He ahakoa ngā au piki, me ngā au heke o te rārangi ingoa o te kura me te whakahuringa o te wairua mātauranga ka puta tonu te ihu o te waka o te kura o Te Whakarewarewa ki te rā, taihoa a te wiki hou e heke mai ana e whakahurangia ai tētehi āhuatanga hou e toitū ai ngā poupou o tēnei kura Māori.
Nā runga i te wairua hīkaka o te Pōari me te pūtea a te Tāhūhū o te Mātauranga ka whakahoungia te wāhanga o te kura hai whare ako mō ngā tau rima me ngā tau ono ki te rūma kotahi, waihoki ka whai wāhi ai ngā tau toru me ngā tau whā ki tāhaki. Kai te hōro o Hatupatu rātou e ako ana i tēnei wā.
Ko te waihanga māhau hou hoki ki a rite ai ngā whare hou ki ngā mea e tū ana tētehi o ngā whakaritenga hoki. Whoi anō, i mua tonu o ngā mahi whakatika whare nei, tērā tētehi wā whakatakoto rautaki ai me te whakariterite i te wāhi ki tu ai ngā whare, nō tēnei wā tonu i kitea ai ētehi kura huna pēnei me te rārangi ingoa tūturu nō te Maehe te kotahi tekau mā rua o te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau mā rua, koia tēnei ko te whakatūwheratanga o te kura ki te papa whenua korowhā o Arikikapakapa.
E whā tekau mā tahi katoa ngā tauira. Ko Rev Henry William Burgoyne te tumuaki o te kura nō Te Kao te korokē nei. Ka āwhinatia ia e Annette tana mākau me a rāua tamāhine e Gertrude me Constance. Ko ō rātou ingoa poipoi ko Nettie rātou ko Gerty ko Connie. I rītāia a Rev Henry i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau kotahi tekau mā toru.
Ko Peter Waaka tētehi o ngā ākonga tawhito i reira ia i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e waru tekau mā rua, hai tāna kua roa te mātauranga hou nei e wānangangia ana e ngā pakeke o Tūhourangi mai anō nō te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e waru tekau.
He kotahi tekau o ngā tamariki nō te pā taunaha ake i tae atu ki te kura tuatahi o Rotorua i tū ki runga o Pukeroa he āhua toru ira rua kiromita te tawhiti atu, he tata ki te whitu kiromita katoa te roa ki te kura me te hokitanga mai i te kura.
Nō te tau kotahi mano, e waru rau, e iwa tekau mā rua, ka tūtakitaki a Innes H.Pope me te rangatira nui o Tūhourangi a Te Keepa Te Rangipuawhe i Te Whakarewarewa, ka tūponohia rāua e ngā tamariki e ono tekau. Rokohanga atu he wāhi hai kura wānanga e ngā kaumātua mō ngā tamariki kāre e kitea, ka huri ngā mata ki Te Whakarewarewa, kāore e tika ana, ki Ngāpuna kāore e tika ana, ki te taha tonga o Rotorua kāore e tika ana nō te kotahi mano iwa rau kua pirorehe te wairua. Ka tukua e Tūhourangi tētehi petihana ki te Under-Secretary of Native Schools he pepa i whakamanagia ai e te rangatira nui me ngā mātua e ono tekau.
Nā te kaha o te petihana me te paunga o ngā tau e rua ka whakatūria tētehi kura ki runga o Arikikapakapa. E mea ana ngā kōrero onamata, he whare e rua ngā taumata e kuhu atu ai e wha tekau mā waru ākonga, ki tāhaki ko te kāinga o te tumuaki me tana whānau.
Nā te mea e momona haere ana te mana o te kura nō te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e toru tekau mā whitu ka rētingia te hōro o St Chad's hai wāhi whakaako mō te wā itiiti e tika ana te wā ki te whakatū tētehi whare kura.
