Kongahu School, 1929.

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DescriptionThe settlers of Kongahu applied to the Education Board for a school in March 1893. After consultation with the Karamea committee the Education Board granted £50 to assist in setting up an "aided" school. A schoolroom of pit-sawn totara was built near the beach on an education reserve on Jefferies' farm, which was later owned by Mr P. Fox.
Some 19 pupils, under Mr W. A. Rumbold, who received £25 per annum, assembled for their first lessons in 1894. Of all the schools in the district the birth of this one was obviously the most painless. In 1895 the Inspector's report stated that "Of all the schools under sole teachers we specially commend Kongahu".
In the early years the attendance remained static, with approximately 20 on the roll, but this gradually decreased until, in 1913, when numbers dwindled to 5, the School was closed. It was re-opened in 1920 when there were enough children. In 1923 there was only one girl attending along with nine boys, but she quickly learnt to hold her own - poor Moira!
Bert Baker told a tale of his school days at Kongahu when swimming was popular because the School was near the beach. The girls went to change along the beach by Johnstons, later Don Harvey's, while the boys changed in the tussock in the other direction. He told how they hid the teacher's clothes in the sharp marram grass so they could enjoy another half an hour in the water while, in consternation, poor Mr Best searched for his belongings.
In these times children walked incredibly long distances to school. An instance was when Tom and Rod Jennings walked from well up the Granite Creek valley to the Kongahu School - a distance of approximately 5 miles. As there was no road for the Kongahu settlers the children had to walk along the beach to School. When the sea was rough they had to scramble along the bank through difficult going.
One ex-pupil recalls how, at the age of seven, he had to walk bare-footed from Kongahu to Little Wanganui School for his first encounter with the dental nurse. He returned home minus seven teeth - and his smile!
Because of sea erosion the school building was moved, intact, in 1937, to the Education reserve at Jones's, where it stood until it closed for amalgamation in 1947. It was later taken to Karamea for use as a manual training block.Date of Photo1929.Map^[1]ContributorClaire Ward

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Location (city or town)Kongahu

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Kongahu School, 1929.

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