Flinders celebrates 20 years of education
On January 29, 1990, the first students walked through the gates of Matthew Flinders Anglican College. Once a thriving citrus orchard, the Buderim school has grown over the years to become one of the State’s premier educational institutions. From an enrolment of 161 in its foundation year, the college now caters for 1300 students.
Matthew Flinders Anglican College welcomed its first students on January 29, 1990.
The school was two years in the planning and was the result of the efforts of a small group of concerned parishioners in the Maroochydore area, who saw the need for the establishment of an Anglican school in one of the fastest growing areas of the State.
Students were expected to come from areas including Mudjimba, Maroochydore, Mooloolaba, Buderim, Nambour, Woombye, Palmwoods and Bli Bli.
The original committee was happy to gain the interest of two leading Coast professionals, builder Rod Forrester, who became the Foundation chairman, and architect Jim Birrell, who became the Foundation’s vice-chairman.
The school council purchased an orange orchard of 20 hectares just below the mountain of Buderim. It was a unique bush setting for a school and the school’s architect Mr Birrell designed low-set cottage style buildings with verandahs all round to suit the bush environment.
With the combined enthusiasm of the original committee and the business acumen of the professionals, the first buildings were constructed late in 1989 and were ready for the start of school in January 1990.
Chairman Rod Forrester recalls how the determination and commitment of the committee and parents who put in many voluntary hours, saw the school established and then thrive in the early years.
Mr Forrester said about 20 individuals backed the College’s establishment and went guarantors for half a million dollars, to secure loans totaling about $11 million. Within five years, all the guarantors were released.
“That was a lot of money in those days,” said Mr Forrester, who often joked that if the school did not succeed, they could always continue with the citrus orchards.
On September 30, 1989, the Archbishop of Brisbane and the primate of Australia, Sir John Grindrod, set in place a brick, symbolizing the “cornerstone elect” for the Matthew Flinders Anglican College. About 400 guests attended the service on the proposed site for the college chapel.
Two months earlier, Stephen Matthew had been appointed foundation principal. Mr Matthew interviewed some 200 students and parents, selected 12 teachers and appointed a secretary, bursar and property supervisor.
About 30 of those new students, including 12-year-old Bede Evans, joined the Flinders’ float in the Australia Day Parade at Buderim. Bede was dressed up as a young sailor boy and Mr Matthews was decked out as the Captain. They flew the flag: “Matthew Flinders Drops Anchor” and other students marched in their new nautical-themed uniforms to announce the arrival of the school to the area.
Named after the famous navigator who sailed the coastal waters, Matthew Flinders Anglican College welcomed 161 students across Years 5-8 in 1990. There were six main classrooms, a fully equipped laboratory and a multi-purpose room, which temporarily housed the library but was later used for music and languages. The following year, Years 1-4 students joined the College, and Secondary extended to Year 9.
In the first year, Flinders offered Japanese, agriculture, music (brass and strings) and geography as elective subjects in Year 8.
Sporting facilities included a full-size court for basketball and netball, and students could also use the nearly Ballinger Park Sporting Complex.
In a letter from the Principal to a foundation student, dated December 13, 1989, Mr Matthew writes: “I hope you are excited about coming to Matthew Flinders next year. The classrooms are now finished and all we have to do is wait for the grass to grow so that we have some lawn and a small oval on which we can play and have PE lessons. The school also has two ‘hard stand’ areas, one is small (for handball or hopscotch) and the other is the size of a basketball court.”
After the excitement of settling the new students, Matthew Flinders Anglican College was officially opened on Sunday, March 18 by the Governor, Sir Walter Campbell, who unveiled a plaque commemorating the event.
At the opening Sir Walter congratulated the College’s advisory committee on their vision and foresight for turning a dream into a reality.
As reported in the Sunshine Coast Daily on March 19, 1990, Sir Walter said that over the past 15 years there had been an obvious and marked trend towards parents opting for education independent from the State system. He said private schools had long been strong forces in education in Australia.
“I’m confident this new school will find its place in the tradition. I’ll look forward to hearing of this school’s sporting cultural and academic achievements.”
