The Boomi Progress Association sent a petition to the Education Department, Sydney on 27 July, 1900 requesting the establishment of a school in the village of Boomi.
The letter must have been received in Sydney and the Boomi Progress Association was advised of an inspection. The Inspector, Mr Watham, set out from Tamworth on horseback, but the roads were not clearly defined and his directions appeared wrong so he came upon Mungindi. He sought further directions for his destination - Boomi. When Mr Watham duly arrived, he made a careful inspection of the area and returned to Tamworth reporting Boomi to be a growing village and one which should be given a chance by providing a provisional school.
The building was erected by April, 1901 on the dedicated school site at the cost of 97 pounds 10 shillings. and some timber was cleared for the playground area.
The Principal's home was over the road in Barwon Street, built by the second Principal, Thomas Sharp. When the assistants came, they had private or hotel accommodation, and the classroom was extended by 12 feet. The Education Department completed the school residence by 1916 in the school ground, facing Duff Street.
Educational and sporting achievements were evident through the years, helped by the Parents and Citizens Association. After completing primary schooling, the pupils either went on to boarding schools or would do secondary correspondence lessons, supervised by the Principal. Sporting days were held each week, then in later years inter-town competition took place between neighbouring schools, when the pupils were loaded onto the back of a local lorry for each journey. John Newman represented the state in the forties and won the Stawell Gift for athletics. School Captains were elected from 1943 onwards, and school badges became available in 1961.
Many submissions were sent to Sydney by the P. & C. Association requesting a new building. In 1964 a highset two-classroom school was built. Before the new school could be opened, a minor cyclone, "Little Audrey" hit the district, unroofing and causing moderate damage to the new building while the old school remained intact. The dismantling and removal of the old faithful classroom was nostalgic as it had educated more than two generations.
The school attendance varied in size, but there were sufficient students to qualify in the late 1970s for three teachers, and a demountable classroom was installed till the mid 1980s. A demountable assistant teacher's residence was also installed in the school ground.
In the third term 1967, Archie Newman began the first bus conveyance on the Mungindi road for nine miles, and now three buses cover the four roads enabling many country children to attend Boomi Public School.
A bus was provided from 1968 to take secondary students to Moree High School. Since its inception Fay Newman has driven this, the longest daily school bus run in the state.
PRINCIPALS ASSISTANT TEACHERS R.A.C. Somerville 1901 Amy Breadman 1912 Thomas Sharp 1903 Charles Caldwell 1913 Ferwin Symons 1911 Herbert Yates 1914 Cecil Collier 1916 M.Tonkin Bruce Murdock 1919 Miss Playford Dursley Woodward 1924 Rita Mitchell 1924-1926 Daniel McViety 1927 Will Stanton 1931 V Whiting 1930 Miss Lee 1932 F. H. Hiscox 1933 Mr Reading 1949 Lyal Gordon 1937 Mr. McMin 1950 Rodney Frank 1941 Don Alchin 1951-1960 James Delaney 1948 Peter Deacey 1961 Frederick Earp 1950 Graham Lenane 1965 Donald Edgar 1951 Carmel Lee 1966-1968 Viv Monaghan 1954 Robyn Halloran 1969 Frederick Walker 1956 Cheryl Johnson 1972 (half year) Alan Parker 1959 Robyn McMaster 1972 Robert Foulcher 1962 Clare Grills 1973 (half year) Alan Lee 1965 Bette Montgomery 1973 Raymond Tang 1969 Mary Evans 1974 (half year) John Howley 1971 Sue Lynskey 1974 (American Exchange) Geoffrey Tasker 1972 Kay Fitzgibbon Tim Newberry 1975 Ann McKosker 1978-1984 Dennis Murphy 1978 Anne Waddington 1979 Warwick Morrow 1979 Anne Rowe (nee Waddington) John Fisher 1981 Ann Dight (nee McCosker) Mark O'Driscoll 1985 Robyn McMaster 1981
All historical information and B & W Pictures contained in this site are from the book UP ON THE BORDER BOOMI by Ellen Allen, published in 1988, and used with permission.
Current Photographs of the school
| Kunopia - The Township | Village of Boomi | The Artesian Bore | Boomi Post Office |
| Royal Hotel | Pioneer Hotel | Police Station | Boomi Public School |