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St Thomas More’s School

St Thomas More’s School was a private special school located at Linden Lodge, Linden in the early 1940s. It was set up by Marva Temple, who had been Principal of Moresland Special School in North Springwood. Temple was Catholic and supported by clergy, but did not receive funding from the Catholic Church or charities. The…

Moresland Special School

Moresland Special School was a private residential school for children with disabilities located at North Springwood during the 1930s. Its principal, Miss Marva Temple, a Catholic teacher who had strong support in local Catholic networks, later founded St Thomas More’s School in Linden. Marva Temple was highly educated and an activist around the education of…

Children’s Seaside Hotel

The Children’s Seaside Hotel was located at Narrabeen from approximately 1937, with a branch at Wentworth Falls opening in 1943. It was for children aged from one month to 15 years of age and offered care from a single day to periods of years. It was used during school vacations and by mothers for respite…

Murray-Dwyer Group Homes

Murray-Dwyer Group Homes were run by the Daughters of Charity at Mayfield West. According to a report about the use of the Murray-Dwyer Orphanage site, ‘An Assessment of the Historical and Archaeological Values of BHP Land at Tourle Street, Newcastle’ (1996), the group homes replaced the Murray-Dwyer Orphanage in around 1969, and operated until 1979….

Inala Rudolf Steiner School for Curative Education

Inala Rudolf Steiner School for Curative Education was a residential special school for school-aged children at Cherrybrook. It was opened on 1 November 1958 on a five-acre property by Dr Hans Joachim and Mrs Kyra Pohl, along with a group of parents seeking accommodation support for their children with intellectual disabilities. It closed in 2005….

Miroma Special School

Miroma Special School was a Steiner School located in Vaucluse from 1966 to 2010. It was established by Susan Haris, a teacher who had trained at Inala in Cherrybrook. It is not clear when Miroma stopped providing residential care to children but by 2010 it was primarily offering services to adults with intellectual disabilities and…

Kingsdene Special School and Residential Service

Kingsdene Special School at Telopea provided schooling and residential care to children aged 10-18 from March 1976. It was run by Anglicare, who described it as being for children and young people with “moderate to severe intellectual disabilities”. It closed in 2010 due to a lack of funding to continue operations. At the time of…

Avoca Nursing Home

Avoca Nursing Home, in Randwick, was a private hospital. According to research done by the staff of the Northern Territory Department of Health, it was a place where children from the Northern Territory were sent, but little is known about its use as a children’s home or hospital. By 1988 Avoca Nursing Home had become…

Liverpool State Hospital and Home

The Liverpool State Hospital and Home was formerly the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute. It was a hospital and home that was for adults and young people in need of support, including people with disabilities. It was run by the New South Wales Government and operated from 1933 until 1962.

Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute

The Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute was run by the New South Wales Government from 1862 until 1933. It had formerly been the Liverpool Asylum, run by the Benevolent Society. The Asylum provided refuge for men, including youths, described at the time as being “poor and infirm”. Those residents able to assist in…