Enfield High School (South Australia)

Enfield High School was a high school at Gepps Cross, South Australia. It opened in 1953^[1] and closed in 2010, its functions being absorbed into Roma Mitchell Secondary College.^[2]

History

When Enfield High School opened in 1953 in its present site, but on the eastern boundary, it was the first high school in the northern suburbs. Until then the only options were Adelaide High and Nailsworth Technical School. Even though the school was at Gepps Cross, it was called Enfield High School because it was in the Enfield Council area.

Students travelled from as far away as Virginia and Salisbury. These students came by train to Kilburn and then on to the school by bus or on foot. It has been said that some intrepid students came all the way on horseback and tied their horses up to the water troughs on the western side, where the main building is now.

There were two brick buildings, the old toilets and shelter areas, and two 'temporary' portable wooden buildings. One of these contained the staff room, headmaster's office, sickroom, library, a science laboratory and a canteen in the second unused science laboratory. The other building on the lower level contained four classrooms: each was painted in a different colour. The two wooden buildings, with new cladding, and one of the brick toilets are still there.

On the first day on February 10, there were 95 students – 49 boys and 46 girls – and a staff of six. There were only three classes: 1A had only boys and 1B had only girls. Unusually for those times 1C was a mixed class. Boys and girls came together for subjects like Latin or French. The headmaster, Mr Pyne, had one senior master, Mr Frick, one senior mistress, Mrs Peart, and four other teachers.

The school expected enough students to stay at school to make one Year 10 class in 1955: all the rest would have left for work. But in fact 48 students sat for the Intermediate Examination. Of these, 44 were original students.

Currently the former Enfield High School site, along with a handful of other sites owned by the South Australian State Government, is being considered for urban renewal. These sites represent some of the last remaining sizable government-owned land parcels within the inner metropolitan areas north and east of the CBD. In earlier days, the round-roofed corrugated iron huts housing camp for migrants, and the iconic Mainline Drive-in Theatre were just a stone's throw away on Grand Junction Road.

Notable former students

• Robyn Archer AO CdOAL^[3] – entertainer
• John Quiggin economist

References

External links

• EHS History

34°50′53″S 138°36′18″E / 34.848034°S 138.605082°E / -34.848034; 138.605082Coordinates: 34°50′53″S 138°36′18″E / 34.848034°S 138.605082°E / -34.848034; 138.605082