Brief history of Mission Beach State School uniforms
Mission Beach State School opened in 1953 with ten pupils. There was no school uniform and the pupils did not wear shoes, but hats were a must.
By the early 1960s, as seen in photos of that time, some of the girls were wearing a standard dark blue box pleat tunic, over a white, short-sleeved blouse, and some of the boys were wearing a standard short-sleeved collared shirt and shorts. In the mid 1960s, when the enrolment had risen to 28, the girls were wearing a collared blouse with cap sleeves and a skirt in the same material, and the boys were wearing a standard collared shirt and shorts. By the late 1960s the girls were wearing a collared blouse with short sleeves, with a darker skirt and the boys were wearing the standard collared shirt and shorts.
In the early 1970s, it seemed it was the boys who were more likely to be wearing a standard shirt and shorts, while the girls did not seem to have a uniform. By the mid to late 1970s, neither the girls nor the boys seemed to have a uniform, other than a sports uniform for interschool carnivals. But in 1979, a competition was held to design a school logo. Grade Seven student Chris Marsh won the competition and his logo was printed on the Sports
T-shirts, which later became the main uniform. The T-shirt was the same for both the boys and girls - green, with the MB Logo printed in dark blue, as well as the words MISSION BEACH. The boys wore dark blue shorts and the girls wore dark blue skirts or shorts. The T-shirt had a round neck and the logo for many years was screen printed on the T-shirts, at the school, by parents.
In the 1980s, some changes occurred to the uniform for the girls, with the skirt now a standard pleated skirt and another option was a blue and green checked A-line dress, with a zip down the front, a collar and cap sleeves. At first, these dresses were homemade, with the material and pattern available from the school.
By the early 1990s, the A-line dress for the girls was available ready made. Changes had also been made to the T-shirts, with the round neck changing to a V Neck with a collar, although the logo remained the same. In 1995, a competition was held to design a school badge, and it incorporated the original MB, as well as the school motto, Pride and Effort, the head and neck of a cassowary and two palm trees. By 1998, the green T-shirt shirt now had a dark blue tab front with several buttons and the dark blue collar had the name of the school on it and the school badge was embroidered on the upper left chest, as it also was on the blue and green checked dress for the girls. Dark blue shorts were worn by the boys and the girls wore a dark blue pleated skirt or skort.
This shirt has remained a part of the official Mission Beach State School uniform. Over the years, other items like hats and a jumper have also been available in the school colours and with the printed school logo and later the embroidered badge.
Reversible hats were introduced in 2013 and Instrumental Music Shirt in 2014.
Students of Mission Beach State School wear their uniform with pride.
Sports uniform
The students of Mission Beach State School may not have worn a school uniform until the late 1970s, twenty-six years after the school had opened, but from the early years they did have a sports uniform to wear with pride when representing Mission Beach State School at Interschool competitions.
By 1961 the students were wearing dark blue skirts or shorts, with a light blue top or shirt and a bib was also worn with MB printed on it. In 1963, a new sports pennant was made for the school and in the late 1960s the girls were wearing a light blue sleeveless top with a light blue box pleat skirt and the boys were wearing a white shirt and shorts.
In the 1970s there was a different sports flag, with the words MISSION BEACH STATE SCHOOL between two appliqued palm trees. The Sports Uniform changed to blue shorts with a blue T-shirt for the boys and a blue sleeveless tunic with dark blue ric-rac braid down the front for the girls.
In July 1979, a competition was held to design a school logo and Grade Seven student Chris Marsh won the competition. His MB logo was screen printed onto green T-shirts and this sports uniform also became the daily school uniform.
In 1980, the growing school of 76 pupils, was divided into two teams for sport – Beaver and Taylor – named after local reefs and sand cays. Beaver was blue and Taylor was red. With increasing enrolments, a third sports team, Otter, also named after a local Reef, with the team colour yellow, was formed in 1982.
Eventually blue, red and yellow sports T-shirts were worn for interhouse sports events and each team had a flag. The athletics and swimming carnivals have always been fiercely contested, with team members competing with much pride and effort.