At Easter last year over 1000 Old Pupils gathered for the 60th Jubilee of the College. Those who attended declared it a very successful event. There was much catching up to be done. Indeed it was mooted that the time between catch ups could be well served by a periodic publication or the continuance of the very successful web-site designed by Ian Wenham.
Taking on board these comments we have produced this little magazine which is an attempt to keep you abreast of not only what is happening at the old school but also to bring you up to date on some of the former students and staff.
We hope it will fill a need but its success will depend upon your support. See later in the magazine
The men from OSH (Occupational Safety and Health) said it had to go and so it went.
The distinctive orange tiles that formed the roof of the college were made up of clay tiles. As an insider I was aware that they were nearing the end of their use-by date. Those of you who ever got into the roof (most only got under the floor boards) will know that with this style of roof you can see the light through the gaps. With age the tiles became very brittle and replacing them was a nightmare for the local plumber/roofer as more split under your weight if you stood on them. After the fire of 1990 it had been a real problem to obtain replacements.
However the final call came from OSH who quite rightly pointed out that in the case of an earthquake it would be tiles falling from the roof that would do all the damage. The old tile roof had to go.
The Ministry of education assumes responsibility for the roofs of all educational buildings and they gave the order to go and picked up the tab for $187,000.
On Boxing Day the contractors Mather Roofing appeared and began the arduous task of stripping the main block of its roof. The new roof was put on as they moved and when the troops returned in February the task was done.
The new roof is in the same style and colour but is galvanized iron. Some people have not even noticed that it is changed
Now here is a special offer. We have just a few tiles saved from the roof and a decent donation to the schools coffers would perhaps justify releasing one to sit on your mantelpiece.
One interesting observation relating to the school is that the main building is now unique. The first building constructed to this design was King's High School in Dunedin, which opened in 1936. There were some variations -the rear section at King's was an assembly hall and therefore there was neither a complete rectangle nor the complementary symmetry. The impressive iron work fence that can be found on the original plans for Horowhenua College was not erected because the war meant that the resource was needed elsewhere. King's had subsidence problems and a considerable-rebuilding programme, which resulted in the original school building being finally demolished last year. Thus we remain as the sole sample of this very interesting design. Two of the school's former Deputy Principals Arthur Chetwin (1966-1979) and Alan Smith (1986-1996) are old pupils of King's.
The college has always sought to promote in students the goal of giving of their best in academic performance. The students of the year 2000 in their performances continued that tradition.
There were five students who gained individual Scholarships in one subject and the number of those gaining A or B Bursaries was 79% of those attempting five subjects or more..
School Certificate performances were also excellent with a pass rate of 64%.
These results are among the best achieved by the school.
We hope this section will be of interest to past pupils of all decades. For it to succeed we rely on you for information on old classmates
The Jubilee Committee for Reunion 2000 finally got to the winding up meeting and discovered with relief that after all the efforts and worry and having expended over $70,000 there was a small profit of $5,000. (Thanks to the GST people)
Discussion saw a consensus for the money going to the upgrading of the Thomas Room which is part of the Canteen complex. This building is very heavily used and a wonderful asset for the school funded in part by a gift from the Old Pupils Association in 1990.
Subsequently the Principal Murray Lucas has informed us that the refurbishing work would be paid for by the Ministry. Meanwhile we hold the funds in Trust until a further worth project can be found and accepted. A sound system for the Assembly Hall has been suggested
The Reunion Committee was Alan Smith (Chair) Ian Wenham (Registrar and Treasurer), Noeline Lyons (Sec), Noel Procter, Murray Anderson, Max Smeed, Shirley Williams, Jean Parkin, Vivienne Hudson, Wendy Bartholomew, Christine Warren, Linda Fletcher, Airini Bowler, and Peter Edwards. Our thanks to this group for a job so well done.
As part of the 60th reunion the 1943 third form class P3 arranged a very get together over lunch. (The P stood for professional so you can now work out what the letters given to the other classes stood for - C3, D3, G3 and T3)
Of the 38 pupils in that class 36 were traced by organiser Bernard Casey. Six had died, ten were unable to attend because of illness, disability or family commitment and the remaining twenty came back.
