of heritage value that has been restored to its former glory, having housed education in many different guises. The Tyrrell Street school embodies a synthesis of the history of three of the most historically important schools in Newcastle; Newcastle East Public School, Newcastle Public School, Newcastle High School and their offshoots. in 2006, 100 years of history was celebrated by past students of Newcastle High School on the front lawn of Newcastle East Public School. The teachers, parents and children of Newcastle East Public School hold a colonial fair every two years to celebrate the history of the school and school site. ==History of Newcastle East Public School== Newcastle East Public School is the oldest school in continuous operation in Australia. Eddie Braggett has validated this continuity since its formation in 1816 by Henry Wrensford, finding conclusively that the school has accepted pupils every year since its inception.〔 Henry Wrensford was a twenty-six-year-old convict when he was convicted of fraud and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. It was only two years later in 1814 that he was granted a conditional pardon by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, with his occupation recorded as "schoolmaster"; perhaps owing more to his military connections than any such experience or aptitude.〔 Wrensford started the school in May 1816 with eight girls and nine boys attending, aged from three to thirteen. Lessons took place in one of the government-owned slab huts that stretched along the bottom of the hill now occupied by Bolton Street and its whereabouts. At this time, the settlement consisted of no more than 400 people, mostly convicts, and the students were the children of these. Macquarie himself directed that the Commandant "give it every possible support and encouragement it being highly approved of by the governor as a most benevolent and praiseworthy institution".〔 Captain James Wallis, who presided over an expansive building programme in Newcastle, including the breakwater from mainland to Nobbys Island, designed Christ Church which was completed in August 1818. Some time that year, Wrensford’s school was moved to a vestry of the church, and the Newcastle School soon acquired the name "Christ Church School".〔 Four years later in 1820 Wrensford became a free man and left the school, being replaced by another convict Samuel Dell. The control of the school was changed from the government to the church during 1826. As the school continued to grow there became a need for a new site and the school moved to the corner of Church and Bolton Streets.〔 In 1859 an additional school was opened to satisfy the needs of parents who wanted a government controlled school. Newcastle Public School was opened in Brown Street in the basement of the Congregational Church, after which it moved to a classroom opposite the current site.〔 In 1878 the school moved to the current site in Tyrrell Street. The success of this new public school led the state government to take control of the church school in 1883 and name it Newcastle East Public School. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Newcastle East Public School」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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