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Dictionary of Sydney

The Dictionary of Sydney
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Painting class at WEA Summer School at Newport ...

The Dictionary of Sydney was archived in 2021.

Painting class at WEA Summer School at Newport 1971

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The Workers' Educational Association in the post-war era

Subjects

Adult education Visual Arts

Organisation

Workers' Educational Association Sydney

Buildings

WEA Newport (David Stewart Summer School)

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WEA Sydney

Established in NSW in 1913, and originally working in partnership with the University of Sydney, the WEA was a movement founded to promote the higher education of working men and women. The WEA has since grown to become one of the largest and most prestigious adult and community education organisations in Australia and every year attracts thousands of students from all walks of life.

The Workers' Educational Association in the post-war era

The Sydney Branch of the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) was founded with a democratic structure that enabled it to thrive in the postwar era and meet shifting community and government expectations of adult and continuing education, while remaining relevant and independent, into the twenty-first century.

Adult education

Visual Arts

Workers' Educational Association Sydney

Sydney branch of the Workers' Educational Association (WEA Sydney), a not-for-profit adult education organisation originally founded in England in 1903 to provide ongoing education for working people. It began in Sydney in 1913 as a joint undertaking by the trade union movement and the University of Sydney and continues to offer a broad range of adult education programs.

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WEA Newport (David Stewart Summer School)

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Residential centre or holiday camp established by the Workers' Educational Association Sydney branch at Newport on Sydney's northern beaches in 1924 for summer schools. The site was described in 1924 as 'the crest of a gentle slope overlooking Newport beach and within five minutes walk of Pittwater', The cost of the buildings was 7000 pounds, with much of the work done by the association's General Secretary David Stewart. When not in use by the WEA, the centre was used for conferences and meetings by other organisations. After his death in 1954, the centre was named the David Stewart Summer School. By the early 1970s the buildings had fallen into disrepair and despite plans for upgrades, in 1976 the site was sold.