Spring Ridge half time school was located near the Spring Ridge house. Children that attended included members of the Niven, Gurney, Lett and Parkins families.
The HALF TIME SCHOOL was devised in 1867 for areas of scattered population. Attendance of two groups of ten children was required to form a half time school and an itinerant teacher moved between the two. Between 1867 and 1868, these teachers were responsible for up to seven half time schools in country areas of NSW. This proved to be too much of a strain for the teachers, due to the large distances travelled each week. Thus, in 1869, the number of schools a teacher was responsible for dropped to two. Like the provisional school, books and equipment were supplied by the Department of Education, with parents responsible for the rest.
Spring Ridge lost its first teacher, Ellen Kerin, because she was unable to find suitable lodgings nearby. Teachers from other remote schools resigned because of lack of money for teaching or the difficulties of living in rural areas.
Source: NSW Department of Education website and Cobbora Coal Project EA - Appendix Q - Historic heritage assessment, 2012
