2 nd Day of Dampier - DPS : The heart of the community.

Without a school at its heart is it this really a town??  Hamersley Iron (HI) thought not, so in 1966 the Company laid the foundations for Dampier Primary School (DPS).  

In February 1967 the doors opened with 45 students and two teachers Mr & Mrs Claessen the commander and chief.  By the end of that first year the numbers had increased to 161 and the Junior block was completed. The Senior block was completed by 1968 and the school thrived with pupil numbers at its all-time high of 567 in 1970. In 1973 DPS hit its first milestone with the first children born here in Dampier to start school – Anthony Barnett, Sandra Rintoul and Wayne Datslic.

It wasn’t until 1974 that HI installed air con!! Another milestone was reached in 1980 when Laima Kasiutatitis, an ex-pupil of DPS, returned to be the Year 1 teacher. Historical years of note include: 1981 when the legendary DPS school fetes began; it wasn’t til 1999 that the first twilight fete was held; the first bush dance was in 2001; and the lowest classroom numbers of 170 pupils in 2008. The school celebrated 50 years in 2017 with massive celebration, a time capsule from 1988 was cracked open and replaced with a new time capsule to be discovered sometime in the future.

This school, at the heart of our community, has nurtured our children past and present for over 50 years. For most of us Dampier residents, the school and its community have played, and are still playing, a huge part in our lives. We are some of the luckiest people around, as school life has not changed too much for our children in these past 50 plus years. Yes, the kids have iPads and online teachers notes, but our kids still walk and cycle to school, run the oval in the cooler months and eat icy poles on Friday afternoons. We still have school fetes and parent helpers, we have twilight sports carnival and bush dances, a strong P&C, Kindy Mums and Year 6 camp fundraisers.

It’s important as we talk about the past to take a moment to recognise and acknowledge the current  people who make this school a safe, happy, positive place.  Our current commander and chief is Luke Breman, who has been the Principal since 2010.  Along with his deputy, Di Hall, and Kirsty Sambo, the Corp. Services Manager, they are making great strides as an Independent Public School which was achieved in 2016.

A school is nothing without the teachers, assistants and all the support services and what a crew we have! We have had some amazing teachers over the years, Mrs. Mitchell and Mrs Saw will never be forgotten, this hasn’t changed as we still have an excellent staff. Mrs Vertigan, Mrs Ford, Ms Woollams and Mrs Engelenberg are the golden girls of DPS, not of course in years but in experience of teaching. They have moulded, nurtured and cared for our kids over the past two decades and to say we’re grateful for their time, dedication and commitment is an understatement.

The young guns Miss Fish, Miss Moyle, Mrs Stewart, Mrs Brooke, Miss Fielder have a lot to live up to gain ‘golden girls’ status, but they are off to an enthusiastic and energetic start. Mr Desouza balances the scales a little, a welcome asset in the classroom, but also in the school yard with his sporting prowess. In addition to the classroom teachers we have to thank the ‘specialists’ Mrs Griffin for PE (everyone’s favourite), Mrs O’Brien our crazy Japanese teacher (a Tsunami in a kimono and a breath of fresh air to us all) and Ms Grochowski for science (a wizz in the Lab).

We want to thank the education assistants, who not only love our children, almost as much as we do, but tolerate their tantrums and pick up the pieces to help them navigate through each day with a smile, a hug and sometimes even a Mentos!! Mrs Van Dongen, Mrs Mitschuinig, Mrs Ashworth, Mrs Hornhardt, Mrs Ashcroft, Mrs Pritchard and Mrs Preece. DPS is lucky enough to have our very own amazing artist disguised as a gardener, Mrs Moy, the artwork and gardens at our school are beautiful and a credit to her hard work. Last but not least, Mrs Lin Hawke continues after years of service to Dampier to support the library.

Currently with over 200 students the heart is beating strongly! Thank you, Odette Mundy and Lin Hawke, for helping in our history gathering.

DPS circa 1970s

First Dampier born kids off to DPS 1973 - Anthony Barnett, Sandra Rintoul and Wayn Datslic. We think !

Luke Breman, Di Hall & Kirsty Sambo 2018

DPS today