First School Set Up for Children of Unemployed

Description

The school built by the Labour Department, was known as the State Farm School.

Children from the newly settled Horowhenua Village Settlement, south of the now Hokio Beach Road, attended this school.

The teacher was Mr Plunket Cole.

The settlement parents, after a few years, agitated to have the school shifted, nearer to their area.

As much of the bush had been cleared off the State Farm, many of the labourers had moved on, so the number of pupils from the farm decreased and the pupils from the settlement increased.

Against the wishes of the staff of the farm, the Education Department bought the school and shifted it to where Harvey’s Joinery and number 25 Hokio Beach Road are now, with Plunket Cole still as teacher, along with a pupil teacher.

With the village settlement and the Weraroa township providing more pupils the roll increased.

The Weraroa Town Hall (where the Cosmopolitan Club’s Ward Street entrance is now) was used for classes.

The school was known variously, as the Farm, the Village, Weraroa and the Horowhenua School.

The latter name came from the Horowhenua Village Settlement and the fact that the present Hokio Beach Road was then Horowhenua Beach Road.

Mr Charles Welby attended the school in both locations. He related this story to me: Cyril Bartholomew punished by the teacher for some misdemeanour. When Plunket Cole brought the strap down with great force, Cyril withdrew his hand and the teacher fell flat on his face. Cyril then suffered more strapping than for the original offence.

In 1903 the present Levin School was opened amalgamating the two schools. The 120 pupils from the school marched to meet the 201 pupils from the Queen Street school and all marched into the new school.

Miss Sage, an assistant teacher, transferred with the pupils, but Mr Plunket Cole did not and he faded out of local history.

The Horowhenua School was shifted to the new school (as shown in photo on left) and sited as the base of the future north block, on the south west corner in 1904.

It was used later as the cookery room, at least in my memory from 1916 on. It is now the library.

Charles Welby witnessed the shift. An attempt by a bullock team failed, but one of Swainson and Bevans traction engines completed the shift. The photo shows the school in Oxford Street, by the rough board fence of the Weraroa Recreation Ground.

The playshed from the old school was shifted to the Levin school in 1907.

In 1916 my father bought the poultry farm, on the old school site, on a 22 year renewable lease.

One of the fowl houses had obviously been the lavatory, as the high up timber latticework indicated.

THE NEWS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1990.

Identification

Object type

Multi page

Date

January 31, 1990