The idea of a public school for Woronora was first raised in 1938. At that time, 27 children, 18 of them infants, walked through the bush along Price's Track, two miles or more to Sutherland School each day. The footbridge across the river was built in 1939/40 and in 1941 an area of 2 & 3/4 acres adjoining Prices Avenue was gazetted for a school.
A portable classroom was placed on the site in 1942 and the school opened in May 1942 with 27 children and 1 teacher, Miss Hamblen. At this time there was no electricity or phone at the school and the toilets were pan toilets set on a clay-filled site on the hillside.
In 1948 Woronora became a full Primary School. An additional classroom was added in 1949 and in 1950 the enrolment was 120 students and 3 teachers.
Many of the pupils came from up the river and a regular school boat service was started in the 1950s.
In 1951 a reserve of 2 acres was added to the school.
In 1953 the number of classrooms was increased to 4 and an office block and a weathershed was added.
Bushfire threatened the school in 1954 & 1968. On both occasions pupils were evacuated across the bridge to the park.
Work on the brick building commenced in 1970 and was finished in 1973. When Prices Circuit was being connected to the sewer line, soil removed from the excavation for sewerage was placed on the very uneven bottom playground, bulldozed to create a level surface and then covered with turf to create a much improved grassy playground.
Sources:
Recollections of Jim Wood, A Woronora Boy, Sutherland Shire Historical Society Bulletin, No. 202, February 2017.
Patricia Ridgway, Woronora River Public School Golden Jubilee Commemorative Booklet, 1992.