Castledare Special School was established in 1929 in Wilson, Perth by the Christian Brothers. Its purpose was to provide a specialised institution for up to 30 boys (including non-Catholics) with cognitive disabilities.
Admissions were low so the special school was closed at the start of 1934. Later in 1934, a mainstream residential Catholic primary school was opened on the site. The school was called various names, including Castledare.
The school opened in March 1929. Admissions were from referrals by the State Psychologist. This function ceased by 1934 and most of the boys resident at the special school were transferred to Clontarf.
Coldrey (The Scheme 1993, p.56) writes that Castledare was a pre-existing building that had been vacant for some time prior to its purchase by the church around 1927. According to Coldrey’s research (p.423), Castledare had been occupied since 1895 as a farming property.
According to Coldrey (pp.56-57), the school began with 10 boys in residence and its first Director, Br Hyland, was a qualified, registered teacher from Britain. Hyland ‘spent several weeks studying and observing the work done’ at the Glenfield Park School in Sydney LINK prior to taking up his role at Castledare.
Annual reports of the Child Welfare Department (CWD) show admissions were always lower than capacity: 19 boys (1929); 20 boys (1930); 13 boys (1931, 1932).
In the CWD annual report in 1934 found that boys who were transferred between Clontarf and Castledare did not have cognitive disabilities, but instead were malnourished or otherwise ill.
The School closed at the beginning of 1934 due to low admissions. Seven boys were transferred to a dedicated section at Clontarf, three were put out to service and three boys remained at Castledare, which became a preparatory school for primary school age boys.
From
1929
To
1934
1929 - 1934
Castledare Special School was located at 100 Fern Road, Queens Park (later known as Wilson), Western Australia (Building Still standing)
Subsequent