November 2009 Vol. 1, Issue 10 (PDF - 16.2Mb) - Department of ...

By the blazing Somers firelight
Honorary historian Eugene Zolnierczyk takes a creative look at the history of Victoria’s much-loved
Somers School Camp, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this December.
I’m smugly reclining on my cloud, sipping a sherbet and looking down
on Earth at my finest creation. Without a GPS or Google Earth I
gaze with swelled pride at the way the Children’s School Health and
Recreation Camp, now called Somers School Camp, has developed
since its inception.
This school is my finest achievement and the Victorian Education
Department’s most outstanding educational facility for children
throughout Victoria. With me are three camp directors who helped
shape the school: Wally Bell, Jack Carroll and Bob Edmends. In 50
years there have only been two others, Brendan Davern (retired) and
the current school principal, Denise Anthony. But I’m getting ahead of
myself. So relax, get comfortably seated and I’ll tell you my story.
My name is Oliver Charles Phillips (1894–1972). I was the Chief
Inspector of Primary Schools and Chairman of the Somers School
Camp Committee. In September 1959 my dream of a camp for
Victorian school children at Somers was realised and September 2009
sees Somers School Camp celebrate its 50th birthday.
Originally established in 1940 to house the RAAF’s No. 1 Initial
Training school for pilots and crews under the Empire Training
Scheme, what was then known as Lord Somers Camp was set amongst
140 buildings. This was one of the first RAAF training schools in
Australia and approximately 15,000 RAAF and WAAAF personnel
trained there over a 50-year period. After World War 2, the facility
was transferred to the Immigration Department and became a migrant
holding camp for European persons displaced as a result of the war. In
1959 it became Victorian Education Department property.
I was President of the Somers Camp committee and after much
debate, camping programs began at Somers in September 1959 and the
children’s school camp was officially opened on the 27 November 1959,
by the Victorian Governor Sir Dallas Brooks.
The camp was set on 27 acres and consisted of 30 army barracks. The
first camp of 100 boys and five visiting teachers was from the St Kilda
Inspectorate. The normal school academic curriculum was modified
with emphasis placed on outdoor activities, nature study, physical
education, rope courses, art, home-crafts and boating. Camp rules and
procedures helped develop a sense of community responsibility.These
10-day camps cost four pound six shillings or $8.60 in today’s terms. I
see that today the camp runs for nine days and costs $140 – still terrific
value, considering that it includes transport from anywhere in Victoria,
accommodation, activities and meals.
Nowadays, buses transport the children from designated pickup
points to destination and return. This system began in 2002, to ensure
safety and duty of care. Prior to this scheme, many children had to be
transported up to 160 kilometres by car to the railway pickup point,
travel by train to Spencer Street Station then catch another train to
Frankston, and then travel by bus to Somers, and then in reverse for
the return trip home: quite an arduous task for young children. The
children were also responsible for their own luggage for the entire
journey until the school purchased a truck to collect the luggage at
Spencer Street.