Former Coolangatta school student’s spectacular stunt to mark the schools centenary
As a Gold Coast school prepares to celebrate its centenary, the hunt is on for two missing time capsules.
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ONE former Coolangatta State School student will be going to great heights to make sure the school’s centenary will be a memorable occasion.
Archy Jamieson from Gold Coast Skydive will be “dropping in” on the centenary festivities on Sunday in spectacular style to deliver a time capsule marking 100 years that the school has been functioning in Coolangatta.
It is hoped that this time capsule will have better fortune than two previous capsules which still remain buried with their ‘secrets’ — one on Kirra Hill and one at the current school site at Kirra.
For Archy, it will be a great way to be involved with the centenary having been a student in the early 70s.
“Back then, the school was located on Kirra Hill which was fantastic and then I was still here when we had to move to the current site at Kirra,” he said.
“My brother Bill was also a student so the centenary will be a bit of reunion for many people. I just hope I don’t drop this time capsule on the way down.”
Those on the ground will line up to form the number 100, making a great sight for Archy on the way down.
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The school has been preparing yet another time capsule which will contain newspapers of the day, technology from this period and a USB of pictures of the school and students.
Principal Sharyn Mahony said the students had even been writing letters to future students describing their school life and what times are like now.
“This time we will mark exactly where we are going to put it — there will be no mystery to this capsule,” Ms Mahony said.
The school has a unique history in Queensland, having had one name but three locations.
The school was established when the Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918-19 spread to Australia, causing 10,000 deaths.
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The Queensland Government closed the Border Gates between Coolangatta and Tweed Heads in an emergency measure to stop the spread of the disease. This left 70 Coolangatta children who attended the Tweed Heads Public School without classes.
The Coolangatta Town Council made its Municipal Hall behind its Chambers in Griffith and Warner Streets available as an emergency school which opened on February 10, 1919.
However the Government had a serious problem in finding flat land for a permanent school because most of Coolangatta and Kirra was either steep hills or swamp.
The only suitable site was on Kirra Hill. This meant a superb view but a very restricted playground.
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The permanent school opened on February 1, 1920 with Claude de Jersey as the first principal. The school on Kirra Hill was a classic Queensland design with wide verandas, high ceilings and an unusual internal assembly hall formed by two sets of ceiling to floor folding doors.
However by the 1970s the ‘School on the Hill’ became overcrowded and a new one was built on a site bounded by Stapylton, Miles and Appel Streets at Kirra and it opened in November 1977.
The Queensland Governor Paul de Jersey AC will attend the festivities — sharing a special bond with the school where his grandfather, Claude de Jersey, was the first principal on Kirra Hill in February 1920.
The Governor will unveil a plaque at the school on Kirra Hill honouring the principals, teachers, staff and pupils who attended the three Coolangatta State Schools.
The centenary will be marked by a fete at the Stapylton Street School from 10am to 7pm on Saturday with events including a roll call of past pupils, stalls and rides.
At 2pm on Sunday, the Governor will unveil the plaque, funded by past pupils from the 1950s.
And a time capsule will be buried on site, its exact location recorded on GPS so it doesn't share the same fate as it predecessors.
For more information, email the school at csscentenary@coolangattass.eq.edu.au
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