Bob Goldsmith

After three years at Mt Gambier I was promoted to senior master at Goodwood in 1966. At this time Goodwood was ranked among the best of the metropolitan technical high schools and had a fine record of achievements of its students. It was well respected in the community and held regular social functions with Mitcham Girls Technical High School – indeed, the two schools combined every year to put on musicals as part of their programmes. Anzac Day was celebrated each year with other state and private schools in the area, with services in the Unley Town Hall or at the Cross of Sacrifice. Easter services were held at one of the local churches and the school was seen to be an important part of the educational life of the Goodwood community. The local Member of Parliament, the noted Australian cricketer Mr Gil Langley, frequently visited the school and was always active in promoting the school in the district.

During the mid 1960s the school had a constant enrolment of around 450 boys. The school had two rowing ‘eights’ – a legacy of its involvement of sport. The school had an interschool cultural exchange programme with Collingwood Technical School in Victoria and, when that school closed, the tradition was continued with Syndal Technical School. These visits were not a sporting competition but rather a chance for students to see something of the other state and live with another family for a week.

All this was about to change

The Education Department’s policy in the 1970s changed in favour of providing a system of comprehensive, co-educational high schools. Because Goodwood was located on a small and unexpandable site, it was decided that it should remain as a boys’ school and be known as Goodwood Boys High School. With the shift of Adelaide Technical High School to Glenunga and the building of Daws Road High School, Goodwood became somewhat limited in its zone. There was a feeling of resentment among some residents that they were being forced to send their son to an ‘old tech’ school when there was a new school with plenty of room not that far away.

In order to increase the enrolment of the school, it was decided that Goodwood would be unzoned so that students from all over the Adelaide metropolitan area could come to Goodwood – in fact it gave many students who were in the catchment zone a chance to go elsewhere! Because Goodwood was the only unzoned school available to boys, it became the only place where a student who had been suspended from another school could be enrolled. Consequently it received a steady stream of disinclined, disobedient and uninterested students. As these students arrived, many better-behaved boys decided to leave and numbers began to fall. By 1977 the enrolments had dropped to 150!

In 1977 the school made a conscious effort to stop enrolling many of these students but the stigma remained and parents were hard to convince that Goodwood could offer something valuable for their sons.

In 1978 the school decided to revert to the original concept of a single sex technical school – that of preparing boys to enter a trade. Many employers were complaining about the poor numeracy and literary skills of their apprentices. Goodwood had the space and the expertise to help in this area. Employers were surveyed and most appeared to want their apprentices to have basic skills in English, mathematics, physical (rather than any other) science and general ‘hands on’ ability in trade areas. The ‘Intensive Trades Course’ was established!

Accordingly the whole philosophy of the school changed to that of a single purpose ‘trade preparation’ school. There was no specialisation, no choice, and all students entered on the same footing. No longer were the ‘under achievers’ of other schools ostracised as all were the same. This homogeneity was one of the school’s strengths.

The context of our physical science at year 11 was very much driven by three forces: the requests and suggestions of employers, who were initially surveyed about desirable outcomes, the emphasis on providing some overlapping skills and understanding to the technical studies side of the course, and the desire of the science faculty to marry these ideas with the concept of a worthwhile, meaningful science course that they were comfortable teaching.

Eventually, after many revisions, the topics chosen included:

• measurement and pressure – reading scales, use of verniers and micrometer; pressure transfer in liquids (hydraulics) and using air pressure (pumps, venturi, carburettor, aircraft)

• metals – metal extraction, alloys, corrosion and prevention, properties of metals, and minerals separation

• light and optics – properties of light, light and lenses (eye defects), light and colour

• science on the road – motion, inertia and forces, friction and energy

• electrochemistry – electrochemical cells, electrolysis and electroplating

• water – water cycle, classification of water, hard water and water softening.

Much of the content was delivered as a ‘hands-on’ approach. A large percentage of the students had poor reading skills and writing skills and so a lot of assessment was of a practical nature.

There was an intentional effort to dovetail as much as possible the work that was being done in technical studies with that of science (indeed this was a strong factor in all the subject curricula within the school). Regular inter-faculty meetings were a feature of the school life so that courses did not run in isolation and, as far as possible, the content material was complementary. It was a rather unique approach for the traditional ‘academic’ courses to be largely influenced in content and delivery by the technical studies faculty but, at its best, it worked.

