In 1925 the Education Department of South Australia added secondary schools to the grounds of nine of Adelaide's largest primary schools: Croydon, Hindmarsh, Goodwood, Lefevre's Peninsula, Nailsworth, Norwood, Port Adelaide, Thebarton, and Unley, this last resulting in the formation of Unley Central Girls School, the first students (around 100) being drawn from Parkside, Highgate, Mitcham, Gilles Street, Flinders Street and various county centres.
Apart from the usual subjects of English, mathematics, geography and so on, students were taught technical skills of dressmaking, millinery, art and craft, housewifery and cooking.
[5] The fine two-storey brick building was located at the corner of Wattle and Rugby streets, Unley, and had separate accommodation for boys (whose technical subjects included wood and metalwork, housed in less imposing tin sheds) and girls.
In her time the headmistress was a Mrs Maschmedt,[b] and many graduates went on to training as nurses at the RAH.
Students included mixed-race Aboriginal girls from Colebrook Home and Tanderra Aboriginal Hostel at Parkside; notably Lois (later Lowitja) O'Donohhue and Doris Kartinyeri,[10] sister of Doreen Kartinyeri.