The Girls’ Welfare School, the Education Department’s first special school, opened in 1924. A few girls from the Industrial School for Girls – Hobart attended the Girls’ Welfare School. In 1954, it became the Dora Turner School.
The first principal of the Girls’ Welfare School, Dora Turner, remained there for 27 years. She aimed to develop the girls’ confidence by teaching them to be skilled in domestic work, sometimes to a high level. Some girls exhibited at the local show and were able to produce beautifully decorated wedding cakes. There seems to have been no stigma attached to attending the School.