Schools became a community focus, a symbol of progress, and a source of pride, with enduring connections formed with past pupils, parents, and teachers.

[1][13][14] The effort to open a school at Rosalie/Milton accelerated when a committee was formed in February 1886 at a meeting of residents of the Rosalie, Oxford, Bayswater, Blackall, Lewison and Holmedale Estates.

A small area of high ground on the west side of Red Jacket Swamp (later Gregory Park), part of an 1884 Water Reserve, was later chosen as the site of the school.

The early and continuing commitment to play-based education, particularly in primary school, resulted in the provision of outdoor play space and sporting facilities, such as ovals and tennis courts.

[56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] The construction of substantial brick school buildings in prosperous or growing suburban areas and regional centres during the 1930s provided tangible proof of the government's commitment to remedy the unemployment situation.

Most were designed in a classical idiom to project the sense of stability and optimism which the government sought to convey through the architecture of its public buildings.

The plan arrangement was similar to that of timber buildings, being only one classroom deep, accessed by a long straight verandah or corridor.

Classrooms were commonly divided by folding timber partitions and the undercroft was used as covered play space, storage, ablutions and other functions.

[1][65] Despite their similarities, each Depression-era brick school building was individually designed by a DPW architect, which resulted in a wide range of styles and ornamental features being utilised within the overall set.

These styles, which were derived from contemporary tastes and fashions, included: Arts and Crafts, typified by half-timbered gable-ends; Spanish Mission, with round-arched openings and decorative parapets; and Neo-classical, with pilasters, columns and large triangular pediments.

[1][66] Plans of the new brick school, dated February 1935, show a long, symmetrical building of three parallel wings, comprising an undercroft with toilets and open play space, and two levels of classrooms, with teachers rooms housed in a projecting entrance bay in the centre of the main façade.

The aesthetic treatment of the building incorporated Spanish Mission-style features, such as decorative parapets and semi-circular arches to the upper floor windows.

[76] Vocational education was a Queensland Government priority to support the development of primary industries; this evolved after World War I into a variety of subjects.

[1][29][80] Air raid shelters were constructed in Gregory Park, for students of Milton State School, during World War II (WWII).

[80] In 1951, 3 roods 10 perches (3,300 m2) of land was removed from Gregory Park and added to the south end of the school (the site of the tennis courts in 2017).

The school grounds contain a number of significant mature trees, and landscaping features including retaining walls and stairs (1935–37), assembly and play areas and sporting facilities.

The building faces southwest and, as the undercroft is below the level of Bayswater Street, it is accessed via a wide walkway and steps to the main entrance in the centre of the first floor facade.

The hipped roof is clad in terracotta tiles, and the raked eaves are lined with timber V-jointed (VJ) tongue and groove (T&G) boards.

The toilets largely retain their original layout; partition walls (some with high openings with wire grille infill panels); and flat-sheeted ceilings with batten cover strips.

Windows in the northeast walls are fanlights alone, protected by skillion-roofed hoods with decorative brackets and clad in corrugated metal sheeting.

The former southwest verandah forms part of the open classroom space, and retains its raked ceiling lined with timber VJ, T&G boards.

[1] Around Block A are a series of concrete retaining walls and stairs (1935–37) constructed to level the ground and create assembly and play spaces.

A high retaining wall along Bayswater Street is topped by a concrete fence with three gateways, including a decorative wrought iron set of gates at the main entrance in front of Block A.

At the southern end, the wall turns at an angle and slopes down adjacent to a concrete ramp, leading to the swimming pool level.

Standing in an open setting, backing onto a park and framed by mature trees, Block A is an attractive and prominent feature of the area.

The place retains an excellent, representative example of a standard government-designed school building that was an architectural response to prevailing government educational philosophies.

These include: a large brick school building, set within a landscaped site with retaining walls, mature shade trees, assembly and play areas, and sporting facilities.

The building has a linear layout, with rooms accessed by corridors, and an undercroft accommodating open play space and toilets.

Through its elegant composition of formal and decorative elements, substantial size and face brick exterior, the Depression-era brick school building at Milton State School has aesthetic significance due to its expressive attributes, by which the Department of Public Works sought to convey the concepts of progress and permanence.

They typically retain significant and enduring connections with former pupils, parents, and teachers; provide a venue for social interaction and volunteer work; and are a source of pride, symbolising local progress and aspirations.