Brunswick East Primary School has a rich history that extends far beyond its establishment in 1893. For tens of thousands of years, the land we now call Merri-bek was cared for and governed by the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people. At BEPS, we honour this history and recognise our responsibility in the ongoing journey towards reconciliation and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures.
The Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people and the land we now call Merri-bek
The area we know today as Merri-bek was, for tens of thousands of years, a sparsely wooded forest with native grasslands that was governed by the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people. The Merri Creek, also known as the “Merri Merri” Creek, means “very rocky” in Woi wurrung, the traditional language of this Country.
The Moonee Ponds Creek was named after Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Ancestor Moonee Monee. It is older than the Merri Creek, originally cut as deep as 10 metres into the sandstone. This was the original landscape that provided the basis for the cultural, spiritual, economic, and social lives of the Traditional Owners of Country.
Contact between the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung and Europeans occurred in 1835. The colonisation and dispossession that took place had devastating and ongoing consequences for the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people and other Aboriginal Victorians.
In 1863, Ngurungaeta (“Leader”) Wonga and his maternal cousin William Barak led their surviving people across the Black Spur to the Upper Yarra and established Coranderrk Mission Station near Healesville on 2300 acres of land. Access to the land was granted as a lease. Many other Aboriginal Victorians also settled at Coranderrk Station.
Throughout decades of colonisation and dispossession, descendants of the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people have survived. Merri-bek remains part of the unceded territory of the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung people.
Australia is the only country in the Commonwealth that does not currently have a Treaty with its First People. In 2018 the State of Victoria passed legislation to progress a Treaty with Aboriginal Victorians.
The above content was originally published on the Merri-Bek Council website and has been approved by the Wurundjeri Woi wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
History of Brunswick East Primary School
The beautiful old double-brick buildings at Brunswick East Primary School make up the original school, established in 1893 after much lobbying by the local community of the day. Previously, local children had to walk to Moreland to attend school.
At one point it was a Central School catering for students from Prep to Year 8 and for many years was a valued training school for rural teachers. To model what it would be like to teach in a rural school, some of our single classrooms had students from Prep to Grade 6.
A full renovation of the interior of the main building occurred in 2010 with the Australian Government economic stimulus package Building the Education Revolution, a response to the 2007 global financial crisis, and 2018 saw the installation of a double story portable building to cater for a growing student population.
In 2019, the toilets were refurbished in the main building, for both staff and student bathrooms. A feature of this renovation was the creation of safe, clean, well-lit, and inclusive facilities. Similar works for the outdoor toilets were completed in 2022.
Explore the rich history
- The Public Records Office holds some terrific photos of BEPS and its classrooms going back in history (below)
- The Victorian Heritage Database has this historical information about the main building of BEPS.
