Kew school reunion 50 years on | photos

The one-teacher school opened in Kew in 1883 and closed in 1967 and the last 17 pupils moved to the school in Kendall.

Organisers David Bignell and Susan Goodison spread the word about the reunion at the Kew Hotel on Saturday September 2, and past pupils came from far and wide.

“Finding people has been incredibly hard and some were out of the country or too far away to make it, so we are thrilled to have 70 past pupils here,” said David Bignell.

“I am loving it.  When we started, we didn’t know how many would turn up.  70 is a comfortable crowd and it’s a great atmosphere.  Some people have come a long way, from Sydney, the South Coast and one lady has come from Western Australia,” he said.

The oldest person there was 87-year-old John Treloar.

“I was born in 1929 and I was seven when I went to school at Kew.  I was there until I was 12 and I loved it.  There are some people here I remember,” said John who lives in Harrington.

The youngest guest was Annette Smith who was one of three children in kindy when the school closed in 1967.

“I remember the school and my friends.  There was one teacher for the whole school.  This reunion is beautiful – such a lovely idea.  

“It’s amazing how you recognise people,” said Annette, who lives in Newcastle and was there with her sisters, Dawn and Lexie, who went to Kew Public School too.

The other reunion organiser, Sue Goodison, who was there with her sisters, Linda and Anne, said the old schoolhouse was still there, even though the school itself has gone, so they’re thinking of putting a plaque up just to acknowledge that it existed.

“It’s lovely to catch up with people from the past. There are so many Kew families associated with the school – the Smiths, the Bignells, the Yarnolds and the Treloars.  Many of them are here,” she said.

“The thing I remember is the traditional local families who were pioneers.  A lot of them were dairy farmers and timber getters.  Pa was a panel beater and had a service station in Kew,” she recalled.

Her sister, Linda, was in the last kindy class before moving to Kendall.  Another sister, Anne said having just one teacher made pupils very independent.

“Sometimes while the teacher was teaching the older pupils, you picked up a lot of what they were learning.  And I remember reading all the books in the library,” she added.

The 70 guests swapped memories and memorabilia over lunch in the Kew Hotel and many vowed to keep in touch.