Port Melbourne Primary School, state school number 2932, has been a focal point for the Port Melbourne Community since it’s opening in 1889. Originally known as Graham Street Primary School and opened as an annexe to Nott Street Primary School, the school, now with 720 students, has endured many difficult situations. Built on what was at the time an area of ‘flat, sandy wastelands’, the school was geographically isolated, overpopulated and impoverished. This school features in this heritage walking tour as it was here that the children that lived on the Garden City Estate were educated. From its opening in 1889 up until the 1960s the area was mainly populated by working-class families, many of whom worked on the docks and at Station Pier. The school was known for being a ‘tough’ school with mean teachers, long hours, military drills and moral lessons, and gangs who dominated the playground. During the 1930s many families in the Garden City area and Port Melbourne in general were hit very badly by the Great Depression, with conditions at the school decreasing even further. However after about 1950 the school saw many improvements, with new amenities, charitable programs, higher morale, and later an increase in multiculturalism. Although the school now flourishes in the more affluent area of Port Melbourne, it will always have its roots in the hard lives of those who lived, worked and went to school in the flat sandy wasteland that is now a flourishing inner city suburb (Port Melbourne Primary School, History).
