Schools

Schooling in the district began with the various Christian ministers, and a pioneer school was begun by John Martin at the Tungkillo Mine, in the 1840s until 1853. Ephraim Evans continued the school until 1856, but it wasn’t until two years later that a school was started at Mount Pleasant.

THE FIRST SCHOOL

Jane Freeman and her sister, Ann, rented the Bible Christian Chapel in 1858, and conducted a private school there. In 1859 Ann was in charge and later, Elizabeth, another sister, was the headteacher. When the Bible Christian Congregation disbanded in 1861 the Talunga District Council purchased the premises as a permanent school. A Head Teacher’s residence was attached to the eastern side of the grounds in 1865 at a cost of £73.

In 1878 another private school started at Kent Farm, a two-storey residence situated on the Springton road, east of Mount Pleasant. It was run by Florence and Edith Giles, but did not continue for very long.

A PRIVATE SCHOOL

A private school for both boarding and day pupils, the Totness Grammer, was started in July 1868. Henry Giles snr. provided the accommodation in which the Misses Giles and Loutits taught. Mary Ellis provided the music tuition. William Ellis had become a popular teacher at Tungkillo School. The upper echelon of families of the district had opted to send their children to this school rather than that run by the Misses Freeman in the Bible Christian Chapel. There was a preference for a male teacher. Hence by July 1868 William Ellis, with enough financial incentive began teaching at the Totness Grammar School, and remained there until 1870, when it closed.

Parents were looking for a male presence at the school, and petitioned the Board of Education for a male assistant to the Misses Freeman, possibly hoping to employ William Ellis once more, but this endeavour failed, and it wasn’t until 1875 that the appointment of Matthew Prior as assistant to Miss Freeman occurred. Miss Elizabeth Freeman left soon afterwards to marry and Matthew Prior continued on as Headteacher in her place until 1877.

The school was transferred to the Council of Education in late 1876, after the new Education Act had come into force throughout the colony, and was no longer a private school.

SPORTS DAYS

In early times formal physical activities were restricted to simple gymnastic and modified ball games. Annual combined school picnics between Eden Valley, Mount Pleasant and Springton were held with some competitive athletics. In 1933 the Palmer and District Schools Association was established and the Annual Spring Athletics competition was started with Mount Pleasant School attending for many years. A highlight was the march down Palmer’s main street to the oval. Marching practice occurred for weeks prior to the sports day. These interschool Sports’ Days continued for many years, until late 1980s, when competition between students was discouraged. Today, there is a ‘small schools’ participation group with schools of a similar size participating in games and competition. Mount Pleasant joins with Truro, Stockwell, Springton.

A MODERN SCHOOL

With the advent of the Landcare movement in the 1980s the school children were encouraged to take an interest in the growing and planting of trees in the district. A roadside planting on the Birdwood road still exists today. A small shadehouse was developed for the growing of trees and shrubs from seed, however the change of staff changes the emphasis and whilst for some years the school did continue its interest in promoting environmental issues in the district including the River Torrens revegetation and water quality monitoring with KESAB water watch, this has now discontinued. However they have continued the building of a native animal enclosure and have betongs in place.

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw an annual ‘Festival of Music’ with Birdwood, Palmer and Springton Primary Schools participating. As part of the evening, the four headteachers formed a quartet and presented an entertaining segment. An annual ‘Cow Drop Gala Day’ was also held for some years, to raise funds for the school, when the numbers increased to more than 100.

In 2008 the school celebrated 150 years, and the original school room, the Bible Christian Chapel, which is still in use, had the original stonework uncovered in a restoration for the celebrations. There was an Open Day when many former students returned to see the school as it is today.

In 2010 the Federal Government provided 'the building fund' and a gymnasium was built at the front of the schoolgrounds which is in regular use today.

In 2017 the school has approx 60 students and is run on modern open classroom teaching.

They participated in the Anzac Expo which is organised by the local RSL for the commemoration of World War 1 and provided an excellent display of work done by the students.