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Sybil Vise

BA, DipEd

B 1905 D 2000

At 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s 1919-1923

Sybil Vise obtained a scholarship to attend 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s as a boarder between 1919 and 1923 and was Dux of the School in her final year. After graduating, she spent two years helping on the family farm before securing a position as a teacher at Scottsville Primary School. At the same time, she continued her studies by correspondence and graduated in 1930 with a Bachelor of Arts from Queensland University.

Clearly influenced by her 168¿ª½±¹ÙÍø’s education and the educational vision of the Sisters of the Society of the Sacred Advent, who believed that one of the best gifts that society can give young women for an empowered future is an education, Sybil became a member of the Australian Federation of Graduate Women (Inc.). Now known as Australian Graduate Women Inc., the association is the national voice of graduate women working through initiatives in education for the advancement and wellbeing of women and girls. Sybil was an active member for 60 years.

In 1938, Sybil became one of only two female graduates to be awarded a Diploma of Education.

Her teaching career led her to work at several schools including Stanthorpe and Cairns, and in 1945, she took on a position at Nambour High School where she remained until 1965. She spent a brief period at Southport before taking on a role at Brisbane’s Secondary Correspondence School. She retired in 1971.

Sybil was the daughter of fruit farmer Ambrose Vise, who was also an advocate for the importance of education. In the very early 1900s, Ambrose purchased 54 acres of land in Mons, west of Buderim and led a successful community effort to gain permission to build a country school. His daughter Sybil was the first student enrolled at the school and no doubt was inspired by her father’s unwavering and pioneering efforts to provide an education for the youth of his local community, excelling as a student herself and later leaving a mark through her own career in education.

The Vise family is well-known in Buderim, not only as one of the early fruit farming families and their involvement in establishing Mons State School, but also for Sybil’s donation of Pioneer Cottage to the Buderim Community. The historic building, generously gifted by Sybil, has helped to foster a public interest in Buderim’s history.

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