Our School

 

Ko Taranaki te maunga
Ko Mangaotuku te awa
Ko Tokomaru te waka
Ko Te Atiawa te iwi
Ko Ngati Te Whiti te hapū
Ko Pukehino te pā tawhito
Ko Tarawhata te puna wai rongoa
Ko Hamish Hislop te Tumuaki
Tihei mauri ora!

 

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History

West End Te Kura Ō Mōrere was established on a neighbouring site in 1884 and then relocated to its present site in 1926.

The New Zealand Education Act came into force in 1878 and made education in New Zealand free, secular and compulsory. In January 1880 the Education Board
decided to consolidate the education system into two schools - a boys' school on Poverty Flat (Central School), opened in 1881, and a girls' school in Courtenay Street opened in 1883. During this period a decision was made to establish a satellite school to cater for infants in the western part of the town, which was opened in 1881. The children were taught by Lydia Shaw. It was built on two sections in St. Aubyn Street (the site of the present Jones and Sandford establishment). Lydia Shaw was appointed the first headmistress at West End School.

The school was built to accommodate 100 junior pupils. The school’s opening roll exceeded this capacity and began with 117 pupils. By the end of the century there were signs that the days of manageable growth were about to end. The school was becoming frustrated that they were considered a side school of Central. The school roll grew to 287 and continued to grow. This put a strain on the school which was designed for 100 infants. New buildings were added but it could not keep up with growth. The Education Board was petitioned many times over the decade and in 1925 two and a quarter hectares in Bonithon Avenue were purchased for the
school. The move took place during the 1926 Christmas holidays and was opened officially in June 1927.