Due to suburban development during the interwar period and after World War II, extensions were made and buildings added to the site to serve the school's growing pupil numbers.

The school has been in continuous operation since establishment and has been a focus for the local community as a place for important social and cultural activities.

This further standardised the provision of education, and despite difficulties, achieved the remarkable feat of bringing basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.

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

From the 1860s until the 1960s, Queensland school buildings were predominantly timber-framed, an easy and cost-effective approach that also enabled the government to provide facilities in remote areas.

Standard designs were continually refined in response to changing needs and educational philosophy and Queensland school buildings were particularly innovative in climate control, lighting and ventilation.

[14][15][16][17][18][1] Attention to improving light and ventilation to achieve an optimum classroom culminated in 1920 with the Sectional School (type DT/1), a high-set timber structure.

This type was practical, economical, satisfied educational requirements and climatic needs and allowed for the orderly expansion of schools over time.

[21][22][23][24][1] Before any action was taken, disaster struck in January 1924 when a severe storm blew the school building off its brick piers and almost split it in half.

[31][32][33][34][35][36][1] The most westerly wing (current Block D) was added in 1933 at a cost of £1781 10s 8p, and opened on 1 July 1933 by Frank Cooper, the Minister for Public Instruction.

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.

Subsequently, the committee held a balloon carnival in October 1930 to raise funds to improve and beautify the school grounds.

[44][45][46][47][48][28][49][50][51][52][1] After World War II, the Department of Public Instruction was largely unprepared for the enormous demand for state education that began in the late 1940s and continued well into the 1960s.

The eastern teachers room of Block B was rebuilt to the original dimensions with new hopper windows to the east and a double-hung sash to the west.

[60][61][58][1] As at 2015, the school grounds retain three distinct forestry plots to the north and east of the tennis courts and along the northern edge of the sports oval.

Forestry plots were the product of after-school agricultural clubs, introduced in 1923 at primary schools, under the "home project" scheme.

School forestry plots were seen by the government as a way of educating the next generation about the economic and environmental importance of trees, as well as providing testing grounds for new species.

A forestry plot at Virginia State School was established by 1952, at which time it included pine and cypress trees planted.

It retains the Department of Public Works sectional school building set in landscaped grounds with tennis courts, sports oval, mature shade trees and forestry plots.

[1] The sectional school building is set well back from Jefferis street and is orientated on a southeast–northwest axis - perpendicular to Sandgate Road.

The understorey is partially enclosed with a variety of brick, flat-sheet and weatherboard-clad partitions that form toilet blocks, a tuckshop, storage areas and additional classrooms – none of which are of cultural heritage significance.

The southeastern end-wall features a bank of high-level, centre-pivoting windows that are sheltered by a wide, corrugated metal-clad hood with decorative timber brackets.

Two original partitions at the eastern end of the wing have been removed, although their locations are identifiable through protruding marks in the flat, suspended ceiling lining.

Its southeastern gable-end features a bank of high-level, centre-pivoting windows; sheltered by a wide, corrugated metal-clad hood with decorative timber brackets.

[1] The verandah retains an early hatroom enclosure at the southeastern end, with exposed timber framing and metal hooks.

In each of these locations, slash pine trees are planted in uniform rows; those east of the tennis court are bounded by timber log seating.

A large fig tree on the Jefferis Street boundary, east of the tennis court, is encircled by timber seating.

[1] The sectional school building (1920–33) designed by the Department of Public Works is very intact and is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of this type and its evolutions.

Characteristics include its highset form with play space beneath, gable and Dutch-gable roofs, blank end walls, northern verandahs, large banks of south-facing windows, projecting teachers rooms, hat-room enclosures, single-skin verandah walls, early joinery, coved ceilings and early internal linings.

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.