Ringing the bell

In November 2025, Rouse Hill Public School celebrates its 150th anniversary. For 115 of those years, pupils attended the little red hilltop schoolhouse built opposite Rouse Hill House and still standing today.

Origins

The little village of Rouse Hill grew steadily throughout the mid-19th century. By the 1860s, the junction of the Windsor and Mile End roads was surrounded by a cluster of houses, a general store, bakery, post office, a nearby inn – and a church, Christ Church Anglican, which opened its doors in 1863. As the local rural population continued to grow – and with it the number of children requiring education – a new school became viable. Opening to pupils in 1869, this was a denominational school, operated by the Church of England (Anglican Church) from a hall behind the church. In the surrounding district were a range of other small, single-teacher denominational schools, run by the Anglican or Catholic churches, and each providing for local populations within walking distance.

The prominent red roof of the hall used for the Rouse Hill school can be seen to the left of the church in a later painting by Bessie Rouse (1843–1924), who had married into the third generation of the Rouse family. Today this painting hangs in the front hall at Rouse Hill House.

Educational reform in NSW

The provision of education in NSW was also undergoing reform. The NSW Public Schools Act of 1866 brought together the previous Board of National Education (created in 1848 to oversee public education) and the Denominational School Board (also established in 1848, to oversee religious schools) into a single Council of Education. This body exercised more control over denominational schools than its dedicated predecessor, with schools such as Rouse Hill’s having to meet conditions relating to size, student numbers and curricula. Existing subsidies to denominational schools were progressively withdrawn as the government system expanded, and in 1875 the school’s board of trustees successfully petitioned for it to become a public school. The following year, Edwin Stephen Rouse (1849–1931), third owner of the Rouse Hill estate, was one of five local men appointed to form the new school’s board.

Further change took place in 1880 with the passing of the Public Instruction Act. Under that Act, public schools – ‘in which the main object shall be the best primary education to all children without sectarian or class distinction’ – could be ‘established in any locality where … there are at least twenty children who shall regularly attend such school on its establishment’. Financial aid to non-government schools would cease a year later.

Attendance ‘for no less than 70 days per half year’ was also now compulsory for children aged between seven and 14. This provision caused a significant rise in the numbers of children enrolled in the education system, and to accommodate it a surge in new school building took place across NSW, with around 1,100 new schools built between 1880 and 1900.

Starting over

At Rouse Hill it was obvious that the existing hall would not satisfy the new state-wide standards for education buildings. The decision was made to relocate and start afresh, bringing together the students from nearby Nelson Public – formerly a Catholic denominational school, and where the buildings were described as almost derelict – and Rouse Hill. The new school would retain the name of Rouse Hill Public School.

The new site was an especially prominent one, located beside the Windsor Road and on top of the hill between Rouse and Box hills, and opposite the house from which it derived its name. In February 1888, tenders were called for the construction of the schoolhouse and adjoining residence. Local builders Cranney and Greenway won the contract with a tender of £1,198, and by November, construction was complete. The school opened for students on the eighth day of that month.

The first head teacher for the new school’s 60 students was Mr Barnett Francis Levey, replacing Mr James Drummond and teacher Mrs Ellen Townall, who was retiring. The sudden appointment of Levey caused some controversy, as parents naturally expected that Drummond, the existing and popular teacher, would also be moving to the new school – indeed, he had already packed for the move to the new residence. Instead it was announced he was being moved to his successor’s previous post at the Appin school in south-west Sydney.

The school on the hill

A c1918 photograph captures the new school with its third teacher, Mr Turnbull, surrounded by students. Among them are sisters Ena (then aged 10) and Annie (8) Sherwood, whose parents, Arthur and Clara, worked at the Rouse Hill estate just across the road. The family lived in the estate overseer’s cottage, so the children enjoyed a very short trip to school each day.

The brick building was designed by William Edward Kemp, head architect for the Department of Public Instruction.¹ Kemp also designed much larger schools, such as those at Surry Hills (1881–83) and Pyrmont (1891–92). By contrast, this was a smaller, self-contained building. Made of brick on a stone footing, it comprised one large, high-ceilinged schoolroom in which two classes sat, an adjacent smaller sewing room and hat room, and a separate privy. While the plans for Rouse Hill do not survive, others drawn for schools built across NSW display the characteristic tiered flooring for desks and high windows of Kemp’s ‘model school’ designs. Fittings such as desks with fold-down bench seating, blackboards and easels were also universal.

A teacher’s residence was built next to the school. Demolished in 1961, it can be seen in the background of a 1929 photograph (below). An archaeological excavation in 2009 revealed its well-preserved footings, which show that it was a standard design containing three bedrooms, a parlour, dining area, kitchen and bathroom.

The old school building meanwhile continued in use, for Sunday school, church and community activities such as fundraisers held to support local causes. One such concert, which featured performances by local residents, was held in 1907 to raise funds for the school library.

A narrow escape

From 1888, the schoolhouse was in continuous use for the next 115 years. In the 1920s, the tiered seating was removed from the main schoolroom, allowing the space to be used for public events such as dances. It was then divided into two distinct rooms. From the 1960s, extra buildings and facilities were added to increase the school’s capacity.

Unrecognisable from its beginnings as a simple dirt road, the Windsor Road was also changing. In the 1930s, the road was cut into the hilltop to improve visibility for the motor vehicles that were rapidly replacing their horsedrawn counterparts. By 2000, and now a busy arterial road, it was due to be upgraded and widened to a dual carriageway – with the old school building marked for demolition.

In 2003, the school relocated to a new and larger site nearby that could accommodate the rapidly increasing suburban population. Today the residential suburb of Rouse Hill is a world apart from the rural landscape of the 1860s. From a roll call of 60 students in 1888, the school now accommodates around 1,200 children, drawn from a population with a significant number of recent migrant families, and is one of four bilingual schools in the state, with a class taught each week in Mandarin.

Luck was on the side of the old schoolhouse, and it was saved from destruction. After negotiation, Windsor Road was instead diverted to the north of the hilltop and the vacated school site was acquired by the then Historic Houses Trust of NSW (now part of Museums of History NSW), which was already managing the adjacent Rouse Hill House and farmland. In 2009–10, the 20th-century additions and buildings, including demountables, were removed, and the deep Windsor Road cutting that had separated the school and Rouse Hill House since the 1930s was filled in to re-create its original profile. Finally, the 1888 building was restored to its original appearance, its exterior repainted the brick red it featured in the 1890s, while its interiors were re-created to reflect those used by its early students and teachers.

The 1888 schoolhouse still sits prominently on its hilltop, visible to everyone who passes on the Windsor Road, just as it was when first built. The bell still rings, calling students back to experience classes from the late 19th century, while only a short distance away Rouse Hill Public School celebrates 150 years of providing education to the district.