The township of Wingham was just a few years old when the Board of National Education approved an application for a public school at Wingham. Two acres of land near Dingo Creek Road was granted in 1863, a new school house built there, and in 1864, the tradition of public education in Wingham commenced.

 

Just ten years later, it was obvious that the land and facilities at Schoolhouse Gully, as it was known, were insufficient for the rapidly growing community. The proposal was to convert the existing schoolhouse into a residence for the teacher, and erect a new school closer to the centre of Wingham.

 

A new two acre block next to Wingham Brush was acquired in 1877. Brand new buildings were erected, and classes moved to the new Wingham Public School in Isabella Street on January 13th, 1879.

 

During the next two decades, the school benefited from various improvements, ranging from the Wingham Public School, circa 1900 addition of a weather shed to exterior improvements, painting, kerb and guttering.

 

Since opening in 1864, Wingham Public School had grown from an initial enrolment of 36, to an enrolment of 174 by 1898. At that time, the school was reclassified as Wingham Superior Public School, which allowed the addition of some senior classes. No longer did Wingham students need to make the long journey by horse, bus and barge to attend high school in Taree.

 

By 1926, the school was again straining, and a meeting was held to discuss the establishment of a Rural School. With enough students available to warrant the upgrade, the recommendation was made and from 1930, Wingham District Rural School held classes in the Isabella Street classrooms. 1933 brought the most visible changes, with the addition of the double story building, the domestic science rooms and the manual arts training unit. These new buildings were constructed during the Great Depression and funded by the Unemployment Relief Council.

 

Wingham District Rural School enrolment continued to grow, and after the Second World War when materials were scarce, demountable pre-fab buildings were added to increase capacity.

 

In 1962, it was decided that Wingham should have a new high school. Wingham High School officially dates from 1963, with classes being held at the new Rowley Street premises from 1964, easing the pressure at the Isabella Street campus. At the same time, Wingham District Rural School reverted to its original name, Wingham Public School, and offered Infants and Primary School education.

 

Both Wingham Public School and Wingham High School continued to grow through the latter half of the twentieth century. During the 1980s, both schools were augmented with numerous demountable buildings. The old school buildings in Isabella Street had served for over one hundred years and there were questions raised about their suitability into the future.

 

Ultimately, Wingham Public School was moved to new, state of the art buildings on Murray Road in 1987. The original buildings on Isabella Street were retained and refurbished, and the former Wingham Public School premises became home to a new school: Wingham Brush Public School.

 

Wingham High School enjoyed major expansion in the early 1990s, and has recently added Technical Trade Centres in Hospitality and Construction.

 

In 2014, the three schools which originated in 1864 as a single teacher school in a wooden schoolhouse have a combined enrolment of over 1,200 students from Kindergarten to Year 12, and employ close to 100 dedicated teachers and support staff.