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Wadham Preparatory School

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Wadham Preparatory School
Location
Strathfield
,
New South Wales

Australia
Information
TypeIndependent, primary, day school
MottoNulla Dies Sine Linea
DenominationNon-denominational
Established1943
FounderK. A. Wyndham
StatusWadham was bought by Meriden School. The school is now closed and the building has been demolished.
Closed1957

Wadham Preparatory School[1] was an independent day, co-educational, preparatory school founded on Christian principles. The school was located at 9–11 Wallis Avenue Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia.

History

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Wadham Preparatory School in Wallis Avenue Strathfield
Prep school students in uniform in front of Wadham

The school was established in 1943 by K. A. Wyndham.[2] In February 1942, Wyndham and her stepmother purchased a house known as Telerah from the Protestant Alliance Friendly Society for £1750. The house had previously been owned by George Christie. Christie was an accountant who had served as an Alderman on Municipality of Strathfield from 1892 until 1898.[3] Upon her purchase of the property Wyndham changed the name to Wadham and opened a school. The school catered to children from pre-Kindergarten (known as nursery) to Year Six.[4] Having been an early 20th Century domestic building the house was then adapted to school use. It had been built in the Federation style and was single storied face brick with a distinctive diamond pattern asbestos tile roof, a wrap-around verandah on three sides and a central hall. Miss Wyndham was strong on teaching cultural activities outside the curriculum. The school staff included Miss Joyce Foreman and Miss Heather Gell.[5] Under the direction of Gell and with Charles Mackerras conducting the children performed in pantomimes at the Theatre Royal each Christmas including the Pied Piper of Hamelin in which Leonard Teale played the Pied Piper.[6] In 1957, Wadham was purchased by Meriden, a neighbouring Anglican school, and was used as a sub-primary campus principally for girls, but also for nursery and kindergarten boys. In 1967 Meriden closed the Wadham campus having purchased land for its entire junior school in Redmyre Road, Strathfield.[7] After its closure, the building was demolished and two large 1970s style face-brick houses now stand in its place at 9 and 11 Wallis Avenue Strathfield.

Motto

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The Latin motto of the school was “Nulla Dies Sine Linea” which translated into English meant “Never a day without a line”. It was first attributed to the Roman poet Horace but was later attributed to Roman author Pliny the Elder. The expression Nulla Dies Sine Linea is a reminder to young students to engage their creative minds every day.[8]

Kathleen Wyndham

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Kathleen Wyndham and Bill McMahon MHR in the garden of Wadham on Empire Day in the 1950s.

Kathleen Aimee Wyndham was born in Forbes, New South Wales, in 1905[9] and was the middle of three children of Agnes Euphemia (née Finigan) and Stanley Charles Wyndham.[10] She was a great-granddaughter of Wadham Wyndham and her grandfather, Alexander Wyndham (died 1915), had arrived in Australia in the 1850s. Her father was a grocer and furniture dealer in Forbes and after his wife died in 1908, he moved to Glebe with his children who were looked after by their aunt, Rachel Kate Finigan.[11] Rae Finigan, who had been a nurse, married Stanley Wyndham in 1911[12] and in 1912 the Wyndham family moved to 154 Albert, Strathfield.[13] Kathleen Wyndham commenced studying at Methodist Ladies College in Burwood, in 1921 at the age of 15.[14] She completed the Leaving Certificate in 1923. In her youth she was a competitive grade tennis player.[15] After studying under Baddie Dumolo at the Sydney Kindergarten Training College in Henrietta Street, Waverley, Wyndham graduated in 1925.[16] She became the director of the kindergarten and primary department at the Methodist Ladies College. In 1935 she undertook a seven months' tour of England, Scotland and the Continent to study the latest methods practised in early childhood education.[17] In the early 1940s Wyndham established Wadham Preparatory School in the new Wyndham family home at Wallis Avenue, Strathfield. In 1954, Rachel Kate Wyndham died at home at Wadham.[18] On 7 January 1956, aged 52, Wyndham married Harold Wenham Robinson CBE in the chapel of Wesley College, University of Sydney.[19] That year she sold Wadham to Meriden. Wyndham died aged 83 in 1988.[20]

Wyndham's elder brother was Sir Harold Wyndham CBE[21][22] who was Director-General of Education in New South Wales between 1952 and 1968. He chaired the committee whose report (referred to as "The Wyndham Report") led to the Education Act of 1961 which completely re-organised secondary education in the State.[23] Her younger brother, Norman Wyndham OBE,[24] became a surgeon, a FRCS and a major in the Australian Army in World War II. From her father's second marriage she also had a half-brother, Robert.[25]

Past students

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Past staff

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wadham Preparatory School. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  2. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 April 1947. p. 26. Retrieved 18 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ Strathfield Heritage — Wadham Preparatory School, Strathfield. Retrieved 12 March 2019
  4. ^ "NORTH EAST CORNER". The Northern Star. New South Wales, Australia. 22 May 1954. p. 4. Retrieved 1 August 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ ADB Heather Gell Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  6. ^ "arts Peter Morrison joins Theatre Critics' Circle". The Australian Jewish News. Vol. 98, no. 21. New South Wales, Australia. 26 February 1993. p. 6 (Life/Style). Retrieved 1 December 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Heritage Impact Statement. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  8. ^ Nulla Dies Sine Linea Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  9. ^ NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  10. ^ NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  11. ^ Stanley Charles Wyndham. Retrieved 31 August 2017
  12. ^ NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  13. ^ "PARCELS FOR PRISONERS OF WAR". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. VI, no. 88. New South Wales, Australia. 3 July 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 14 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. ^ "Methodist Ladies' College, Burwood". The Methodist. Vol. 45, no. 18. New South Wales. 2 May 1936. p. 4. Retrieved 31 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "LAWN TENNIS. Women's Grade Games". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 March 1931. p. 16. Retrieved 18 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "GIRL GRADUATES". The Sun. No. 4710. Sydney. 9 December 1925. p. 13 (FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 30 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "SOCIAL AND PERSONAL". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 December 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 18 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "WAR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL". The Methodist. Vol. 63, no. 1. New South Wales, Australia. 2 January 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ Sun-Herald They were married. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  20. ^ My Heritage. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  21. ^ It's an Honour. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  22. ^ It's an Honour. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  23. ^ University of Sydney – Harold Wyndham
  24. ^ It's an Honour. Retrieved 18 August 2012
  25. ^ "Family Notices". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 December 1953. p. 12. Retrieved 18 August 2012 – via National Library of Australia.

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