Lake Clarendon State School

Lake Clarendon State School is an attractive rural school located immediately south of Lake Clarendon which offers picnic facilities and a playground. The Lake Clarendon area – traditionally the land of the Jagera people – was once part of a large pastoral run and opened to selection around 1870. As the settlement developed, so did the need for a local school. Local fundraising during 1900 raised almost the entire amount needed to build a school. The Minister for Education approved a state school at Lake Clarendon in January 1901. Construction of the new school buildings – a timber school residence and teaching building – were finished by 1 June 1902, and the school opened shortly after. Interestingly, Lake Clarendon’s first telephone was installed at the residence, which served as a post and receiving office from 1903. In 1911, the district’s first public telephone was installed on the veranda of the teaching building. A play shed was added to the school in 1906. In the 1970s, a c1914 open-air school building, now a rare building type, was moved to the school from Glen Cairn, about 11km to the south. Over the years, the school has provided a key social focus for the district.