Towradgi Public School celebrates 70 years of education

That day was April 30, 1954, the year after Mr Moerman started in temporary digs at the site of what is now the Reformed Church further down Carters Lane.

Mr Moerman, now 77, recalls the day students were told "your classroom has arrived" and they were marched up the street to to take possession of their new school.

He said there were two classrooms at the school at that point; across the road was all bush stretching to the sand dunes, which later became a pig farm, horse stables and a skating rink, before it became housing.

Mr Moerman said he was a "poor learner" until one day, a Dion's bus loaded with books - called the Bookmobile - arrived, and he was able to choose a book to read.

"So I started reading for myself," he said.

Not all teachers were great, but others inspired him.

He remembered one day showing up late and the teacher was wagging a piece of cake in his face, demanding he apologise.

But as a young child, who'd moved to Australia from Europe, he didn't know what 'apologise' meant - and instead thought she was playing a game his father used to, by teasing him with a biscuit until he was able to take a bite.

Just as he was about to take a bite of the cake, the principal, Mr Nyholm, walked in and boomed: "Say you're sorry, boy".

"Saved by the headmaster," Mr Moerman recalled with a laugh.

As the school marks its official 70^th anniversary, principal Jacqui Cavill said inclusion in all forms was a key part of the school's character.

Being close to the migrant hostel, in its early days there were students of various backgrounds.

"The school has a long history of being a multicultural school," Ms Cavill said.

Today, there are still 18 different cultures represented in the student body, with a multicultural dinner part of the anniversary celebrations.

There were currently about 140 students enrolled, Ms Cavill said, but at its largest the school had about 1000 - one former student remembered their class having 45 children.

Ms Cavill said the school had a commitment to being a safe space where everyone belonged and every student could be their authentic self.

Each day students recite a motto in Dharawal language: "Gabu nga bul lali, gabu nga ngabin", meaning "We stand together, we stand strong".

Eleven per cent of the student body is Indigenous.

Ms Cavill said this acceptance extended to students with disability, with the school having four support classes to ensure students felt valued and had the opportunity to achieve.

The P&C, she said, also had initiatives to ensure no student missed out on excursions and the like.

Pauline Green is now in her 27^th year of teaching at Towradgi Public School.

It's a job she loves and something she always wanted to do.

After she married and had children, Ms Green studied to become a teacher as a mature-age student and worked in Campbelltown for about nine years before transferring to Towradgi.

As part of the anniversary celebrations, students honoured Ms Green by creating portraits of her.

She said she loved the school, which she described as a big family, and seeing the children each day.

"Those little moments when you see that they've got it," she said of what she enjoyed about teaching.

"You can be teaching them something for weeks and weeks, and all of a sudden they go, 'Oh yeah, I know what you're talking about'."

Ms Green has taught every class full-time except 5/6, and is currently in learning support and relief from face-to-face teaching, giving the regular teachers of classes the time to plan and prepare.

"It's a hard job, but it is rewarding and I wouldn't change it," she said.

"I'm happy that I've done what I've done in my lifetime."