and single hung sash windows into the verandah wall. After relocation, the open-air annexe was used for opportunity classes. Opportunity schools (initially called Backward Classes) had been established in 1923 by the Department of Public Instruction in seven Queensland schools, one of which was Toowoomba South Girls' and Infants' State School. The previous year, Minister for Education, John Huxham, said he knew of only one teacher in the state who was interested in and suitable for this form of special education; Head Teacher of Toowoomba South Girls' and Infants' State School, Mary Deacon. Opportunity classes were designed to accelerate students with learning difficulties and to teach disabled children vocational skills. The provision of special state education for struggling and disabled students was prompted by community agitation and was part of the wider social, medical and educational modernising reforms of the 1920s. State-funded special education began in Queensland in 1893 when government subsidy was provided to a benevolent training centre in Brisbane that taught blind and deaf children. However, it took until 1923 and the drive of District Inspector William Bevington before children with intellectual and emotional problems and other physical disabilities were included in state education programs. The establishment of special education was an important step in providing an inclusive state education system. On 25 January 1960 the Toowoomba Opportunity (later Special) School moved off-site into purpose-designed premises. The open-air annexe was then used by the school for various ancillary teaching space, including music and film classes, and a library. The Department of Public Instruction was largely unprepared for the enormous demand for state education that began in the late 1940s and continued well into the 1960s. This was a nationwide occurrence resulting from the unprecedented population growth, now commonly referred to as the "baby boomers". Queensland schools were overcrowded and to cope; many new buildings were constructed and existing buildings were extended. After 1945, Toowoomba continued the steady growth that had largely characterised its first century of development. The city's estimated population in mid-1953 was 40,000, a rapid expansion from the 1947 census figure of 35,194. Primary and secondary industries expanded, tourist numbers grew, and construction projects provided a boom for the local building industry. In 1954 alone, over £2,000,000 worth of projects were undertaken including new dwellings, commercial buildings, and other expansion projects. The growth of Toowoomba was reflected at the Toowoomba South Girls' and Infants' State School