History of the East Loddon College
East Loddon Consolidated School opened on the 6th February 1951, with an enrolment of 127 pupils to Grade 8. The Head Teacher was Mr. J. Hendry and he had a staff of 4 assistants.
3 buses transported the children from Calivil, Jarklin & Tandarra – with a small group from the Yallook district. The school provided for classes from Prep to Grade 8. The staff – Lester Haeberle, Norman Small, Mrs Neeta Hutcheson & Lillian McGregor – travelled to school by bus as the only accommodation, at that stage, was the Head Teacher’s Residence.
In September 1951 with the admission of students from Milloo, a 4th bus was introduced fro the Piavella run, the Calivil route was extended to Calivil Creek and Mr Frank Fords bus was added to cater for the increased numbers. Student numbers were now above the 200 mark which ensured that the school would open as the East Loddon Consolidated School.
On the 6th May, 1954 the school was officially opened by the Hon. A. E. Shepherd, the Minister for Education.
In 1973 the school was divided into the East Loddon High School and the primary section remained the East Loddon Consolidated School.
In 1975 it was envisaged that the school would become a 13-year school with an unbroken span of education from Year Prep to H.S.C. This was thought to be suited to the particular needs of the area. The school has operated as a P-12 school since February 1977.
In December 1987 an agreement was reached between the School Council and the Ministry of Education recognising the school as a single-unit P-12 school with the secondary Principal as the P-12 Administrator.
The College, with its P-12 structure became the model for other emerging P-12 campuses across the State and the DEECD now formally recognizes and values P-12 units as distinctive educational settings.
In 2003 the College began a rebuilding and refurbishing project and functional modernised classrooms replaced many of the original buildings
In 2009 as part of the Federal Givernment’s “BER” funding the school received building upgrades including a refurbished multi purpose room and library.
Throughout the 2010’s various building upgrades were undertaken including lining the walls of the gymnasium to provide insulation from weather extremes.
In 2020 the Multi-purpose room, Library and staff workrooms were demolished to make way for a new building incorporating new versions of the previous rooms.
Weekly Times 1954. Photo courtesy of “East Loddon I taught/was a student there”
East Loddon Sports Hall of Fame
At East Loddon we have a strong history of students performing sports at an elite level, from local sports to state and international level in a range of disciplines.
In order to recognise this, one of the final acts of long term P.E. teacher John Clyne before his retirement was to create the “East Loddon P12 College Sporting Hall of Fame”.
A great thing about the inducted members is the range of sports that have been displayed and the level of achievement including national teams and world records that have been achieved by students from ‘the school in the paddock’.
Members of the East Loddon P12 College Sports Hall of Hame:
Ken Sheldon: Australian Rules football – 132 games, 170 goals for Carlton, 53 games & 24 goals for St. Kilda, 1979, ’81 & ’82 Premierships with Carlton (famous for kicking goal following Wayne Harmes’ infamous kick, chase and tap in from the boundary line), coach of St. Kilda 1991 – ’93
Georgia Welsh: Kettle Bells – Australian representative, multiple World Champion, multiple world record holder. 2016 World Championships, Denmark – Bronze Medallist, World Chamionships Milan, 2017, World Championships 2018 Spain – gold medal – 16 kg. one arm long-cycle (OALC), gold 30 min. half marathon; gold medal in 12 kg. 60 min. full marathon (OALC). Bendigo Sportsmen’s Association fourth quarterly Junior Sports Star, 2017.
Bryan Jolly: Judo: Oceania Champion 2012-17, Youth Olympics 2014, World Championships – U18, U21, Open 2013 -2018, 10 x National Champion
Cherie O’Donoghue: Australian rodeo champion: 7 time Australian All Round Cow Girl, 5 time Australian breakaway roping champion, 5 time Australian pro tour barrel racing champion (as at August 2023)
Alyce Falls: Ultimate Frisbee – Australian Team, Australian U19 Youth Championshipships 2015, Australian Div. 2 Women’s Championships 2016, Woeld Junior Championships 2016, Australian Mixed Championships 2018, Australian Under 22 Ultimate Championships 2018
East Loddon Remembers
The East Loddon P12 community places a huge significance in honouring and remembering those who came before us and made the courageous decision to represent our country in the armed forces, many of whom never returned.
In partnership with the East Loddon Historical Society, we have established the ‘East Loddon Remembers’ memorial at the front of the school which has information about individuals and conflicts.
Interviews with Vietnam Veterans
As part of our learning about the Vietnam War in preparation for the (eventually COVID cancelled) Turkey/South East Asia trip of 2020, students interviewed some local Vietnam Veterans:
Keith Hocking, Mal Gilmour, Rob Webster & Ian Anderson
Rob Webster is currently president of RSL Victoria. Rob was called up for National Service when he was 20.
Ian Anderson is currently president of the East Loddon RSL Sub-branch. Ian went to the Vietnam War when he was only 19 and was part of the Signals Corps, where he was responsible for radio communications using ciphers. He remembers Vietnam being very steamy and raining all the time. Ian served 12 months in Vietnam and was involved in civil affairs, resettling villages and building houses. He went to Malaya for 2 years after Vietnam and helped to train troops going to Vietnam. Ian commented that returned soldiers from Vietnam were not recognised by the RSL until 1986 and even had stones thrown at them. However, he noted that now soldiers are well supported both while touring overseas and when they return home. Ian also shared some great photos from his time in Vietnam.
