The site of the National School (No.61) at North Ipswich, on an allotment of over 2 acres that was granted by the Government (the current site, east of Downs Street, and south of Fitzgibbon Street), was arranged in March 1867 by Randal Macdonnell, the Inspector General of Schools, and the school was later opened by Macdonnell on 1 July 1867. '