Nā wai rā ka neke te kura ki te wāhi e tū nei e pātata ana ki a Scion ka whakatūwherangia te kura e te Pirimia e Rt Hon Peter Fraser i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e wha tekau mā tahi i te rua tekau mā rua o Aperira. Kai te ora tonu ētehi o ngā whakaahua kaumātua kua riro i a Michelle Hawe tētehi o ngā pou taratī o te poari māna ēnei e whakaemiemi kia ora tika ai. Ko te hiahia ki te whakatū tētehi wāhi whakamaumāharatanga i te paihau o wāhanga D.
Ka kitea hoki e rātou ko te wāhi i whakairongia ai te matua tāne kaokaoroa o Michelle e Taranaki Nuri i tōna ingoa ki tētehi o ngā heke.
Nō te wā ahau e ākonga ana i Te Whakarewarewa i te takiwā e rima tekau ka hinga te ngākau i te kura nei, te ataahua hoki. He wāhi! He rite te whakatakotoranga o ngā karaehe ki te kape o te marama e mātai iho ana ki te papa tākarokaro.
Me e mātai pū ana ngā kanohi ki te kura ki te taha matau ka kitea te kāinga o te tumuaki , nā wai rā ko te wharepuni ko te wāhi whakaharatau ai ngā kotiro tuakana ki ngā mahi whakatika whare ( I haere kē ahau ki te kura tuarua o Rotorua nā reira kāore au i tae atu ki tēnei wharepuni), ki reira hoki, kai tēnei takiwā ko te whare rāweke taputapu, ko ngā karaehe ki ngā tahataha o Hatupatu ko te hōro tēnei, waihoki ko te hēti mō ngā pahikara me te aha noa atu, ā me te rāta niho, kai reira katoa.
Ki tua o te rāta niho ko ngā karaehe mō ngā nohinohi me ngā ākonga hou. Kua kore katoa ēnei whare kua pūehungia. Mea mai a Michelle nā te mea e piki ana, e heke ana te rārangi ingoa o te kura i te wā o te iwa tekau tae atu ki te tau e rua mano i āta tirongia ai te tino take o ēnei whare.
Historical attendance records and other gems found in the old D Block at Whaka School from the early 1900's.
Kia maumāhara tātou tērā tētehi wā i heke iho te rārangi ingoa o te kura ki ngā tauira e rima tekau noa iho me te whakaaro o ētehi tērā pea kia whakamoea te kura. Whoi anō nō te tau e rua mano kotahi tekau mā rua ka piki ake te kaha ki a kotahi rau e wha tekau ngā ākonga. Ko te kura tētehi wāhanga nui o te pā taunaha o Te Whakarewarewa, e tirohia ana ngā whārangi o te rarangi ingoa ka puta mai ngā ingoa whānau pēnei a Waretini, te whānau Eparaima, ko Miria Paora Rāponi tētehi, ko Elsie Whiti waihoki Te Rangipuawhe ko Mika me Maika hoki.
Ingoa nui katoa ēnei. He ahakoa i karangangia ai he kura Māori a Te Whakarewarewa ka rahi hoki ngā ākonga pākehā ko te nuinga o rātou i noho mai nā i te tiriti o Grey. Ko Ray Smith tētehi he tangata whakaputa kōrero mā te Daily Post nōku e mahi ana i reira i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau e whitu tekau. He hoa mahi māua.
Me te rahi hoki o ngā whānau nō Ōhinemutu me Te Koutu i kōtahi atu ki te kura o Te Whakarewarewa. I tāpiringia te karaehe wāhanga whakangungu i te tau kotahi mano e iwa rau, e wha tekau mā iwa nā ka whakatōroangia ai te kape o te marama.
Ka tukuna hoki e ngā kura nō waho o Rotorua ā rātou ākonga pae tahi me te pae rua ki Te Whakarewarewa, ā, ko te kāreti o McKillop hoki tētehi o rātou.
Ko Te Whakarewarewa tētehi o ngā kura kaha ki te whāngai i ngā kura tuarua o Rotorua ki ngā ākonga i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e ono tekau mā tahi, nā wai rā ka whakahuringia te karaehe wāhanga whakangungu hai karaehe i te tau kotahi mano, e iwa rau, e whitu tekau mā ono.
