Tarampa State School

Tarampa State School opened in 1880 as Tarampa Provisional School on a four-acre (1.62ha) site within the small agricultural settlement in the Brisbane Valley, to serve the sparse but growing rural population. As settlement increased, the provisional school building was replaced by a Ferguson-designed teaching building (1886) and other structures and landscape elements were built, including a playshed (1897) and a new teacher's residence (1934). The school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activity. Agricultural settlement followed in the early 1860s on the Tarampa Agricultural Reserve, created under the Agricultural Reserves Act 1861. The settlers around Tarampa were predominantly of German origin. Primarily subsistence farmers, they raised livestock and grew mixed crops. Construction of a school building on Lot 374, a four-acre (1.62ha) site purchased from Michael Kerlin, was undertaken by Mr Graff in 1880 for £60. The State Education Act 1875 provided for free, compulsory and secular primary education and the establishment of the Department of Public Instruction. This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900. In colonial Queensland, provisional schools were a convenient means of providing an elementary education for the small, scattered and often transient rural population and became an integral part of the educational landscape. A provisional school could be opened with as few as 15 (later 12) pupils. The Board of Public Instruction gave financial assistance to local committees to set up and maintain these schools. The local committee provided a building and found a teacher, while the Board paid the teacher's salary relative to the number of pupils. If the local population declined, the provisional school closed at little expense to the Board. If the district or town developed, as Tarampa did, the provisional school was raised to state school status and provided with purpose-designed school buildings. A tender by JG (George) Schlecht for £500 was accepted in 1886 for the building of a standard, Ferguson-designed teaching building. The old teaching building was converted for use as the teacher's residence on the site. In the same year, Schlecht was also contracted to fence the school for £37, as wandering stock were damaging the paintwork and water tanks. Into the lowset, timber-framed buildings Ferguson introduced a coved ceiling and vented the roof space, improving internal temperatures. The number of windows and their size was increased; however, they were few in number and sill heights were typically over above floor level, well above the eye level of students. Modestly-decorative timber roof trusses were exposed within the space. In 1885 Robert Ferguson was replaced as Superintendent of Buildings by his brother John Ferguson who continued to implement his brother's designs until John's death in 1893, when responsibility for school buildings passed back to the Department of Public Works. Built to this standard design, the new school building at Tarampa State School was a low-set, timber-framed structure with gable roofs, verandahs front and back, and modest "carpenter gothic" timber detailing. It is likely that the school was extended to the north at this time, increasing its length from to approximately . At some time a central timber partition was added, dividing the building into two classrooms. The proposed residence was not built, but additions, improvements, repairs and painting of the Ferguson building were advertised for tender.  The Queensland education system recognised the importance of play in the school curriculum and, the need for all-weather outdoor space. Playsheds were designed as free-standing shelters, with fixed timber seating between posts and earth or decomposed granite floors that provided covered play space and doubled as teaching space when needed. These structures were timber-framed and generally open sided, although some were partially enclosed with timber boards or corrugated galvanised iron sheets. The hipped (or less frequently, gabled) roofs were clad with timber shingles or corrugated iron. Playsheds were a typical addition to state schools across Queensland between s and the 1950s, although less frequently constructed after , with the introduction of highset school buildings with understorey play areas. Built to standard designs, playsheds that ranged in size relative to student numbers. Tarampa's population rose to a peak of a little over 500 in 1911 and enrolments at its school increased accordingly. In 1919 the two-roomed Ferguson building accommodated 117 children. Photographic evidence shows tennis being played on the grass tennis court s. The new residence was constructed to a standard Department of Public Works design (Type D/R3) containing three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen with stove alcove, bathroom and a wrap-around verandah. The new residence was described as "...a well-built, modern house, replete with all conveniences, and not over-decorated. The work is a credit to the builders and a big improvement to the surroundings". Initially, residences were most often attached as annexes to the classroom building, but from the 1880s were built as detached residences. These residences were similar to the vernacular Queensland house with few, if any, education-specific requirements or features. Other mature trees grow on the site, such as jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), Eucalyptus spp., and a large fig tree (Ficus sp.) in the garden of the teacher's residence. In 2015, the Tarampa State School continues to operate and retains the Ferguson building, playshed and residence. The school is important to the town having operated from the site since 1880 and as generations of Tarampa students have been taught there. Since establishment it has been a key social focus for the Tarampa community with the grounds and buildings having been the location of many social events. == Description ==

