Glandore Children's Home

The Glandore Children’s Home was the new name for the Glandore Industrial School from 1958. The government run Home continued to accommodate up to 130 boys committed to State care. In 1966 the name of the Home was changed to the Glandore Boys’ Home, taking into account that the institution had for many years only accommodated boys.

Under the terms of the 1958 Maintenance Act Amendment Act, the name of Glandore Industrial School was changed to Glandore Children’s Home. The Home continued to accommodate boys committed to the care of the State who were deemed, in the language of the time, to be destitute, neglected or uncontrollable. It also took in boys who were labelled as truants because they were continually absent from school.

During the last years of the 1950s and into the 1960s, overcrowding at Glandore became acute. The number of boys accommodated at the Home at one time ranged between 85 and 130. Lack of space meant that older boys were increasingly being accommodated in dormitories with younger, more vulnerable boys because no other beds were available. There was often a lack of staff to supervise children.

In 1964 a research project focused on absconding was conducted at the Home by the University of Adelaide’s Department of Psychology. The research team described conditions in the institution and the regimented daily program the boys were expected to follow. Boys slept in one of ten small dormitories. Younger boys were usually supervised by a dormitory mother and other female staff, while older boys were supervised by male attendants. All boys were woken at 6.30am each day. When interviewed about reasons for absconding from the institution, the boys stated that they feared punishment, which included caning and physical assault. Many stated that they disliked the institution in general.

The Glandore Children’s Home was renamed the Glandore Boys Home in 1966, taking into account that the institution had for many years only accommodated boys.