50 Year Golden Jubilee

In 2026 we are celebrating 50 Golden Years of Jackson School!

A History of St Albans Special School / Jackson School 1976-2026

 

1976-1989 – St Albans Special School

St Albans Special School was opened in 1976 by Assistant Minister for Education Brian Dixon. St Albans Special School was one of four Special Schools opened that year only preceded by five other special schools. Des English was in inaugural Principal of St Albans Special School. At that time, the school consisted of two teaching blocks containing 12 classrooms and an administration block surrounding an open courtyard. The school had a potential enrolment of 144 students with a mild to moderate intellectual disability. The school originally catered for students aged 5 to 16, with classrooms arranged for juniors, middles and seniors. The school had a total of 21 staff and one aide for the entire school including the Deaf Unit staff.

St Albans Deaf Unit was also housed in the school initially occupying two classrooms and an Auditory Training room growing to four classrooms between 1976 – 1985. St Albans Deaf Unit was the result of intense lobbying by the late Val Davies for a school for Deaf children in the Western suburbs. St Albans Deaf Unit was, in fact, the first of its kind in Victoria. St Albans Deaf Unit began with 8 students aged 3 to 6. Principal Ron Bryant undertook the Principalship in 1977.

In 1980, two portables were placed on the school campus to cater for the increasing number of deaf enrolments and the need for extra classrooms for the Special School. The “Deaf Unit” became St Albans School for the Deaf with Peter Freyer appointed Principal. Increasing enrolments in both the Deaf School and Special School required the addition of another Mod 5 building in 1981, which was shared between both schools. The partnership with St Albans School for the Deaf ended in 1985 when Furlong Park School for the Deaf opened in June 1986 by the Hon. Ian Cathie, Minister for Education.

St Albans Special School was renamed in 1989 to Jackson School to honour the work of Russel Jackson. A neighbour of the school, Russ became involved with the school doing odd jobs around the school, setting up the catering area, flat and the off-site nursery program. Russ went on to become School Council President and continued to be involved with the school and the school council until he retired in 2012 aged 97. Russ was a valued member of the St Albans Special/Jackson School community for over 30 until his death in 2013 aged 98.

 

1990-2012 – Jackson School

The catering and nursery programs were introduced to provide ongoing work experience for older students and assist in their transition to TAFE. The nursery, Blooming Sunshine, was run together with the MS centre. The Flat was set up including a kitchen to develop catering and independent living skills.

The Futures Program, which began in 1996, had a significant impact on the school as older students were provided with post-school options and the leaving aged was capped at 18. The Jackson School “Young Adults” program for students in their final years of schooling was set up by Principal John Healey to provide a stimulating program for our older students and create a pathway for a smooth transition to post-school options.

With enrolments growing, Principal Nella Stephenson re-imagined the support offered to our students with the introduction of at least one Education Support (ES) staff member in every classroom. The school site began to change with the extension to the front entrance and office and the installation of the synthetic sports field with oval, running track and basketball courts. The construction of the school hall and the significant improvements to existing buildings through the BER program created opportunities to expand the variety of programs the school was able to provide and greatly increase the educational opportunities for all students.

 

2012-2026 – Jackson School

Principal Bev Fegan started at Jackson School in 2012 redeveloping the courtyard and commenced the renovations of our 1976 original classrooms. Bev began the work on redeveloping the whole school focus on curriculum. In 2013, the structure of the school changed with the introduction of VCAL (Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning now Victorian Pathways Certificate). This enabled Year 11 and 12 students with work with many external partners to access many different VET courses and School Based Apprentices and Training (SBAT). The school celebrated their first offsite Year 12 Graduation ceremony in 2014. This has enabled our learners to become contributing members of the wider community. Bev also invested heavily in digital technologies to support our students to enter our ever-changing world.

Principal Joan O’Connor-Cox began her Principalship in 2015 and established our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) to enable Jackson to become a Collaborative Learning Community for all. Joan worked to ensure that our families were connected to our community through a range of community events, including: Concert in the Courtyard and Values Week (including Russ Jackson Day). As part of the Inclusive Schools Fund, the Department invested $200,000 for two new play spaces which was officially opened by the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, the Hon. James Merlino on 14th March 2017. The demolition of the bus bay saw the start of the school-wide modernisations.

In 2015, the school partnered with the University of Melbourne Network of School (UMNoS) which brought about the establishment of the Jackson Teaching and Learning Model and Framework paved the way for a consistent approach to evidence-informed teaching and learning based upon the Victorian Curriculum.

In 2020 Jackson School received $10 million from the Victorian Government. In addition to the $10 million received, School Council have also invested an additional $2.4 million. Principal Anthony Jackson worked with the VSBA to deliver these $12.4 million state-of-the-art facilities for our students for years to come. On 9th February 2024, the Hon. Natalie Suleyman, the MP for St Albans, officially opened the new buildings. These included: 12 new Classrooms including a STEM Lab, an Allied Health Centre and Art Therapy space, a new Prep-Year 2 Playground, a new Library and Community Hub, a new Performing Arts Centre with Radio and Film Studios, a new Café with Hospitality Kitchen, a new Staffroom with dedicated PLT space and new staff toilets, resource room and basketball canopy.

The Travel Education program was further expanded in 2025 with the addition of our Jackson Transport Hub with a mock train station, pedestrian crossing and bus/tram interchange. This program will continue to support Jackson students to safety access public transport for further education, training and employment.

Over 2025 and 2026 we see a further $2.8 million investment, including: full renovations of the permanent classrooms; a new junior playground on the original site of the first playground; a senior ninja course, two independent theatres in the hall with retractable, tiered seating and LED screens.

 

50 Year Birthday Party – Monday 16th March 2026 11:30am