Tarampa State School is located in the small rural township of Tarampa in the Brisbane Valley. Accessed via Manthey Road, the school occupies a rectangular 1.62ha block surrounded by open farmland and private residences. The school complex comprises a Ferguson teaching building (1886, extended 1897), a playshed (1897), a teacher's residence (1934) and a large leopard tree (Flindersia maculosa, planted ca.1894) known to the school community as the "Dibby Dibby" tree, as well as other mature trees. Ferguson teaching building (1886, extended 1897) The Ferguson building stands near the centre of the front (eastern) boundary, facing east to Manthey Road. It is a small timber building with verandahs on the east and west sides (now enclosed). It is lowset on timber stumps with weatherboard-clad walls and a gable roof clad in corrugated metal sheeting. The gable end walls each have a large area of timber-framed casement windows with fanlights, sheltered by timber-framed hoods with battened cheeks. The apex of each gable has a panel of fixed timber louvres venting the roof space. The gable eaves are lined with timber boards. The enclosed verandahs retain verandah posts and beams in some locations, beneath later cladding. On the east side, the main entrance is accessed via timber steps and consists of a central, unenclosed section of the verandah with an early timber door in the verandah wall. The north end of the east verandah is enclosed with weatherboards to form a small office, while the south end is enclosed with a solid balustrade and modern aluminium sliding windows. The raked verandah ceiling is lined with timber boards, except in the small office which has flat sheeting linings. The west verandah has been completely enclosed. At the northern end is an early storeroom (possibly a former hatroom) with single-skin enclosing walls, accessed by a half-glazed timber door. Adjoining the storeroom is a recently enclosed section of verandah with a timber floor, weatherboard cladding to the verandah wall, and a raked ceiling lined with timber boards. The central and southern sections of the verandah have recent fit-outs and linings. An original doorway survives in the former verandah wall, retaining its tall, two-light, vertically centre pivoting fanlight windows. A wing wall in the southern section indicates the location of a former lavatory enclosure. Originally one large classroom, the interior of the teaching building has been divided into two rooms by a single-skin timber partition lined with vertical timber boards. An early timber door connects the two rooms. The coved ceiling is lined with beaded timber boards and timber tie-beams with stop-chamfered edges are exposed within the space. A join in the ceiling lining in the northern room likely indicates the point from which the building was extended in 1897. The walls are generally lined with vertical, v-jointed tongue and groove boards. Some windows, doors and ceiling vents have been removed or sheeted over but their locations are visible in the wall and ceiling linings. Other windows have had their sashes removed and replaced with louvres. Playshed (1897) The playshed, located to the south-west of the Ferguson building, is a small 10-post timber structure with a hipped roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. The posts are braced to the roof framing by brackets and the roof framing is exposed.  The eastern side is partially enclosed with timber lattice screens and the southern side is enclosed with corrugated metal sheeting. Teacher's Residence (1934) The teacher's residence occupies its own rectangular yard in the southeast corner of the site. It is a highset timber-framed building on concrete stumps, clad with weatherboards and has a hipped and gabled roof clad with corrugated metal sheeting. The building faces east to Manthey Road and contains bedrooms and living rooms along the front and south sides, the kitchen with projecting stove alcove on the west (rear) side, and the toilet, bathroom and pantry in the north-west corner. The projecting, gabled front room has packed weatherboards to ventilate the roof space and the L-shaped front verandah, wrapping the front and north sides, is enclosed.  The understorey is enclosed by timber batten screens and has a laundry room enclosure in the south-west corner. Replacement tank stands occupy the original rainwater tank locations. The front and rear entrances are accessed by timber stairs and both have partially-glazed timber doors with multiple panes of textured glass. The front door (now an internal door) is high-waisted. The building has a variety of timber-framed windows, including six-light casements with fanlights, six-light casements with textured glass, and a set of nine-light sliding sashes. The enclosed verandah has banks of glass louvres and sets of three-light casements. Most windows have timber window hoods with battened cheeks. The interior layout is intact, with a central hall running from front to back with rooms either side. Internal partitions are single-skin with exposed stud framing. Walls and ceilings are lined with v-jointed tongue and groove boards. The rooms retain original joinery, including modest skirtings, cornices and architraves. Internal doors are high-waisted with fanlights and doors to the former verandah are half-glazed, six-light French doors with fanlights. All early doors have original door hardware. Grounds and views Established trees, gardens and pathways are located throughout the southern and eastern areas of the school grounds, while the northern and western school grounds remain open fields. A tennis court with a 1960s timber shelter shed is located along the front boundary on the northern side of the Ferguson teaching building. Several memorials are located within garden beds, including a cairn commemorating Australia's Bicentenary and a plaque commemorating the 125th anniversary of the  school. Significant trees are the large leopard tree ('Dibby Dibby' tree), which stands between the Ferguson building and the school residence,.and a large fig (possibly rusty fig, ficus rubiginosa) in the southeast corner of the residence yard. Other mature tree varieties within the school and residence grounds include poinciana (delonix regia), crows ash (flindersia australis), jacaranda (jacaranda mimosifolia), maple (acer sp.) and eucalyptus (eucalyptus spp.). The school is prominent in its location and views of the surrounding countryside are obtained from within the school grounds. == Heritage listing ==

Tarampa State School was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 1 May 2015 having satisfied the following criteria. '''The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.''' Tarampa State School (established in 1880 as Tarampa Provisional School) is important in demonstrating the evolution of state education and its associated architecture in Queensland. It retains representative examples of standard government designs that were architectural responses to prevailing government education philosophies. At Tarampa State School these standard designs are: an early Ferguson-designed school building (1886), a playshed (1897) and a teacher's residence (1934) set within schools grounds with significant landscape elements including mature plantings and a tennis court. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places. Tarampa State School is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of early Queensland state schools with their later modifications. These include: generous, landscaped sites with mature shade trees, play areas and sporting facilities; and timber-framed buildings constructed to standard designs by the Queensland Government. The school is a good example of a modest, regional school complex. The Ferguson teaching building (1886, extended ) is an excellent, intact example that retains its lowset, rectangular form, with front and rear verandahs (now enclosed), gable roof, louvred ventilation panels, coved ceiling, exposed timber tie beams and some early doors and windows. The playshed (1897) has a hipped timber-framed roof supported on braced timber posts (with two sides partially enclosed). The teacher's residence (1934) is an excellent, intact example of the residence type of its period - a highset timber-framed and clad building comprising three bedrooms, a living room, kitchen with stove alcove, bathroom and an L-shaped verandah (now enclosed). The mature leopard tree (Flindersia maculosa) and fig tree (Ficus sp.) are fine examples of the shade trees planted in Queensland school grounds. The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Schools have always played an important part in Queensland communities. They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations. Tarampa State School has a strong and ongoing association with the Tarampa community. Operating since 1880, generations of its children have been taught there. The place is important for its contribution to the educational development of Tarampa and is a prominent community focal point and gathering place for social events with widespread community support. == See also ==