About Us

We welcome you to Norris Bank Primary School.

We are a state mainstream primary school, Year Prep to Year 6, situated across the road from the Norris Bank Reserve Park. Our school has a lovely vista of Mt Cooper and spacious grounds.

We are the oldest school in the local area and have been educating the children of Bundoora for over 110 years. Yes the position of the school and the buildings may have changed over that time, but our ethos has not. Every child matters and every child deserves to reach their personal best in a safe, nurturing environment. We have high expectations for all our students across all areas of academics and in mental health and wellbeing.

We believe a great school works in partnership with students, teachers and parents to achieve the best possible outcome for all students. We have always had strong connections geographically to our local communities of Bundoora, Kingsbury, Reservoir and Thomastown.

We currently conduct weekly school tours on a Friday morning however we can be flexible with these so please give us a call.

We love being a small primary school, grounded in the long history of Norris Bank.  It offers all of us opportunities for connection and belonging, which is vital in the emotional development of young children as they begin their learning journey.

Kind regards

Sandra James (Principal)

 

 

History of Norris Bank Primary School

 

In 1839, Horatio Cooper purchased land west of Plenty Road and built a homestead called “Norris Bank”. This same homestead was used by the Education Department to start State School 3618.

In the early 1900s, the larger farming properties of the region were being subdivided into smaller farms in an effort to encourage settlement and it was argued that the establishment of a school would also enhance this goal. A group of original settlers met and appointed local Henry Hocking to correspond with the Education Department for the establishment of a school.

The Director of Education decided that a school be established by using an old homestead tidied up by the settlers. Victorian school number 3618 was officially established on May 25th 1909 and was called the “Thomastown Small Holding State School”. The first Head Teacher appointed was Wilhelmina P. Sleeman. In August 1909 the name of the school was changed to Darebin.

Generally, the settlement of the area was a failure with most settlers eventually leaving, so much so that by May 1913 only 15 children were left to attend the school. The District inspector remarked at that time the question of closing the school would have to be considered. Further pressure was endured by the community in April 1924 when the attendance dropped to 5 pupils. However the school survived and continued to grow for the next 99 years. Originally built on the south side of Settlement Road and then eventually moved to the north side.