AGY-576 | Burradoo Truant School (1943 - 1947) Anglewood

Full description

Burradoo Truant School in the County of Camden was opened in October 1943. It was renamed Anglewood in 1947, as a School for Specific Purposes.(1)

When accommodation for truant boys at Turner and Suttor Cottages in Mittagong became inadequate, the Child Welfare Department acquired the Anglewood Grammar School at Burradoo. From 28 October, 1943, 15 boys moved from Turner Cottage to Anglewood where they lived and attended a one-teacher school. Yean Cottage, the main building, was renovated to accommodate 44 boys by the opening date of 22 August, 1944. The remaining boys from Turner Cottage were transferred to Anglewood in May, 1946, followed shortly afterwards by those from No. 7 Cottage (Suttor).  The new building, Nattai, which housed 30 boys, was opened on 29 June, 1946.(2)

Anglewood was administered from the Mittagong Farm Home for Boys until its Principal commenced duties in December 1945, taking charge of both the school and the residences. The boys were aged between nine and 15. There was a wide range of abilities, but the majority had been educationally disadvantaged.  Much individually tailored work was necessary to assist in raising the educational standard of the boys. Most boys were retained for less than 12 months.  In March, 1965, with the completion of Oxley cottage, there was accommodation for an additional 30 boys.(3)

On 22 November, 1974, in pursuance of the provisions of the Child Welfare Act, 1939 Anglewood was proclaimed 'a school for the reception, detention, maintenance, discipline, education and training of children and young persons committed to an institution'.(4)

From February, 1975, Anglewood became coeducational and was the first truant school to detain girls. In 1977, there were 77 children in residence, ranging in age from 8 to 15. These comprised 65 boys and 14 girls, whose average stay was eight months.(5)

At the end of 1979, Anglewood ceased to be a school for truants, and in 1980 Ormond School at Thornleigh reopened to accommodate truanting pupils.(6)

Endnotes
1. Government School Locator, accessed on 01/04/2015, http://www.governmentschools.det.nsw.edu.au/main_pages/school_details.aspx?schoolID=98
2. Brian Boyle, The Child Welfare Schools: recollections of these unique schools and the men and women who taught in them often under considerable difficulty. Unpublished typescript, 1996 (held by State Records Library), pp.326-330.
3. ibid., pp326-328.
4. NSW Government Gazette 1974, vol. 4, p.4477.
5. Boyle, op. cit., pp.328-329.
6. Ibid. pp.330-332 and 451-454.