Sheidow Park is a suburb in the south of Adelaide, South Australia. The suburb is approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the city-centre and is situated on coastal hills above the Adelaide Plains.
History
Named after the once prominent Sheidow pastoralist family that previously owned nearly all the land in the area, Sheidow Park is a relatively new suburb; residential development only really taking off in the late 1980s. The Sheidow family, formerly resident at a mansion over-looking Holdfast Bay, now reside on a large estate beside Hallet Cove Beach. Reflecting the suburb's agricultural past is the former railway track that winds through the area - an agricultural route in times gone by. The suburb has been growing progressively larger, absorbing much of Trott Park. The first major residential development in Sheidow Park was that of the Hickenbotham Group's Woodend Estate. The estate, like other planned developments, was released in stages, finishing with the final release in the late 1990s. The estate was essentially square-shaped, bordered by four main boulevards. A curious point is the naming of the streets; it is often a difficult area for visitors to navigate on account of confusing street names, with an unusually high proportion named after either fruits or apparent 'somebodies'. Originally, there was a community centre with shops located centrally on Edward Beck Drive and Lemon Road (now Young Street), opposite the sales centre. However, the centre closed, and two years later the owner planned to convert it to a tavern. The proposal was met with fierce community opposition culminating in the State Government's decision to purchase and use the building as an extension of the current Woodend Primary School. Currently there are local shops within Trott Park, which includes a Pharmacy, supermarket, hairdressers, take away & Indian restaurant. This shopping complex services both Sheidow Park & Trott Park residents.
As of 2007[update], the suburb is still growing, expanding into the Field River Valley (locally known as 'the Gully') with the Southbank Estate development. The area's semi-rural character is becoming progressively more urban as the process of urbanisation increases.
Schools
There are three schools located within Sheidow Park, all primary schools. Sheidow Park Primary School is public and caters for students Reception to Year 7. The school has been serving the community within the suburb since 1980, and is located on Adams Road. Woodend Primary School is the other public school in the suburb and teaches students Reception to Year 7 since 1995. It is the newest school in Sheidow Park, built in the 1990s and has state-of-the-art amenities and has the largest population of all local schools. Students from the two public schools, upon finishing Year 7, generally attend secondary school at nearby Hallett Cove R-12 High School or Seaview High. The only private school in Sheidow Park is St Martin de Porres, a Catholic school that teaches Years Reception to 5. Students from St. Martin's are generally channelled to other south-west Adelaide Catholic schools, including Sacred Heart College Middle School, Marymount College and Cabra Dominican College.