It is interesting to chart the subsequent careers of the class members. Medicine(2), Journalism(2) Nursing(2), Teaching(8), Farming(2), Banking(1), a scientist, an ambassador and a Fullbright Scholar.
Seven owned and operated their own businesses others held responsible positions in the community and several were involved for many years raising the family.
An interesting record of achievement for a class of boys and girls drawn from a scattered rural area that stretched from Paraparaumu to Shannon
The school provided three sports persons for the
2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Michelle Turner (1988-1992) was a member of the Women's Hockey Team, Dean Kent (1992-1996) was in the swim team and Rob Hellstrom (1994-1996) was in the rowing four.
We know that Wayne Buckingham (1969-1973) was selected for the aborted games in Moscow but perhaps there are others who represented our country in either Commonwealth or Olympic Games
Guy Stedman 1966-1969
Aroha Sciascia (Jacob) 1945-1947
Winiata Stevens (in UK) 1940-1942
Brenda Speirs (Richards) 1940-1943
Those of you at the Reunion will have noticed the two Honours Boards which have been placed in the Thomas Room. These were presented by the Old Pupils Association to record Past Pupils who have distinguished themselves in Sport or in other General Spheres.
Currently the lists are:
SPORTS - R Jacob, Michelle Turner, DB Smith, W Buckingham, Tania Duff, DG Taylor.
GENERAL - GK Ansell, RW Stannard, Jenny McLeod, DI Kidd, RM Jansen, F Coleman, WA Bradford, MP Rolston, G Thompson, DH Laskey, J Larsen.
If you know of others please let us know.
Innes King was a pupil of the school from 1945 - 1948. Those of you who attended the reunion will recognise Innes as a great enthusiast for life and for his old school. Innes has become a benefactor of the "Maori Achieve Programme" now available at the college. We spoke to him about his school years.
"I don't think my time at college was particularly memorable as far as the college was concerned but for myself there were certain "windows" in my time there that I now recall and treasure. I suffered the not uncommon male indignity of having "Greaser" wrap a supple-jack around my posterior but had to bear the additional indignity of knowing that I was the one who went up into the Tararuas on shooting trips during which I collected the canes he and others wielded with such malice and efficiency!
"In the first eleven cricket team my main claim to fame was that as opening bowler I removed two of an Old Boy's front teeth. I was also lucky enough to shoot for the college in the Imperial Challenge Shield - do you remember School Cadets. All in all however I look back on those years and say 'they really did help shape my future.'"
After school Innes shaped a career as a bacteriologist. His resume covers work in the fields of microbiology and pathology initially in New Zealand and then in Australia. Innes was at times teacher, manager and finally director of some large operations. He stepped back from the excitement of all this to enjoy some R & R in real estate, a sea-food take-away (!) and then the mining of opals and gold. From this came the establishment of a tourist operation - a gold prospecting park. But then it was back to the pathology lab in the Arid Zone Research Institute at Alice Springs. To avoid the heat, boredom and attitudes he migrated to England where he worked for some years in the pathology lab at John Radcliffe hospital before retiring to "an even busier life." Innes and his wife Sarah continue to live in Oxford.
A life full of a wealth of experiences which has brought its challenges and satisfactions.
on Wednesday 24th October 2001
at 7:30pm
Guest Speaker to be confirmed.
We will require numbers attending (for catering purposes)
R.S.V.P. by Thursday 18th October. to
Horowhenua Old Pupils Association
C/o Horowhenua College
P.O. Box 544
Levin.
Life Membership: $20.00 (Badge plus information of Reunions - if we have your address.
Active Membership: $20.00 for Life Membership plus $10.00 per annum which includes subscription to
Te Horowhenua (twice a year) plus a small contribution for support of the College.
Send a cheque with your name and address (email is very useful) to
Horowhenua Past Pupils AssociationC/o Horowhenua College
PO Box 544
Levin
Te Horowhenua is a broadsheet intended for Past Pupils of the Horowhenua College. This first edition is posted free to Past Pupils attending the 60th Jubilee. Future copies will be provided to Active Members of the Association. If you have snippets of information that may be of interest to other past pupils please forward them to us at the above address or via dunham.smith@xtra.co.nz or ceejaye@xtra.co.nz