A series of 11 plaques depicting the long and fascinating history of the college have been installed on the brick wall at the end of D Block (facing the Ulumbarra Plaza).

The plaques tell the story of the school, from its beginnings as the Sandhurst Corporate High School in 1870 through to its current incarnation and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The school started with 65 students in 1870. Today that number is around 1750.

Its alumni is long and varied. Sir George Holland, who served as national president of the RSL, attended the school in the early 1900s.

Popular financial advisor Scott Pape, aka The Barefoot Investor, is an ex-student as is AFL footballer Joel Selwood and golfer Lucas Herbert.

Following a series of school amalgamations in the late 19^th century and early 20th century, the Bendigo Continuation School was established in 1907 as a means of bridging the gap between the state's primary school system and its subsidised technical schools.

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The centenary of that school's foundation was celebrated in 2007 and it was then the idea was first floated to set up some type of permanent historical display at the school.

Donations from ex-students and ex-staff started flowing in to fund the project.

Former assistant principal and long serving staff member Bev Miller said it was only a few years ago when it was discovered there was money donated that no-one had done anything with.

So senior staff at the college (including principal Dale Pearce, Ms Miller, Jenny Moloney and Julie Willis), members of the alumni community, the BSSC communications team and McIntosh Signs worked together to bring the initial idea to life.

Work began in earnest in last 2019 but progress was held up with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, work on the boards was finally completed and installed only a fortnight ago.

One of the ex-students involved in the project was Sue Roberts, who attended the school from 1963 to 1968.

Her father and his three sisters, her two brothers, two sons and three nieces were all students at the school.

Sue remembers her schooldays as a lot of fun.

"I loved the work - math, geography, history and I played hockey and softball here," Sue said.

"It was a great place to go to school."

Geoff Paynter was a student at the school from 1951 to 1956. His grandfather Edwin attended an early incarnation of the school from the 1880s to the 1890s while his father Reg was a student there from 1916-17.

That generational tie to the school continued with Geoff Paynter's four children also among the school's alumni.

Recalling his own time as a student, Geoff had nothing but fond memories.

"I was very sports minded," he said. "I was a great runner and captained the football and cricket teams so my enjoyment was based around my involvement with sport here."

A prefect for several years, that sense of leadership saw Geoff serve as president of the Old Gold ex-students association.

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The information on the plaques draw heavily on Janette Bomford's book 'The School on the Hill', a history of the school from its early years right through until 2007.

The remaining 13 years were then added to and was able to include the era of remote learning when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020.

"One of the things we almost overlooked while working on the boards was that the school year started late in 1920 due to the Spanish Flu (pandemic)," Ms Miller said.

Now the boards are in place, it reflects a sense of great pride in those who worked on it.

"It's very rewarding," Ms Miller said. "It showcases the richness of the school's history."

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Even the present generation of students have acknowledged the role the boards play in cementing their part in a grand old institution.

"It's really interesting, showing the different years and comparing them," year 11 student Jade Martin-Henry said.

The historical boards project has also reinforced the efforts of the BSSC Alumni Program with an online presence featuring videos and interviews with past students in an effort to include them more in special events at the school.

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