They are the chief drain cleaners, balancers of books, gurus of property development, five-minute plumbers and electricians, as well as brewers of tea, arborists, and lawn mowers, and of course, the unflappable smile at the front gate to welcome their pupils’ arrival at school.
Rural schools are often the hub of the community. Pet or calf day at a local rural school is a time when all the community gathers and is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with neighbours.
Extended family
I found a small rural school on the Parapara Highway 25 minutes from Whanganui called Alberfeldy Primary School (Te kura o Alberfeldy) and I wondered how they managed with such a small pupil role.
Alberfeldy School was opened in 1903 and has had two different names in its lifetime and three sites. It has been on its current site since 1959.
Several building projects during recent years have seen an increase in the size of the school from one large classroom area to two classrooms and a multi-purpose room.
A close-knit enviro and farm school consisting of 15 pupils, it offers great student-to-teacher ratios in a country environment.
Catering for students from years 1 to 8, I was interested in finding out what made this school unique and why some students catch a bus from the other side of Whanganui to attend this school.
One of the reasons is that Alberfeldy School is like an extended family-whānau, and they care about their students.
In turn, the older students work with and take care of the little ones. This is certainly how I remember our small rural school. If you left your jersey on the playing field, it would be returned to you by another student.
Do they have the same resources as town schools?
More than often, rural schools are well equipped, especially if there are no facilities nearby, and Alberfeldy is no exception. They have expansive playing fields, playgrounds, and a swimming pool.
Being both proactive and innovative, they are also well-resourced when it comes to IT, with pupils often attending technology classes with another local school as well.
The school has been part of the enviro schools programme for several years. They have an orchard and vegetable gardens, and the students learn to care for their animals.
They have only one rabbit and hope to have chooks and guinea pigs soon. They have almost finished building their new guinea pig hutch and once completed, will be able to welcome a family of guinea pigs. The new chook hutch will be completed by the end of the term.
The school is always on the lookout for anyone from the community who has farm-related skills they can share with the children.
Children learn life skills
It is great that children learn where their food comes from, and I have to say I have met many that have no idea.
This is where children at a rural school have an advantage.
I tell a story about my mother as a young wife. Visitors were coming for afternoon tea, and she had made some scones. She went to the milking shed with her cream jug asking my father for some cream.
He said it would take a while to separate it from the milk.
Her reply was “Can’t you just get it from the fourth teat?”
My mother was a town girl and even at her age, she thought cream came from a separate cow teat.
So, when a school like Alberfeldy lets pupils have the farm-to-plate experience, this is a learning adventure.
Reading Alberfeldy’s curriculum plan, it summed up what most rural schools want for pupils.
A curriculum that means more than classroom programmes and things articulated on paper.
Their curriculum is defined by the learning that pupils experience.
I think this sums it up nicely.
