Glandore Industrial School

The Glandore Industrial School was the new name given to the Edwardstown Industrial School in 1949. Located in Glandore, the government-run School accommodated boys committed to the care of the State. Girls were sent to Seaforth Home. In 1958 the name of the Home was changed to the Glandore Children’s Home.

The Glandore Industrial School was the new name given to the Edwardstown Industrial School in 1949. The name change reflected the fact that from that time, the Home lay in the suburb of Glandore rather than Edwardstown. Conditions at the Industrial School remained much the same.

The Glandore Industrial School continued to take in boys who were committed into State care, charged under the legislation of the era as being destitute, neglected or uncontrollable. As with the Edwardstown Industrial School, Glandore Industrial School only took in boys. All girls were sent to Seaforth Home.

At Glandore, younger boys slept in a separate dormitory, under the supervision of a dormitory mother and other female staff, while older boys were accommodated in additional dormitories according to their age.

Throughout the 1950s overcrowding in the dormitories was a serious problem. By the end of the decade 100 boys were in residence. The Secretary of the Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Board reported in 1958 that it was ‘more difficult to control a large number of boys’. He suggested to the chairman of the Board that the boys whom he referred to as the ‘worst boys’ at the School should ‘be placed in another institution where the discipline and training would be more rigid’.

Records show that incidents of sexual misconduct which had caused boys to be transferred from the Edwardstown Industrial School to the Boys Reformatory continued into the 1950s. During 1951-52 five boys were moved to the Boys Reformatory at Magill. The Children’s Welfare and Public Relief Board requested that any cases of sexual misconduct be ‘fully reported’ by the superintendent with information about the punishment he had inflicted and any other recommendations he might have. In addition the Board asked for a report from the medical officer on the best treatment for sexual offenders in institutions.

During the 2004-2008 Children in State Care Commission of Inquiry, a number of Forgotten Australians came forward to report abuse that had occurred at the Industrial School during the 1940s and 1950s.

During the 1950s some improvements were made to the physical conditions at the School. A tall galvanised iron fence which ran along the southern side of the property was replaced with wire mesh and all barbed wire was removed. Boys still followed strict regulations including rules relating to cleanliness and good health. They were rewarded through a points system for keeping themselves and their personal areas tidy. The dormitory with the most points at the end of each week received a monetary prize.

According the departmental Annual Reports, boys were encouraged to be part of the outside community in a number of ways including playing sport, attending church services and being involved in other forms of recreation. Relatives and friends were allowed to visit with permission and some ‘trusted’ boys were granted a leave of absence for specific approved purposes.

Boys at the Home were taught the regular school curriculum by two Education Department teachers and also attended woodwork and music classes. Annual reports state that hobbies and craftwork were encouraged. Boys received pocket money from the Department which they could use at the tuck shop on the property.

In 1958, under the terms of the Maintenance Act Amendment Act of that year, the Glandore Industrial School changed its name to the Glandore Children’s Home.