In the beginning
The Jagera people are the traditional owners of the lands from Cleveland to near Gatton and Esk (this includes Carole Park). Hunting and gathering was central to the economic life of the Jagera people until the end of the 1870s following European settlement. The clearing of forests by Europeans and the decline of game as a result of this activity brought to an end the hunting and gathering way of life. Records show that many Aboriginal people died from contracting diseases introduced by European settlers and many were moved to mission stations well away from this area.
1970s
Carole Park was named at the beginning of the 1970s. The bushland suburb is situated about 20 kilometres from the centre of Brisbane and 10 kilometres to the east of Ipswich. In the 1970s there was a population boost in Carole Park as many skilled migrants from England, Vietnam, Germany, New Zealand and Poland came to live in the suburb. Many of the streets in Carole Park were named after members of the Mulley family who lived in Carole Park from 1944 to 1969. Yarraga Street comes from the Aboriginal word meaning Place of many winds.
The original Carole Park State School
The original school, opened on 17 September 1948 with 24 pupils, was situated on the corner of Boundary Road and Formation Street. It was a one teacher school. Mr John Hill was the teacher (and Principal). The school was known as Carole Park via Wacol.
In the 1960s the school grew quickly with the increase in migrants coming to live in the Carole Park area. The school was relocated from Boundary Road to its present location on Waterford Road in 1973 following the State Government’s building of a new school to cater for the growing number of students (at that time 470).
Today
Carole Park suburb continues to be a multicultural suburb and sixty percent of students who attend the school come from non-English speaking backgrounds: Africa; Asia; New Zealand; the Pacific Islands; and Europe. Indigenous students, who are Jagera people, attend the school as well as Indigenous students from other families around Queensland and New South Wales.