History of the Colonna School

Colonna School (Black Springs)

Colonna School was situated six miles south of Barraba on the main highway at Black Springs.  The school was a large weatherboard ceiled and lined room with a wide verandah.
Colonna opened as a Provisional School in April, 1886, having been applied for by the local
residents under the name of “Black Springs”.  It became a Public School in October, 1890 and continued to operate as such until May, 1926 when the school was closed.  After the school was closed in 1926, it was removed to the Gulf Creek area about 1930.
Note:  June, 1905 – The school house at Colonna (Black Springs) was burnt to the ground. 
About 1906 a school was removed from “Mulwarrie” property to Colonna and a skillion was built on where some male teachers boarded themselves.  This later became storerooms for the school. 
After that it was operated as a subsidy school for a time by Miss Edith Thomas (Mrs Reg Irwin) and Eileen Elliott (Mrs Roy Reed).
Children attending the school from the families of:

Tufrey, McGregor, Orchard, White, Garske, Thompson, Johnson, Jackson, Carter, Eaton, Gould, Morris, Behan, Gatley, Hayes, Burns, Russell, Akers, Gibson, Berry, Riley.

When the Rockmore School closed in 1902, many of the pupils came on to Colonna by a horse drawn bus run by Mrs Fletcher Snr. 
Many of the pupils served in World War I, some paying the supreme sacrifice.  Mrs McIlrick rode a bike around during WWI and collected donations towards buying the Roll of Honour, Colonna School, Old Boys and Teachers.