Our+School+History

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Hello there lovely learners of room four....
We are looking at creating a whole school piece of art, using tiles as our medium. We are going to be telling visual stories of our school, its community and their history. Please add any interesting facts, funny stories or shared memories on this page......

Here is a link that takes you to the article about the project in the Feilding Herald - Thanks Bridgette []

Emma says.... The teacher used rags to clean the board. One day the teacher got Nannan to clean the rags she realised they were bloomers.

Braxton says.... When my Nan went to Oroua Downs School the roads were sand. Sometimes she would ride her horse to school. The horse and cart took the milk to the factory in big cream cans made out of steel. My Dad went to Oroua Downs school, on gala day Dad and the other kids would have fun chasing the greasy pig and when Dad caught the pig, he was allowed to take it home.

Hunter says... When my Dad and Uncles went to Oroua Downs School they didn't have netbooks, no internet like we do now. Wylie road used to be a stone shingle road which made it very hard to ride your bike. My Uncles were naughty on the bus because when the bus went around corners they would al move to the side of the bus to try and make the bus tip. One day the bus driver made them get off and walk, they never tried to do it again. They learnt their lesson. Last winter it snowed here. My nan has lived here for 35 years and that was the first time it has snowed in that time.

Leoni Says... When I first started school I had a bad day, but as the day went on and I went into a bigger class, it was better. The classroom was different and we did not have the PE shed open at that time but we do now. We had new people and some leave. The environmental area did not have the shed but now it does.

Max Says..... Uncle Paul - he used to go down to the trees along the southern boundary to collect cicada shells with his friends. He thought it was fun. Also no computer. Nana B - was a relief teacher at ODS. Sometimes she used to take Aunty Claire (aged 4) with her when she taught. This is something you possibly couldn't do today. The big kids would fuss over Aunty Claire, and if the class was juniors, she would do what they did at school.

Ryans says.... The best thing I remember about ODS is pet day. I have had 3 calves and got ribbons for all of them.

Toby found.....
 * || Oroua Downs School was opened on 21 October 1903 with 23 pupils. The services of Mr F C Raikes were obtained after he had taught in Taranaki. Mr & Mrs Raikes were the first occupants of the school house which was built in 1911. The school building in the early days was the only available centre for social activities in the district and it was used for dances, church services and meetings. In 1907 the roll grew to 52 and an assistant teacher was appointed. Space was scarce and residents wanted a new building erected. There were some who wanted the school to be built at Himatangi and others at Oroua Downs. A new school was built on the current site and named Himatangi School although the named changed in 1910 to Oroua Downs.

The school has been involved in a number of activities over the years and has experience building developments and a fluctuating roll. In 1936 the school was unfortunately destroyed by fire and much of the early history lost. A new school with 2 classrooms was built early in the following year.

The school has had an impression on generations and the highlights include the Calf Club days, the sports exchanges, buses to and from school and the passions of the teachers who teach at the school.

|| Rachel says... Dad went to Waikari school and the Teacher lived next door. Dad said - No buses, no TV, no computers, laptops or netbooks. The playground had a jungle gym, monkey bars and swings and slides. They had to call the teachers Mr and Mrs and they got the strap or the cane. Dads teachers names were Mrs Fox and Mr Wallmen. Mr Wallmen had a glass eye and when he got angry he would jump up and down. So the kids tried to make him as angry as possible and once they made him so angry he jumped up and down so hard his glass eye fell out. Dad got in trouble lots and this is some ways of how he got in trouble. Once they were all eating their lunch in a big hall, they were using the top of their lunches as frisbys, just when Dad threw his one someone opened the door and a draft made it go really high and it flew across the whole hall and smashed a window at the other end. (Dad and his friends used to have competitions to see who could get in trouble the most) Dad had to get up and tell the teachers he smashed the window and that got dad six of the best for that, and it also got him 6 more points on the competition score board. They didn't have biros, they had pens with sharp pointy metal nibs on the end and they had to dip the pen in ink and then write, so the pens were like pencils and you had to stick metal stick in the ends and would catch an ink bubble and write and if you weren't careful you would make spoils everywhere. Dad and his friends would flick the pens in the air and make the pens stay in the roof so when it was break time Dad and his friends would put them up and all through the lessons you would hear clink clink clink and you would never know if you would get the teacher or miss. There was a pot belly fire in corner of the room and dad painted lime stone with black nugget and mixed it with the coal in the coal bucket, and when the teacher filled the fire with coal the lime stone would go in the fire as well and during class time there was a big bang, the fire door flang and the fire jumped out (but nothing set on fire) and the teacher knew what happened and all the kids were laughing. As you can see my dad was a very naughty boy when he was little, but I won't turn out like that!

