About us

• School history
• Grounds and facilities
• Campus schools
• Marion Inland Partnership

School history

Ascot Park Primary School opened on 29 October 1926 after many local families rallied for a school to be built nearby. It began as two classrooms on a muddy floodplain in a semi-rural area. The big gum tree that stands next to the pedestrian crossing on Marion Road was originally part of the school grounds. The first school bell hung from its branches and the school band used to practise in the shade underneath it. By 1944 a library and museum opened at the school. In 1948 asphalt was laid to fix the problem of mud in the grounds, and enrolments grew steadily as the area became more populated with post-war families. More land had to be purchased. Almond trees and grapevines were grown on the school grounds and the fruit was harvested and sold to raise funds.

By 1960 there were over 1300 children enrolled at the school which had a separate Junior Primary section. A swimming pool was built on site in 1967 for a cost of $10,000. In 1972 work began on the existing red brick building we use today. When it was completed in 1974 it was a flagship design for open space classrooms and many educators came from around Australia and the world to see it in action.

The school was amalgamated into the present school in 1984. The big multicultural mural you can see from Marion Road was originally painted in 1986 and has been updated and new flags added since then to reflect our growing and changing multicultural community. In 1989 our school became a ‘Gymnastics Focus School’ with a class of elite gymnasts enrolled from years 2-7.

In 1997 partitions were built to divide the large units into more practical teaching areas. The pool was filled in when the SA School for Vision Impaired (SASVI) and Kilparrin Teaching and Assessment School were built on site in the early 2000s.

Today we are still lucky to have lots of space, a diverse multicultural community, and a continuing link to sports education. We can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next chapter of our history!