Orepuki or Aropaki - Town & District Schools, Class Photos from 1920-1942

Shared by Central & Western Murihiku Southland Archive

Orepuki or Aropaki - Town & District Schools, Class Photos from 1920-1942: IMAGES Photo 1 - Orepuki School class, taken c1939 to 1941; Sepia Tone Class Photo of 26 children. Known pupils are: Elsbeth (Betty) May Macdonald in front row 2nd from right. If you recognize anyone else from your family or if you have a named copy of this photo, please get in touch or pop the names in a comment Photo 2 - Orepuki School pupils outside the School "War Memorial Gates", but no year; Sepia Tone Photo of school children with the school behind the gates. Known pupils are: Elsbeth (Betty) May Macdonald in second row from front and 4th from right. If you recognize anyone from your family or if you have a named copy of this photo, please get in touch or pop the names in a comment Photo 3 - Orepuki School class, taken c1941-42; Black & White Photo of 28 children. Known pupils are: Elsbeth (Betty) May Macdonald later Higgins in the front row 6th from left or 4th from right and she was born March 1931. We have been told that its likely to be Shirley Lee in the second row first on the left, by her daughter (Shirley appears to have been born September 1930, so these names fit the date). If you recognize anyone from your family or if you have a named copy of this photo, please get in touch or comment with names. Photo 4 - Orepuki School class, taken c1937; B & W Photo of 30 children. The known pupils are: Elsbeth (Betty) May Macdonald later Higgins in the back row first on left. If you recognize anyone else from your family or if you have a named copy of this photo, please get in touch or comment with the names. Photo 5 - Orepuki School class, taken we think in the late 1930's; B & W Photo of 30 and 1/2 children (should be 31, but sadly 1 is half chopped off on right!) It is thought that the girl in the striped jacket on the right in the back row may be Myra Hogg (she was born in 1931) & Raymond George Herrick (born 1928) is said to be in the front row third from left by his own daughter, so we will presume this is correct. These dates do fit presumed year for photo. If you recognize anyone else from your family or if you have a named copy of this photo, please do get in touch, or put the names in the comments section. Photo 6 - Orepuki School Class, taken 1920; B & W Photo of 23 children; The known pupils are: Doris May Finn later Macdonald in the back row second from right. We have also been told that the child in the middle row on the far right is Bessie Butler later Lee. If you recognize anyone else from your family or if you have a named copy of this photo, please get in touch or comment. The school at Orepuki (or originally Aropaki) has a varied and extremely interesting background, as does the township, more of which can be read in the early history written further below. Formerly a large gold town, after that had dried up and coal mining was overtaken by the Nightcaps companies, along with the Shale Works closing in 1902, most of Orepuki ended up deserted. It became only the farming community that stayed on to support the township in its fight for survival. Of course, the school was also affected, as it was downsized considerably. It somehow struggled on over the years though and stayed open. Over the 1-4 of Feburary 1934, is when the Orepuki School had its 50th year Diamond Jubilee. We would love some photos of this event, do you have any that you can contribute to our Community Archives of this event? The newest Orepuki School was not built until 1968 and it was erected directly behind the old school that was moved there prior, then the old building was then taken down. From this point on, children in the Orepuki township and district could attend their local school only up until the old Standard Four, at which time they had to then bus to the Aparima College in Riverton, which had the old Forms 1-7. For many years the Orepuki School, which somehow managed to carry on, continued to contribute its students to Riverton’s new Aparima College. But in 2003 the school at Orepuki was finally closed. But this did not end the controversy over getting children from Orepuki to school safely. In 2017 it was reported that plans to move the school bus stop had been withdrawn, after Aparima College, Riverton Primary School and Waiau Area School had agreed to leave the current stop where it was. Then in 2018 there was continued angst from the residents about plans to move the school bus stop yet again. We have been unable to find out the result of the town protesting this change, so if anyone can inform us of the outcome, that would be fantastic to have as future community history. EARLY SCHOOL HISTORY In 1872 the first school in the area was established, under the name of Garfield-Orepuki School, in the newly moved township of Garfield. The Otago Education Board who were the oversight for the new school at Orepuki, used its “difficult and remote location” to justify not visiting the school to do the usual reports on the building and teaching. The roll in the beginning was just 16 children, but by the time the first year was out, the roll stood at over 30 students, and kept growing steadily from its opening date. This made the school itself too overcrowded and unsuitable and it was to be rebuilt twice – the first time four years after it opened, when the original building was turned into the schoolhouse for accommodation of teaching staff. As it was one of the first of many buildings eventually erected in the township, many district events were held on the site and in the building, which doubled as a public hall, dance hall, and even a church. The second school also proved inadequate, and it was replaced again by a much larger three roomed affair, but this was not to remain where it was either, even though it was the last building to be moved from the Garfield site. Fascinatingly, miners ended up digging a rich vein which led them right to the School Reserve in the Gully. The school land plus that of the whole township was mined, after a resolution was reached with the Education Board for the miners to pay to move the school! By 1874 a School Committee was formed, in line with the requirements of the Education Act. This was made up of the following men: Chairman, D Hunter; Secretary, JL Currie; plus - J Callaghan, H Creasey, R Cupples, TH Devonshire, AJ Jolly, FH McLean, and R Riddle. An interesting news report from 1882 tells us the school was closed (again!) and that this was a regular occurrence over the last three years. More details emerge about the rain “driving in through the windows like a shower bath”, leading to all the children having to be moved away from the back. It was also noted that there was a current contract let for repairs to the schoolhouse at this time. After Garfield was demolished by gold mining, the school was forced to relocate to the third and final resting place of the ever moving local township, which came about from its closeness to the local coalmining works and the 1885 railway connecting the two. After the railway opening, the newly erected town of Orepuki was to grow and prosper beyond all belief over the next 20 years with around 3,000 people living there at the height of its existence. By 1900 there was a huge township, which was to necessitate the continual enlarging of the local public school, resulting in a 3 room extension being built on to it, which is shown in another entry. The above information has been researched and compiled from various records by our archivist and special note is made to thank the authors of local history books, including Marjory Smith with her “From Goldfield to Fields of Green”, and George Perkins book “Piece’s of Chalk: History of Riverton District Schools”. Also, the Victoria University of Wellington’s NZETC Collection. The collections of newspapers available on PapersPast and Stuff have also been a great help in writing up details of this story. We have done a lot of research on the school in readiness to add it to the archive, as a couple of photos of it have come into the archive. But it would be great to have more. Did you attend the Orepuki School? Did your ancestors? Do you or any of them have photos or ephemera (small paper items) from their time there that you could share with us to digitise and preserve for the future? In the meantime, enjoy these photos of the school and the bit of above history of it - hopefully more details will soon be entered in the archive, as we receive more history and photos on this. If you or anyone you know has any more photos, information or accounts of any of the Garfield, Hirstfield, Aropaki or Orepuki Schools, also of the schoolhouses or anyone else involved with them, such as teachers in this local area during the years, please make a comment in the space provided under the image page, or make contact via the archive email on the front page. Sharing our history enriches all of us.