The Petford school building was built in 1935 and the school opened with 22 students. Prior to then, the children from Petford went down the road to the Bamford State School.
Bamford was a thriving mining community nearby and a school there was built and opened In 1905. Most of the pupils enrolled were children of mining and railway workers. It cost 150 pounds to build and by 1919, 58 pupils were enrolled, including children from Petford and other surrounding communities.
By 1935, of the 22 pupils enrolled at this school, only two of them were from Bamford. Twenty students travelled the 4kms from Petford but each wet season, Oakey Creek, midway between Petford and Bamford, would flood preventing pupils getting to school. So it was decided to build a new school at Petford. As the Bamford State School closed, the new Petford State School opened with the principal, Angus Weir, transferring from the closing school to the new school.
By 1960 the mining boom collapsed and in July 1962, the Petford State School closed because of low enrolments. It reopened in 1976 with 16 pupils.
The school Hall was built in 1982.
By 1995 mining had ceased in the district and with the Chillagoe rail line closed, and the Petford fettling gang gone, pupil numbers dropped to only five. The Education Department decided to close the school permanently at the end of the school year, with children being bussed to Dimbulah to continue their schooling.