Back To School is the title of an exhibition that will open at the museum on 17 September 2016 and run for the rest of the year. Raglan Area School is celebrating the 150th anniversary of Raglan schooling and the museum is taking its part by looking at all the schools in our Whaingaroa history.
Vernon writes in his Raglan history, ‘The first Raglan school was a private one run by Mrs Corlett in a tent commencing in 1866. So successful was her teaching that the Wesleyan Church took over and opened a school in their chapel on the site of the present bowling green.’
Of course there was earlier education. Not only had Maori been teaching their children for centuries but the missionaries had been teaching since the arrival of Rev. James Wallace in 1835. Indeed when Wallis arrived in Raglan there was already a flourishing school at Te Horea taught by the Maori, John Leigh, who had received his education at the Hokianga Mission School. But 1866 is the generally accepted date for the start of Raglan schooling.
Eileen Beach-Kelly and her brothers in Raglan School Uniform 1940s
This exhibition shows many of the stories of the various schools of the district. There are 17 schools in all including the correspondence school. They are nearly all primary schools, years one to eight in current numbering. Secondary school, years nine to thirteen, is available only at Raglan Area School having started in 1937 at what was then called the Raglan District High School. Seven of the 17 schools continue today. The rest closed gradually as roads and vehicles improved and children were able to attend a smaller number of larger schools.
It is a lovely history showing the desire of parents and children for schooling, the growth of compulsory schooling and the many adventures the children had as they journeyed to and experienced the schools of Raglan and its district.
This is how I remember RDHS 1951 – 1953