BY ROBYN PARKES
The biggest school consolidation scheme in the Nelson Education Board’s area came in 1942 with the establishment of the Tapawera Consolidated District High School. The nine schools consolidating were Tapawera, Golden Downs, Korere, Motupiko, Matariki, Sherry River, Kiwi, Tadmor and Stanley Brook. Tui school joined at a later date.
The scheme originated at a combined meeting of school committees in the district, held at Tapawera in June 1938. The following month the proposal came before a large meeting with representatives from each school and representations were then made to the Education Board for the proposed consolidation to be approved. A request followed to acquire a site for the establishment of the new school which would include both a primary and secondary department.
A driving force for the consolidation was that all nine schools were scattered over a wide country area, each one being a sole charge school except for Tapawera which had two teachers. The area covered was from about 35 to 50 miles from Nelson and that distance and the lack of suitable train or bus services made it impossible for pupils in the district to receive secondary or manual training unless their parents could afford to board them at a college or were already in an area with a District High School. Parents, the Education Board and Department were keen to give their children access to secondary education, therefore enthusiastic support was given to the scheme.
A site of four acres was acquired from the McMahon estate. When finished the school comprised of an infant’s department, with two open air classrooms each 26ft by 24ft, and the main block of four classrooms, three of which were used by the upper division of the primary department and the other being a combined science and classroom for the secondary department, measuring 28 feet by 24 feet.
In addition, the cloakrooms, shelter sheds and lavatory accommodation were all under one roof. The administration block included the headmaster’s office, teachers’ common room, women teachers’ room, and storeroom.
Mr P Osbourne from the Horahora Native School was appointed headmaster. Assistant teachers were Mr V. Moore. Miss L. Dodson and Mrs Osborne, who acted in this role pending the appointment of a probationary assistant. The infant mistress was Miss F. Jordan, and the secondary department was overseen by Mr E. Bone. The consolidation of so many schools over such a wide area required careful organisation in transporting pupils to school. Buses ran daily over five different routes, from Stanley Brook with 21 children, from Matariki via Sherry, Kiwi and Tadmor with 38 children, from Golden Downs with 32 children, from Atapo, Korere, and Motupiko with 34 children, and one from Glenrae with 11 children.
The official opening took place on the 29 May with the Minister of Education performing the ceremony. In 1945 the school was recognised as exemplifying the best in community effort, and showing what a consolidated school could accomplish in a rural environment.
The opening roll consisted of 160 primary pupils and 16 secondary pupils.
Buildings from the old school were moved to the new site and converted into a manual training centre for the instruction of woodwork and cooking. The old school site was set aside for the purpose of a school farm.
By October 1945 the school had grown with a primary block of six open-air classrooms, the manual training block, a dental clinic, a two-roomed secondary block and a pool. The grounds were landscaped, and concrete paving completed for physical education, basketball, and tennis.
