Historical: Marryatville High: Work In Weekend

Work In weekend
By 1980 the enrolment had climbed to 634, exceeding the target of 600. The community perception of what the school could offer and the desirability of sending students there was completely reversed. Aspiring musicians from all over the state vied for the 20 places in the special music programme each year. The performances given by the school's music students at the annual Town Hall Concert helped to publicise and reinforce the public idea of excellence from Marryatville's students.

The School Community
The site had become quite run down as the falling numbers had reduced the school's capacity for maintenance and development and the building works had left a lot of work to be done. Parents and students were called upon to transform the site and the annual "Work in Weekend" came into existence. With a lot of planning and hundreds of volunteer workers, an amazing array of projects were completed. Painting, paving, gardening and major works such as bridging the creek, fitting out offices and knocking doorways through walls were achieved.
As the school grew and its students found success in many facets of achievement not only music competition grew for a place at what was seen as a "Clayton's" college.
The need for an indoor sports facility led to a loan being taken out with the Education Department and the gymnasium was opened in 1985. Opposition to the construction of the gym by local residents meant that it had to be built 10 metres closer to the creek increasing the cost by 50% due to extra foundations required.

NEXT: Music Tours