Grade 2 of Pakenham Consolidated School in 1953 with their teacher Mrs Joyce Hosking. Back row L to R: Paul Manestar or Bill Vallender, Bernie Carter, (?), Norman Whitelaw, Richard Shelton, Rodney Shallard, Ian Reid (Reidy?) or Duncan Beard (Reidy), Ken Jarred, Glen Jolly. 2nd back row L to R: Keith Crofts, Peter Johnstone, Kevin Lewis, Robert Tulloch (Bones), Nipper Reid, Duncan Beard(?), Bruce Weatherhead, Peter Hobson (Hobbo). 2nd row from front L to R: David Langley, Kath Mauger, Jill Peck, Rosamund Hunt, Beth Schilling, Roslyn Smith, Lynne Tuena, Pat Stone, Joy Higgins, Lynette Wheeler, Grif Fearon or Kevin McInnis. Front row L to R: Ken McCaffrey, Marion Butcher, Helen Stephens, Mary Lou Walsh, Glenis Tuena, Dawn Hillderbrick/ Hillbrick(?), Marion Hansford, Kaye Wollard, Beverley Payne (Payney), Edna Sinclair(?), Paul Braemar. In the 1940s and 1950s there was a movement to consolidate small rural schools into one larger school. This was partly a response to a shortage of teachers, due to many male teachers enlisting during the Second World War. The War also caused a shortage of materials and labour and many Schools fell into disrepair. The Education Department decided that Pakenham would be one of the first six Consolidated Schools to be established and that all schools within 8 kms or 5 miles would be closed. The Pakenham Consolidated School was officially opened on May 29, 1951, on the site of the Pakenham State School, No.1359, in Main Street. The original Pakenham School had opened on a site near the Toomuc Creek in January 1875 and it moved to the Main Street site in 1891. The first Head Master was Charles Hicks. The School offered classes up to Year 10 (Form 4). The schools that formed the Consolidated School were Pakenham Upper No. 2155 (closed January 1952), Pakenham South No. 3755 (closed September 1951), Toomuc Valley No. 3034 (closed September 1951), Army Road No. 3847 (closed April 1947), Mount Burnett No. 4506 (closed October 1949), Tynong No. 2854 (closed April 1951), Tynong North No.4464 (closed December 1951), Nar Nar Goon North No. 2914 (closed October 1951), Nar Nar Goon South No. 4554 (closed May 1951), Rythdale No. 4231 (closed September 1951), Officedale No. 4242 (closed May 1951), Cora Lynn No. 3502 (closed May 1951) and Koo-Wee-Rup North (Five Mile) No. 3198 (closed November 1959). The School consisted of new buildings, which at the time cost one hundred thousand pounds, and many of the old School buildings. Some towns did not realise that their School buildings would be removed from the sites and transferred to Pakenham. The Pakenham Consolidated School moved from its original location in Main Street to its current location in Rundell, Way in 1997.This photograph is of historic and social significance. Pakenham Consolidated School was one of the first six Consolidated Schools established by the Education Department, and was born out of shortages of teachers, labour, and materials during World War II. The school can be used more broadly to reflect on the evolution of education in the state of Victoria, as the school can trace its origins all the way back to 1875, when the original Pakenham School was opened near Toomuc Creek. The photograph is also of social significance to many community groups, including Cardinia Shire, past and current students and teachers, allowing various groups to reflect on and share intangible memories of times spent at Pakenham Consolidated School.Copy of a rectangular black and white photograph on matte photographic paperpakenham consolidated school, primary school, class photo, grade two, grade 2, pakenham, school, photo