Maroon Primary School

Abstract

Maroon School is situated in a small rural community in the Riverina District of New South Wales. The town has a population of approximately 1000 people with 15.4% of these identifying as Aboriginal (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2001). The school had around 100 students and 33 of these are Aboriginal students. At the time the project was undertaken there were five fulltime teachers including the school principal. The school is located in a lower socio-economic area and was the site for one of the first church based missions in New South Wales. In 1882, the New South Wales Department of Public Instruction recognised the role and achievements of the Mission school and raised its profile as a recognised public school, affording it the same benefits as non-Aboriginal public schools (Gribble 1884). Many of the Aboriginal families who still live in the local area were residents or descendants who refused to be moved from their homelands when the Mission was closed. The community set up a campsite on the local Sand Hills. The school was relocated a short distance from the Mission site to its current location.