Ka tū tētehi mihi whakawātea a te wiki hou e tū mai nei hai whakanui i te māhutatanga mai o te pae hou.
Whakarewarewa School has survived fluctuating rolls, changing fashions and property upgrades over the past years.
The latest project, thanks to an enthusiastic board of trustees and funding from the Ministry of Education, is the upgrade of the school's former manual training or D Block built in 1949, and will house our Years 3-6 mainstream students.
The construction work uncovered a treasure trove of attendance registers from March 18, 1902 when the original school opened at what is now Ārikikapakapa Golf Course. Also revealed, students had carved their signatures on the rafters, Tuhourangi elder the late Taranaki (Tona) Nuri, whose daughter Jackie Meha is our new Principal, Haimona, J Hayes.
It had a roll of 41 and the first headmaster was the Rev Henry William Burgoyne from the small Northland settlement of Te Kao. He was assisted by his wife and daughters Annette, Gertrude and Constance known affectionately by the children as Nettie, Gerty and Connie. He retired in 1913.
Peter Waaka, in his 1982 academic study of Whakarewarewa said Tuhourangi elders had been considering formal education for their children in the 1880s. About 10 village children attended the Rotorua public at Pukeroa Hill about 3.2km across town, of about a 7km return trip.
Parents worried about the tamariki walking in the cold winters and the inspector of native was worried about the unsavoury habits they might introduce to the pakeha pupils
In 1892, the inspector, Innes H. Pope met Tuhourangi chief Te Keepa Te Rangipuawhe at Whaka where there were more than 60 children. Attempts were made to find a site central to Whakarewarewa, Ngāpuna and southern Rotorua but by 1900 nothing had eventuated. Tuhourangi then sent a petition to the Under-Secretary of Native Schools signed by the chief and 60 parents.
The result was favourable and within two years a school was erected on Crown land at Ārikikapakapa.
It was a two-roomed structure capable of accommodating 48 children with a detached home for the headmaster and his family.
In 1937, to cater for its expanding roll, the school rented the Devon Street Hall — St Chad's — until a new school could be built. The school was moved to its present site backing onto Scion (then the Forest Research Institute) and the building was officially opened on April 22, 1941, by the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Peter Fraser.
There are some photographs and board of trustee member Michele Hawe has taken the task of collating them in order.
She has already got the registers in order and is hoped in the future a gallery can be setup. When I went to Whakarewarewa School in the 1950s it was a picture — all the buildings set out in a perfect crescent on a rise above the oval where our sports days were held.
The new renovation site.
Looking towards the school, on the extreme left was the headmaster's house, then the cottage where senior girls practised looking after homes (I went to Rotorua Intermediate so missed out on a cottage stint), the manual training block, the classrooms on either side of the Māori Hall (Hatu Patu), the bike and implement sheds and dental clinic.
Down the hill were the primer classes for new entrants and dental centre, are now gone due to a decline in roll. In 2012, the school had to rationalise its footprint of buildings.
The school has always been an integral part of Whakarewarewa and even a quick flick through some of those registers and magazines revealed my family names such as Waretini, Eparaima, Miria Paora, Raponi, Elsie Whiti, Te Rangipuawhe, Mika, Maika. Though known as a Native Māori school, until the 1960s a number of Pakeha families went to Whakarewarewa School, most of them living in the area from Grey Street.
Among them was the late Ray Smith who was publisher of the Daily Post when I worked there in the 1970s.
Many whanaunga from Ohinemutu and Koutu also attended Whakarewarewa School. The manual training block was added in 1949 and continued the crescent shape. Schools from outlying areas of Rotorua used to send their Form 1 and Form 2 (Years 7-8) to Whakarewarewa School and in the latter years McKillop College continued to make use of it.
Whakarewarewa School become a contributing school to Rotorua Intermediate in 1961 and the manual training block was converted to conventional classrooms in May 1976.
A small whakawātea will be held to for the opening of D Block on May 6.
