The Armadale Primary School community has marked the 125th anniversary of the school by planting a tree.
The flooded gum sapling, sprung from a parent tree at the home of former Armadale Primary student Kim Fletcher, and very close to the site of the original school on the corner of Third Road and Church Avenue.
Mr Fletcher planted the sapling alongside representatives from each class, parents, teachers past and present, and government dignitaries on Monday morning.
“I attended Armadale Primary School 43 years after it was first established,” Mr Fletcher said.
“There was a big Jarrah tree, central to the school, and loved by everybody. I remember it was a favourite lunch time activity amongst the boys at the school to try and jump and dig their pocket knives in as high as they could reach into the trunk of that Jarrah.
“When it was decided that the town needed a Target, the tree was marked to be chopped down. But the community rallied and it was saved and heritage listed.
“It was hoped we could get a plant from the seed of that tree to grow at the new school site, and that was attempted at the opening of the new school in 1987.
“But Jarrah is not the right tree for this area on the edge of the Darling Range, so that tree didn’t survive.
“But this eucalyptus Rudis will be in good company, among much bigger specimens here. And I hope it watches over this school for many years to come.”
EDIT: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the tree to be a eucalyptus grandis, when it is in fact a eucalyptus rudis.