Foundation student Bede Evans - one of two students to give the vote of thanks to Sir Walter at the official opening - fondly remembers his first days at Flinders as the college quickly transformed from a citrus grove into a growing, modern school.
“We didn’t have an oval – we had this massive orange orchard,” Bede recalls. “We were in the orchards eating oranges all the time.
“I remember we had to pick rocks up off the oval in lessons and for detention – yes I was always there.
“Over time they started building the oval and it just got better and better.”
Sunshine Coast Daily article, (30.01.10)
The Harvest
The harvest of oranges, mandarins and lemons was an all-in effort over the winter months in the first year at Matthew Flinders Anglican College.
With the college’s building program underway, the orchards had to be cleared and parents and students were invited to pick fruit before and after school and on weekends.
Foundation teacher Chris Bull led the agriculture program and the harvest days. Students’ practical work centred on the citrus orchard, some of which was established more than 50 years ago and farmed up until 1990 by Norma and Cameron Milne and before them by the Fieldings.
Agricultural students spent several sessions picking and packing cartons of navel oranges and Hickson and Emperor mandarins for local juice and interstate markets. Some were sent as flood relief to Charleville State School and two consignments went to the Flemington Markets in Sydney, where they netted more than $20 a carton.
On many Saturday and Sunday mornings in May, June and July, the orchard rang with the voices of school children and their parents as they picked fruit for local markets and the Palmwoods Juice Factory.
One Saturday, vehicles were loaded ready for the Mooloolaba flea market the next morning and they sold out before 10.30am. Fruit was sold by the car bootful and most students brought bags to fill with mandarins picked during lunchtimes.
The fruit proceeds from the year tallied about $2500, which went towards the swimming pool fund. With just 161 students, the Parents and Friends Association raised a massive $20,000 in the first year. The pool was opened within two years by Olympic swimmer Glenn Housman, who swam the first lap.
Science and Health and Physical Education
Foundation science and maths teacher Nev Rowley taught students in the specialist laboratory, which was part of the College’s first buildings. The lab was fitted out with Bunsen burners, test tubes, thermometers and a microscope sponsored by the P&F.
In the first year, the Year 8 science course covered areas such as astronomy, plants and geology. The investigations were a highlight for students, including Bunsen burner races, eye dissections, magnetic levitation and various microscope studies.
About 25 budding scientists joined the CSIRO sponsored Double Helix Science Club and met at lunchtimes with Mr Rowley.
Activities included “dry ice cocktails”, “paper clip racers” and hydrogen popping. The club also helped run a paper plane contest and unsuccessfully launched a large hot-air balloon.
Foundation PE teacher Greg Cook recalls how the oval was an orange grove when Flinders first commenced, but within a year, the trees had been cleared, and a new oval was ready for the College’s second year of operation.
Twenty years on, Nev Rowley, Chris Bull and Greg Cook are current staff at Flinders, as well as Shelley Travers and Stephen Coote, who joined Flinders a year later in 1991 when Flinders welcomed students from Year 1-9.
Moving forward
Flinders has enjoyed phenomenal growth in numbers, as well as academic, co-curricular, social and spiritual progress during its first two decades.
From those early days, the College quickly expanded with detailed building plans put in place and student numbers rising to nearly 1100 by 1997.
Today, the campus includes the 25m swimming pool, Flinders Chapel, Sports Centre, Drama Theatre, Lecture Theatre, two ovals, turf wicket, tennis courts, weights room and fitness centre, as well as the Flinders Early Learning Centre.
In the College’s 20th anniversary year a $3 million grant under the Federal Government’s “Building the Education Revolution” (BER) Stimulus Program has delivered a Multi-Purpose Hall/Sports Area to the Primary School, as well as additional classrooms and Music facilities. These buildings will be officially opened in mid-2010.
The start of Flinders’ third decade will see the addition of The Performance Centre, with construction about to get underway. This start-of-the-art centre will include seating for up to 1000, gallery and exhibition space, orchestra pit, versatile learning spaces, function and event facilities, and a dance studio.
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