Biography of C H Beanland ' A Lifetime in Technical Education' - Yallourn Technical School YTS

Biography of C H Beanland ‘A Lifetime in Technical Education’ (Chapter 6) : Yallourn – Busy Tears in a Young School

I had chosen not to continue in the position of Acting Principal at Stawell Technical College beyond June 1932 at which time I was transferred as Acting Principal to the Technical School at Yallourn, where we rented an S.E.C. house in Ridgeway West. The previous Principal at Yallourn had asked to be relieved on the grounds of ill health and because he considered that the college had no future. The future was to prove how incorrect his expectation was.

The staff in 1932 comprised Messrs. W. Brown, E. Scott, J. Lundy, G. Peake and E. Bawden. The College Council members in 1932 were Mr. R. D. Dixon, President and General Superintendant of the S.E.C., and Messrs. W. Nelson, J. R. Wilson, E. Dann, B. Drummond, A. Fewster (Snr.), F. Mounter, A. Morton, P. Owen, J. Whitaker (Snr.) and G. Brown. The college was then four years old and the buildings consisted of three houses and two workshop buildings situated in Narracan Avenue. The college council was keen to develop college activities, so requested me to present plans for a future building project and this was soon became the subject of an urgent report.

In May 1933, the Minister of Education, Hon. J. W. Pennington, visited Yallourn to discuss with the college council the possibility of providing new buildings. His first reaction was that the Government could not finance any building project but when made aware of developments and observed the existing facilities, realised that the need was urgent. He asked Mr. Dixon to describe possible building sites and enquired whether the S. E. C. might give some financial assistance toward the building. A site on the corner of Railway and Narracan Avenues was selected and Mr. P. Everett, Chief Architect of the Public Works Department, was directed to prepare plans for the site.

Work commenced quite quickly on the new building, the foundation stone being laid by Mr. Dixon on 18th December 1935. Five months later the official opening of the new buildings was carried out by the then Minister of Education, Sir John Harris, on 23rd May 1936. The staff at that stage was Messrs. R. Terrill, A. Miller, E. Scott, J. Lundy, C. Jones, and R. Fricke (who designed the new school badge). I had been officially appointed Principal in April 1934.
February 1936 saw the new building in full operation for both day and evening classes and the commencement of the Junior Technical School with 66 pupils. Additions to the staff were Messrs. A. Wade, F. Masson, A. Ford, R. Henderson, B. Biggs, A Robertson, J. Hewitt and G. Lawson. The junior section of the school increased to 164 in 1938 and 220 in 1939 when there were 300 senior students. It was already necessary to use rooms outside the new facilities, including the Scout Hall and houses in Narracan Avenue.

In 1938 the Minister of Education was asked to add two extra rooms to the main building and three rooms as an extension to the woodwork building to provide for modelling, sheetmetal and another classroom. These extensions were approved and officially opened by the Minister of Education, Hon, A. E. Lind on 10th September 1942.

While in Yallourn, I held office in the Methodist Church as Senior Circuit Steward for some years. In 1933 I was elected President of the Yallourn Civic Association and occupied the position until leaving Yallourn in December 1942. I was a regular player in the Yallourn Cricket Team and was Captain of the Technical School Tennis Team (1941 Premiers).

During World War II, 1939-1945, Yallourn was considered to be a strategic target for a possible air attack. Accordingly Defence authorities established an anti-aircraft battery on the outskirts of the town and each home was advised to construct an air-raid shelter. The school installed black-out curtains and had all outside lights dimmed to avoid detection. The school carried on with reduced enrolments and provided training for munitions factory personnel. After the war men were enrolled under the Post-war Reconstruction Training Scheme.

On leaving Yallourn I was presented with an illuminated address by the Yallourn Civic Association at a public function on 29th February 1943 signed by H. Beulke, Dr. J. M. Andrew, W. P. Brown, W. H. Finlayson, G. W. Elliott, D. R. Louden, E. D. Hassett, W. Johnson, E. Galloway, F. Masson, F. H. Harris, F. L. Tremain.

Edited by Graham H. Beanland
January 2014