The courses of science at year 12 were much more rigidly controlled by the Senior Secondary Assessment Board of South Australia (SSABSA) in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) science syllabus and later on by School Assessed Subjects (SAS). More flexibility was allowed for ‘registered subjects’ which were a strong feature of Goodwood while these subjects existed.

Exit students from Goodwood were well received by employers, not only because the employers were aware of the course but, in many cases, had had some say in the curriculum. Employers were vocal in saying that Goodwood students had the skills that made them very productive employees in the first year of their apprenticeship and 95% were employed some ten months after leaving school.

The school population had risen to 400 in 1984, which was the ceiling allowed because of the size. Early morning starts (7.15 am) had to be introduced to fit the students into the workshops to the necessary standard.

With all students having one or two early morning starts, a time clock system was introduced for attendance purposes. This was seen to prepare them for the world of work. A vocational awareness grant of $100,000 in 1982 enabled the school to install 14 metal-turning lathes and other machinery and to employ a handyman in this area.

It was never envisaged that this course would extend into year 12 but such was the demand that, very soon, a class was established. The boys studied SSC English, mathematics, physical science and did the year 11 intensive trade course. Numbers increased to a maximum of 48 in 1983. In 1984 a double unit SSC technical studies course was introduced.

In 1983 three girls were enrolled in the year 11 course and gained employment in trade areas. Over its existence, several girls were enrolled in the school. Goodwood’s enrolment consistently included some 20 or more students from private schools in its numbers. 1984 there were 28 students that had previously attended schools outside the Education Department system. Several parents were quite outspoken about the virtues of the school and were indignant when it was closed. One most indignant protest came from Dr Tony Shinkfield, head of St Peter’s School Collegiate.

However, for all its success, it seemed that Goodwood was never fully recognised by the Education Department. As enrolments grew, it no longer benefited from the staffing formula that was more generous to small schools. In an effort to keep classes small, many teachers were taking more classes than usual and appeals were made many times for extra staffing.

Teachers were, in many cases, appointed to Goodwood with little knowledge or preparation for often disruptive students with limited academic ability. Many felt they should have received special preparation for such an appointment. In spite of this, parents were generally very satisfied with the effect the school had on their sons and many reported that their children were, for the first time, attending school willingly!

However, all of this was once again to change

The Education Department, with its diminishing funds, was looking for ways to reduce its budget. Closing a school site seemed to be a quick solution. Accordingly, a small committee was set up to investigate the possibility of relocating the Goodwood students at another site. Imagine the shock and disbelief when, after discussing relocation or amalgamation, the decision was taken to close Goodwood! How could a working man’s party in government close the only high school that was catering exclusively for blue collar workers? The only reason given was that there were better buildings and more modern facilities at other schools and Goodwood’s ageing buildings would be too expensive to renovate.

A public meeting was held at the school on May 14 of that year (1987) at which the Minister’s representative spoke regarding the reasons for its closure. The president of SA Institute of Teachers along with representatives of the staff, student body, SPELD, the Old Scholars Association, the Motor Trades Association, the Apprentice Training Commission, the Trades and Labour Council and the Metal Workers Union all spoke on behalf of the school and what it offered.²⁷

In face of such opposition and subsequent backlash from the general public, the closure decision was rescinded and it was decided to allow the school to continue to operate. However, from 1988 to 1990, it was to have no junior school intake and a review was to be held in 1990 on its continuing viability. This review sounded the death knell of the school. In 1992, the last students attended the Lily Street site and it was closed at the end of the year.²⁸ That year saw it become an annexe of the then Thebarton Senior College and, in the following year, a number of metropolitan and country schools became ‘engineering pathway’ schools to replicate some of the philosophies that had driven Goodwood.

Weeks after the school closed, the South Australian Housing Trust purchased the school site for around $1.6 million and converted the redbrick school buildings into 13 town houses. Many of the old trees were preserved as they had been initially planted by teachers and students to represent the different timbers they used in their studies. They were considered valuable by the horticultural section of the Housing Trust and, indeed, the cork tree was one of only four in the state. It is interesting that the 13 classrooms considered too old and expensive to upgrade are now 13 town houses of the new development – Arunga Close!

Return to contents Buy A Broader Vision	© Erica Jolly and individual authors