A school was first established in 1894 on a sheep station called
Gowrie Station to ensure that the children in the Gowrie Road area were able to
attend school during wet weather when a lot of the roads became impassable. The
original name given to the school was Wilsonton Provisional School and it
wasn’t until the 12 April, 1989 that Wilsonton was officially recognised
as a public school and was renamed Wilsonton State School. The name was given
to the school in honour of Mr W H Wilson, the Minister for Public Instruction
at the time.
Since then the school has seen many changes. The school
originally began with one school building and has continued to grow despite
being closed during World War II as a ‘wartime measure’. In 1994 we celebrated
our school’s centenary where we were able to highlight and celebrate our many
achievements to date. Today, the school has grown to over 16 times its original
size, with amazing facilities including play areas, sports fields, tennis
courts, a swimming pool and over 20 buildings. The long awaited dream of having
a multipurpose school hall has also been realised as well as a state-of-the-art
library and media space. In 2019 we
celebrated the 125th anniversary of our school.
Wilsonton has had a history of music excellence where students
have travelled the country, performing in Eisteddfods and Marching Band
Parades. Our sporting achievements have also been noteworthy with regular
representation at regional events and national titles. We have also had past
students represent Australia at both Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
Over years there have been many triumphs in our community and on
each occasion we have lived up to our school motto, “Always Our Best”. We will
continue to add to our history book as we continue to grow over the next 100
years of our school. As we do, we will remember all the people that have helped
make our community strong and a community in which learning is valued.
Thank you to Rae Pennycuick and her book One Hundred Years at Wilsonton for
helping us to remember and treasure our past.