School and education history in Victoria

Research Victoria's primary and secondary schools, text books and readers, past exams and results, curricula

Finding images

Search the Library's images collection on our catalogue to find digitised images of schools and students in Victoria.

Suggested search terms include school, classroom, students, pupils, school teachers, school children, or the name of a particular school.

Also try searching the catalogue for written histories about schools and education in Victoria, or the name of a particular school.

The Histories, Magazines & year books, and Buildings tabs in this guide are also useful to consult.

Newspapers are a huge source of pictures. The research guides How to find newspapers and How to find items in newspapers cover just about everything you need to know about finding what you need in newspapers

Consult our Picture research guide for further tips and advice.

St. Thomas Grammar School [ca. 1910] H2004.61/208

State school fete, maypole dancing at Exhibition Building, H27418

Children in a primary school classroom, circa 1930-1969, H2013.30/14

Teesdale Primary School circa 1900, H2013.248/11

Children of Harkaway State School dressed in fancy dress costumes circa 1890-1900, H2012.171/443

Public Record's Office Victoria, including their School Photographs 1890-1993, which allows you to search for school and other education buildings
Local libraries
Local historical and genealogical societies
Search Victorian Collections at Museums Victoria which has a range of images including school photos, trophies and certificates.
The National Library of Australia Trove database, which shows images held by other organisations, eg: Photograps (sic) of state schools of Victoria designed by H. R. Baston, architect in the Education Department, held by the State Library of NSW

If you see a building you recognise contact us via the Ask a Librarian service.

Unidentified state school, H4488

Unidentified school building and playground; H2009.166/4