Brianna wrote a poem

The road to travel used to be gravel now you can feel the new tar seal The fishing was great kaimoana and heaps of whitebait now heaps of people live here and most of the old days disappear.

Ataliyah says Now I dont have a funny story, BUT I would like to share with you a few interesting things I found out, about how and what type of things were different to the way we do things at school today. Number One: You know how we use the push button bell to let us know, the start times and finish time, well, way back, the kids had to walk around the school with an old hand bell, also known as a cow bell. I definately, I cant imagine walking around with one of those. Here is another one, they used to watch black and white films sing a projector and a big white pull down screen. The only had two terms of school, less holidays. Instead of getting a detention, the kids would get the strap!!

Lovely Rosanne (SWISS)We used to pull the curtains which blacked out the room and listen to the radio and have an afternoon sleep in the primers room. Our teacher was the wife of the principal and they lived across the road, one our classroom duties was to go over the road and make the baby food. We walked or biked up the road to meet the bus. Our bus driver was so bad, that the farmers put logs of wood opposite the bus stops, so when the driver turned around he would hit the logs and know when to stop so he wouldn't end up in the drain. Our Senior teacher was the Principal and he used to make us cry. He would put a tin rubbish bin between our knees and we had to put our heads in the bin and cry in there. Teachers were mean, when I was five and my friend couldn't come to school because she was sick, I cried. My teacher locked me in the Wendy house because I was crying and all I could hear was her yelling at me - stop making that noise! In winter, it was really cold and I can remember the whole school doing folk dancing under the flag pole and we had assemblies outside. We used to have milk every morning tea, it was kept in a shed outside, we had to stay inside until we drank all our milk, I was always in at morning tea.

We found out as a class..... CALF CLUB
 * Kids at Himatangi used to catch the train to Rangiotu to go to school and those that lived at Oroua Downs used to go to Taikorea school. They used to walk for ages and some took their horse. Some children had to have to milk the cows before they went to school.
 * Mr Gibbs gave a building to the community in 1903. Mr Raikes was the first teacher and he was a real character. He taught the three Rs but also practical things like measuring a paddock, planting a shelter belt. When a swarm of bees arrived, he taught the school about bee keeping.
 * The school was called Himatangi school and its name changed to Oroua Downs in 1910. Some people wanted the school to be built in Himatangi, Messrs Moffat, J F X Conlan, W Kilsby ad P Brady all gave 20 pounds to build the building where the school is now.
 * If kids were naughty, instead of giving then the strap, he would make them hold the plug wire of a running motorbike.
 * The school building was used by the community for lots of social gatherings, dances, church services and meetings.
 * The new Principal, Mr Liggins, was responsible for putting the first bits of concrete down around the school during 1915-23.
 * 1923 - fancy dress balls were popular fundraisers.
 * Children used to get taken to Foxton in a lorry for annual picnic (Feb 1924)
 * They had working bees to clear the shrubs and bush at the front of the school.
 * 1930 - fundraising began to get a swimming pool at the school. Popular sports cricket, football, hockey, basketball, horse riding and racing. Before the concrete was laid, basketball was played in a paddock. 1934-7 Mr Christensen divined water and sunk a well. Mr Conlan supplied the gear to plough the grounds, levelled and resowed them. Lots of construction work happened at this time, Mrs Raikes gave the new garden plot, concrete paths were put in, lawns made, wood splitting.
 * July 23 1936 the school was destroyed by fire. A new two roomed school was built by March of the following year.
 * August 1937 there was a half day holiday so 20 children were taken to town the see the Springbox play.
 * September 1938 measles epidemic went through the district and saw attendance drop as low as 11 out of 82 pupils.
 * 1938-41 - roll grew so another class was build.
 * June 1941 - another room was added to the school
 * 1945 - swimming pools were opened.
 * December 1963 - 60 pupils, parents and teachers went on the 'Grand Northern Tour' - to Auckland - sightseeing included - Chateau Tongoriro, Waitomo caves, Meremere Power Station, Chelsea Sugar Refinery, Auckland Zoo and Museum, Irirangi, Buried Village and Rainbow Springs.
 * First recorded Lamb and Calf Day was November 1938.
 * 1948 - Garden plot competition was judged in March.
 * 1958 - 27 Calves entered and 14 gardens