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School History

On Monday January 29, 1973, Duffy Primary School opened for the first time.

At that time, Canberra had a population of just 171,690 people. The new districts of Belconnen and Woden already were growing but the establishment of Tuggeranong and Gungahlin was some years away.  The suburb of Duffy, part of the rapidly developing Weston Creek district of the ACT, had already been established in 1970. And, by 1973, Duffy had hundreds of young families, many with school-age children who were keen to attend their new local primary school.

At that time, schools in the ACT were still operated by the NSW Government but the newly elected Whitlam Labor Government was about to announce the establishment of an independent ACT Schools Authority with responsibility for its own staffing and curriculum.

In Canberra, in early 1973, a copy of The Canberra Times cost just 7c.  At the supermarket, a loaf of sliced white bread cost 20c while a litre of milk cost 25c. Olympic swimmer Shane Gould had just been made ABC sports star of the year and the voting age for Australian citizens was about to be reduced from 21 to 18 years.  The average Australian family income was $12,900 per annum and the average house cost just $32,500.

When Duffy Primary School opened in 1973 there were 433 students enrolled.  By 1978, this number had risen to 572.  By 1993 the number had reduced to 274 and fell further to 180 in 2003. From this period Duffy Primary School has steadily increased its enrolments back to the similar numbers to its first few years. Today there are 433 students enrolled at the school.

Where students at Duffy Primary today learn using a variety of technologies – including chrome books and interactive whiteboards – back in 1973, teaching was much the same as it had been for decades before, with rows of desks, teachers with blackboards and chalk, students with exercise books and pens.  Yet, from those early days, students at Duffy Primary were encouraged to take a strong interest in the natural beauty of their region and each classroom in the school was named after a major waterway or dam in the ACT: Burrinjuck, Corin, Cotter, Scrivener, Bendora, Googong, Murrumbidgee and Griffin.

From its earliest years, Duffy Primary has offered students a wide range of activities in addition to their school subjects. For example, there has been annual drama productions and concerts, school camps, a band, a choir, chess club and book club as well as regular school sports including swimming and athletics carnivals and more recently our very own Pump Track was built on the school grounds.

And, right from the start, Duffy Primary has always had a strong and supportive sense of community including a Student Representative Council and a Parents & Citizens Association.  A news item from The Canberra Times of 23 July 1978 reported that the school had invited parents from differing cultural backgrounds to come to the school and share their experiences.  These were enthusiastically received by students and teachers alike.

This sense of community was most strongly demonstrated during the horrific Canberra bushfires of January 2003 when the beautiful Stromlo Forest nearby became a focus of devastation.  Although our school buildings did not suffer fire damage, a number of families from the school lost their homes.  The school community rallied behind these families in offering various means of support.

In 2023, as Duffy Primary School celebrates 50 years of learning and teaching, we continue to work very closely with parents and our local community to ensure that students gain the support and encouragement they need to become worthy citizens.

Now, at Duffy Primary, we now have facilities for students such as:

We remain the caring community school that we have been for the past 50 years, dedicated to bringing out the best in each of our students. At Duffy Primary, we believe that anyone can learn, and we actively encourage students to achieve in a variety of spheres - intellectual, physical and emotional.

Throughout 2023 in addition to Duffy Primary School’s 50th anniversary, ACT School system are also celebrating 50 years of public education in the ACT. This milestone recognises the 50 year anniversary of the day the Interim ACT Schools Authority officially took over the administration role from the Commonwealth for all ACT Government schools.