Goomeri State School started off as a provisional school and opened on the 5^th of February 1912. Schooling originally took place in the hall, which was connected to the Boonara Hotel. Miss C.F. Robertson ran this school, which had 21 students enrolled (Green, 2020).

Goomeri State School, year unknown. Photograph source: Goomeri History Facebook page.

Following its opening, the school continued to grow. In 1917, there were 48 students in attendance. The original hall building quickly became too small, so another school house was built in its current location. This school building contained 3 rooms and could seat 120 students (Goomeri Heritage Writer’s Group, 2000).

When head teacher Mr Heath arrived, he noted that the school grounds contained a large number of dead trees. The staff and students consequently spent the years following this removing and burning these trees (Green, 2020).

Goomeri State School, 1912. Photograph source: State Library of Queensland.

Goomeri State School pupils, 1930. Photograph source: Goomeri History Facebook page, originally donated by Vera Hopkins.

Another interesting school story from Goomeri’s history involves how the children and staff got to school on rainy days. It is said that one year Goomeri experienced so much rain that the railway dam overflowed. This consequently caused water to pool over the road and through the school grounds. So in order to get to school without getting their feet wet, the children would carry wooden beer cases with them, to place in the water, so they could use them as stepping stones. The teachers used this method to get to school too (Green, 2020).

During World War Two, thousands of soldiers were stationed in and around Goomeri. Consequently, the school was used by officers for planning the New Guinea campaign. During this period, the school was heavily guarded at night to ensure nobody could enter the premises. It was also used for adult education as many of the soldiers were illiterate. The school was also used for night time classes, giving some of them a new opportunity to learn reading and writing skills (Green, 2020).

Goomeri State School pupils, 1932. Photograph source: Goomeri History Facebook page, originally donated by Kilkivan Historical Society.

Since then, Goomeri State School has expanded in size and currently has 143 students enrolled (MySchool, 2025).

References:

Green, D. (2020). History of Education in the Gympie Region 1867-2020. Gympie: School Archive Australia.

Goomeri Heritage Writers Group. (2000). Neverending stories: a tribute to our pioneers. Goomeri: Goomeri Heritage Writers. pp.1-334.

MySchool. (2025). Goomeri State School. [Online]. MySchool. Last Updated: 2025. Available at: https://myschool.edu.au/about-my-school [Accessed 27 October 2025].

Published on Friday 31st of October 2025.