Tokomaru School Celebrates Its Jubilee

Chronicle (Levin), 30 April 1948, Page 3

Tokomaru School Celebrates Its Jubilee

The history of the, Tokoniaru School, which is celebrating its jubilee this we'ek; is closely lihked with; th.e history qf Toko- { maru itself. Tokomaru- boomed .when tjbe flax industry was at its peak and at the'same tjme the school rolLswelled..

Any increase in the local population has seen an increase in the humber attending the" school. In the jubilee souvenir history Mr. W. A. Bond, headmaster, says that one of the things that struck him most when he, was head teacher at the school between 1937 and 1946 was the "shifting nature" of the school's population. "One term we would be mentally searching the district for any possible' five-year-old to keep the numbers up while a term later, with the influx of a few share-milkers with large families, we would be looking over some of our discarded furniture in an endeavour to accommodate the increased numbers," ' he adds. In recent years the roll was steadled to aroundJ the hundred mark^ due to the' breaking4up of the large estateS. * -- The history of Tokomaru officially begins on March 8, 1887/ when, four months after the corripletion of the4 Wellington and Manawatu railway,; the first sale of land took place. As the eary settiers established themselves the •,need for the school was keenly felt. The bush. on the education reserve was felled and burnt 'by the settlers, grass seed sown, and a site cleared in readiness for building. At this point it was found that the Education' Board was not prepared to build unless the district could guarantee the attendance of twenty children. The names of twenty children were found and submitted to the board. Later when the Minister of Education was passing through the district by train the children were lined up on the platform to show him that Tokomaru had the required number. After that the Education Board was convinced, in spite of the fact that three of the children in the parade had been bbfrowed from a neighbouring district, that there was. a need for a school in ihe Tokomaru area. . Twenty children, nihe ;boys and eleven girls,.. we£e/i_phrolled on tne roll in the first"' mofhing, ■ their names . beipg: A^thiir, , Pritqha^d, George Pritchardy ' ''T&kbeflla ;:rMcBride, ; Elizabeth McBri^et, Skmuel Liggins, John: :He'rity : Yiggin^;' May Edith Liggins, Matgaret Liggins,Albert ' Judd,'' Gebrga ■ jiMd,'' > Char;- ■■■ ' '■ r',? y f i

lotte " Judd, 'Ef nest" 'Thompson, Margaret Thompson, Eustace Thompson, Isabella Thompson, ' Mathew Andrew, Annie Jane Wilton, ■ and Katie Fletcher Boyd. The 'grounds "were cleared. 6f stumps, fenced and on Arbqr Day trees were planted. The . .first teacher, Mr. H. Anderson, stayed at the school for three years when he Was transferred. and replaced by Mr. F. W. Gregory. Attendance was irregular at -first, especially in the winter time when the river was in flood or the bridge washed- away, but later when cabl#a were installed to carry the bridge, attendance became more constant. About the year 1896 Mr. Gregory erected a residence for himself and his family.' In 1904 the Government built an additional school "room at the cost of £250 and in 1904 *an infant mistress was appointed. ■ Mr. Gregory went in 1908 and Mr. J. S. Webfc took his place. By. 1910 the. schodl roll had reached 99 due.to the. influx .to the district of families who had come to -work in,, the flax . . mills. Within a distance of about fiv,e miles of the school a- flax mill which claimed to be the largest in- the world, was in operation. To keep gOing , three acr.es of flax were to be cut each day. By 1914 a new room had been added to the building to accommodate the new increased number of children, now well past the 100 mark. At the end of 1919 Mr. Webb retired. Mr. W. H. Phillips took his place. In 1921 an artesian well was let down resultmg in a good supply of water. In 1925 Mr. W. HicksQn was appointed headmaster with a roll of 145 under him. It has never -gone past that point. Mr. A.. H: R'eed took ' over the school in 1926 'but later in the year resigned- ■ - t'o • take duties - ; at Clyde Quay. > Mr.- D. Forsyth took his place, but: his term was uhfortunately short, as he 'passed away on July 21, 1927. Mrs. Barlow took control of the school until Mr. E. J- Gilmour was appointed he'ad teacher on October 27, 1927. He stayed until 1936 when Mr. W. A. Bond became head teacher, over a roll of 79.- Oii account of the'paralysis the school was ■ . closed bn November 28, 1947s ' ahd correspondence r/ Xvork 'carried; 'ohiti Restnctiohs iwerb' liftM "in 'Febru^ ary and the: s'chbor re'-opened : oh March i, 1948. ■' - ; •• . i I ■ t • l ' i • •• •, 'ti' h ' . . . ' ■ '