The next day, the task of packing up began and the move to the new senior campus of Dubbo College was put in train. Students began lessons this week.

Tomorrow, hundreds of ex-students will come to say goodbye to the old school on Wingewarra Street which has been part of the life of this community for 84 years.

The original Dubbo High School building - the long, single-storey building which faces Wingewarra Street - is only slightly altered since it was erected in 1917.

Australia was still reeling from the devastation of World War 1, but Dubbo Council and citizens believed in the importance of secondary education for the growing town; two acres of land was acquired on the corner of Victoria Park.

The Minister for Education, the Honorable ADF James performed the official opening on July 8, 1917 - there were eight graduate teachers, 37 boys and 23 girls.

The black and red colours and the Latin motto Esse Quam Videri (‘to be, rather than to seem to be’) date from this beginning.

The following year the school magazine, The Bindyite, was published for the first time. Its unbroken publication across 84 years provides a valuable insight into the history of the school.

It records the impact of major world events - including World War II and the Great Depression - as well as the minutiae of school life and people. It tells us, for example, that during the great influenza epidemic which raged around the world in 1919, the school closed for a time and teachers helped at the hospital.

A makeshift extension of the hospital was established in the old grandstand at the Dubbo Showground.

In 1923 the famous Astley Cup was introduced for inter-school contest between Dubbo, Bathurst and Orange which had been held informally since 1918.

Donated by Mr Laurie Astley, it is perhaps the single most enduring and unifying tradition of the school - it is the oldest inter-school competition in NSW. The Mulvey Cup for debating, donated by Dr Mulvey of Bathurst, has been part of the contest since 1939.

The Great Depression of the early 1930s affected the school as it did the whole community.

The Astley Cup was abandoned in 1931 because of the expense - when it resumed there were still difficulties for many years.

Students from the 30s tell of how the whole school pitched in and lent clothes to contestants so that they could all compete in uniform.

At the same time the Astley Cup dance in the 30s was a ball at the Royal Theatre and was attended by students and ex-students, who described it as the “social event of the year”.

The cup was abandoned again in 1940 at the height of World War II but resumed again the following year out of a need to cling to stable things and traditions at such a time. Equipment was in short supply and sportsmistress Ainslie Small recalled that hockey sticks were sourced as far away as Bourke and everything was mended as long as it would hold together.

Ex-student Janet Arthur (nee Carroll) recalled in 1992 that she had taken her butter ration with her to Bathurst in a screw-top jar.

Mrs Small (nee Lennard) who taught at Dubbo High from 1932-1964, also told the story of an ex-student who had been a prisoner of war arriving home at the time of the Astley Cup and turning up at the dance that night, just to feel the comfort of knowing that the old school went on in the familiar way.

Ainslie Small was one of a triumvirate of teachers (the other two being Harry Treverrow and Bill “Chuck” Hardy) who taught for more than 30 years at DHS when it was the only full high school in the west and students came from as far afield as south-west Queensland and the Northern Territory to receive their secondary education.

The boys’ and girls’ hostels run by the Church of England were home to hundreds of these students who have a particular attachment to their school days because of their isolation from home. Until the 1970s, neither De La Salle College nor St Patrick’s Convent (later combined to form St Johns College) offered the final two years of secondary schooling so Dubbo High School was the preferred option for many of these students as well.

Not many schools can boast a winner of the Victoria Cross. Generations of Dubbo High School students have learned the heroic story of Rawden Middleton VC, one of the 449 ex-students listed on the school’s roll of honour for World War II and one of 13 to be decorated. These honour rolls are an important part of Dubbo’s history and will be hung in the library foyer at the new campus.

The 1950s were happier and more prosperous times.

The Queen came to Dubbo in 1954 and a tree was planted in the school grounds to commemorate her visit.

Always known as “the Queens’ tree”, it blew down in a storm a few years ago and the enterprising principal (Jim Carey) had some wooden memorabilia made from the remains).

In the 50s there were additions to the school as the school population grew - the Bultje and Arthur street buildings date from this time as do extensions to the assembly hall and the Gipps Street building and, in 1959, the Monier Building.

By 1962 the school population had grown to 1100 and there were classes being held at Dubbo Public School and in the hall.

The Minister for Education announced a second high school, but it was two years before the first students occupied the new Dubbo South High buildings in Fitzroy Street and by then Dubbo High was bursting at the seams. As the city grew in the 70s so education changed - St Johns added years 11 and 12 and the Dubbo Christian School was also established. Dubbo was no longer a “one-school” town which commanded widespread loyalty in the community - there were now five schools competing for attention.

The creation of Dubbo College once again unites the state schools under one umbrella and will combine many of the traditions of all three schools.

A plaque will be unveiled by Mrs Doris Gibbs who was there as a student on that day in 1917 when the school was officially opened.

The 50th Jubilee (1967) and the 75th Birthday (1992) were great opportunities for students to come together to talk about old times.

The annual Bindyi Club lunch, held since 1986 is another. Although ex-students groups will continue to meet, this long weekend will be the last time that students can wander through the old buildings.

The school will be open from 10am till 4pm on Saturday and all are welcome. In a neat full-circle, a plaque will be unveiled by Mrs Doris Gibbs who was there as a student on that day in 1917 when the school was officially opened.