In September 1889, Acting Head Teacher Rowe was provided with a handful of licensed teachers and pupil teachers to cope with the anticipated 300 enrolments at Princes Hill. In February 1890, Acting Head Teacher Moore’s request for another pupil teacher was refused: the school would not get extra staff, he was informed, until the student body numbered 300.1 The Department ignored the fact that enrolments at Princes Hill already exceeded that level. Russell, Robinson, Skewes, Sebire, Mylrea, Bryant, Hart and the Head Teachers who followed were all bedevilled by the responsibility of maintaining adequate staff levels: too few teachers were allocated by the Department, there was daily absenteeism, replacements were often inadequate or inexperienced. Too often, there were mass departures of both qualified teachers and trainees.2 The problem of staff turnover was exacerbated by the Education Department’s insistence that female teachers resign when they married. As a result, many experienced and able teachers were lost to the service just as they were coming into their prime.
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