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Nudgee State School appears to have arisen out of a community's need. That need was not only to provide an education for the growing numbers of children of the area, but to reduce the 'wasted' time these children spent trekking miles to the German Station School at Nundah. Their 'help' was essential on the family farms and dairies that were the livelihood of the area's population of the 1800s.
Therefore, following written representation to the Board of Education by several families from the area, on the 6th April 1874, a provisional school was opened. This original school was located on 2 acres of land sectioned off from (I. Stuckey/ G. Harris) land on Nudgee Rd (presently next to Steelmark-Eagle and Globe, who have purchased it for their future expansion).
The first head teacher was Arthur Hancock. James Atthow, a pupil teacher from the German Station School (Nundah) soon became a pupil teacher. Some 39 years later, Mr. Atthow returned as head teacher and upon his death in 1918, was followed by his daughter, Gladys, who became Nudgee's first and only female head teacher (to date).
From its meagre beginnings as a slab hut with shingle roof and boarded floors (described by a school inspector as "rough, but tolerably serviceable"), a vested (state) school was established on the Nudgee Road site on the 28th June 1875. It consisted of a school room with 8 foot verandahs and a separate 2 room weatherboard dwelling for the head teacher.
However by 1922, again the school was to face a big change. A deputation to the Minister suggested the school would benefit from a more central location and so, after lengthy negotiations, Dr Sir James Duhig, Archbishop of Brisbane, generously agreed to sell to the department, 3 acres of land from the then "Beehive Estate" (today's Seminary site). Funds would not be available to commence the new school until 1928. But finally, in June of that year, the new Nudgee State School in Earnshaw Road was completed. It consisted of three classrooms each 21 ft. by 18 ft. with verandahs on north and east sides plus a teachers' room 15 ft. by 12 ft. The estimated cost was £1,700.
The school has had many additions and changes to the original building and grounds over the years. One addition was a Pre-School building on the Approach Road frontage.
Since its 125th celebrations in 1999, it is evident that Nudgee State School has a continuing bond with its past and present pupils whose links with yesteryear are a foundation of the heritage of this area.
In 2000, a joint school working party considered a proposal by the Minister for Education, Mr Dean Wells MLA to amalgamate Nudgee State School and the nearby Banyo High School to create a 'P-12' (preschool to year 12) school. A public meeting was held on 14th September where Mr Neil Roberts MLA (Nudgee), High School Principal Mr Ian Crabb and Mr Tom Mould (District Director Education Department) supported the proposal and answered questions from the school communities. The proposal was overwhelmingly endorsed.
It's expected that the Nudgee State School (either wholly or partly) will be sold and redeveloped to assist funding of new modern school buildings on the high school site.
The new 'P-12' school will begin a new alliance with the Australian Catholic University, which will be moving to the adjacent Seminary site on Approach Road in 2003.
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