Practical work in a laboratory at Canberra High School, Acton, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Photograph of a high school student writing notes in an exercise book while looking down a microscope. Jars on the bench that contain organic specimens indicate that the occasion is a biology class. On the other hand, some retorts connected by pipes suggest that a chemistry experiment may also be under way.The benchtop is equipped with gas taps for bunsen burners. Behind the boy is a blackboard. Canberra High School, designed by Charles Whitley, opened in 1939 and was regarded as one of the most modern high schools in Australia. Over 300 students attended at the time the picture was taken. In the 1960s, the school vacated the Acton site and occupied a new building in Macquarie. Over a number of years the old premises came to be used as an art school. In 1992 the Canberra Institute of the Arts, as it was now called, amalgamated with the Australian National University.This photograph is from an album that was held at the London office of the ANU over the period 1949 to 1952. The album was used to inform prospective staff about Canberra. These images are part of the series produced by the Department of Information and kept at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. National Archives holdings in this series have gaps and some images may be held only at the ANU Archives