By Jimmy Ellingham of RNZ
A rural primary school closing its doors after 136 years on Wednesday is a victim of cost of living pressures, its principal says.
Papatawa School, near Woodville on the Hawke’s Bay side of the Manawatū Gorge, had just two pupils when the school year began, so a decision was made to close.
The pupils left early this year.
Principal Wynita Katene said last year’s final term began with 16 children across two classrooms, but other pressures were growing.
“All of our children drive out from Woodville and that didn’t become an option for a lot of our families, with the cost of living and stuff that’s been happening in society at the moment.
“They needed to be at the school that was closer to them.”
The school is only 6km from Woodville, but with its sweeping views of the Ruahine and Tararua ranges, and chorus of farm animals, feels more remote.
It has a swimming pool, court and, over the road, a sports field.
“It wasn’t the most popular place because stock grazed in there,” Katene said. “There was quite a bit of poop and the children weren’t keen on running through there - townies.”
The school building has classrooms, an office and a library - areas now home to boxes, as items are packed for delivery to other schools or archiving.
To mark the closure, on Wednesday about 120 former pupils and staff came along to reminisce.
Katene said they looked through old records and photos.
“Hopefully it will give people a chance to say goodbye, because for some people it will be a grieving process because it’s [been] a big part of their lives for so long.”
Those memories are of a heyday that’s gradually whittled away.
“At the end of last year, we realised that our roll this year wasn’t going to be very high. We had been talking about it, as a board, to see what would happen on day one of term one.
“Unfortunately, we only had two children turn up, which was actually one more than I expected, so that was kind of nice, but there was no one coming through.”
Katene arrived at the school in 2017, when it had about 25 pupils. When she handed in her resignation, it was decided she would not be replaced.
“Some years we went right down, then some years we came back up. We thought, ‘Oh yeah, that’s it, we’re going to be surplus staffed.’
“Then we’d have two or three families of four or five turn up.”
Elroy Sowry knows the school well. He’s a former pupil, from 1989 to 1992, and a former chairman of the board of trustees.
He said he was not happy to see it close, and could not understand why his successors on the board let it happen, especially given not long before he stepped down he had signed off on renovation plans.
He also recalled mucking in by looking after the school’s grounds and even driving the school bus.
“I do remember it being a really good school. It’s always been a school for kids who just haven’t fitted in - the square pegs who didn’t fit into the round hole.
“They always seemed to have come here from out of town and been really well looked after. It’s gone now - end of an era.”
Sowry’s great-grandmother went to Papatawa, and his children too, with younger daughter Eve having to find a new school this year.
“She was the last child here, along with another family who left just before us. A man from the ministry rang me and told me to send my kid somewhere else so they could close up.
“It didn’t really sink in at the time, but the next day my wife and I came and picked up our daughter and we left. That was it.”
Eve Sowry, 12, said she would miss the school and its closure saddened her.
A couple of years ago, she said, she was one of only two girls attending. “If we didn’t get along for a bit we had to get along the next day because we were stuck with each other.”
Then for the last term of last year, she was the only female pupil, with 15 boys. “It was actually kind of fun because boys are mostly chilled.”
Eve now attends Kumeroa School about 13km from Papatawa. She found it welcoming, but said she really missed her former school and its teachers.
Katene said she had had a busy few weeks winding down the school.
She was moving to south Taranaki.
She said she would miss her colleagues, the children and the views from the school.
“To be honest, I don’t know how I’m feeling at the moment ... it’s sad and it’s anxious and it’s all those sorts of things.”
Ministry of Education leader for Te Tai Runga (south) Nancy Bell said a change manager would be appointed to oversee the closure, including what would happen to the school’s assets.
If the property was not needed for education purposes it would be disposed of according to the Public Works Act.
She said Education Minister Jan Tinetti agreed to the school’s closure, after a request from its board.
“The school previously generated two full-time equivalent teaching positions. The principal resigned at the end of 2022, but has agreed to continue until November 2023 to support the closure of the school.
“Remaining staff will be paid until 11 October as part of their notice period. Other provisions as per their employment agreements are being worked through.”
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