New Zealand established an education system in 1877 with the passing of the Education Act, Richmond Road School was opened in 1884, one of the first schools in New Zealand. It was progressive when it started and has been at the forefront of new education initiatives ever since.
Timeline….
1840 – The Treaty of Waitangi is signed
1884 – Richmond Road Primary School is opened with Emma Fletcher as principal. She had the added distinction of being the first female principal in the Auckland Education Board area.
1903 – Manual training centre was opened at the school.
1934 – Honourable Michael Savage and the then Minister of education, Peter Fraser, opened the original part of the current school.
1960’s – The school gains international recognition for its innovative work in literacy education. The teaching methods that were developed have since become standard practice in New Zealand schools.
1976 – End of Form 1 and 2 as Ponsonby Intermediate is opened.
1984 – 100 years since school opened !
1985 Te Whanau Whariki opens. (The Maori immersion classes)
1985 9 November, 1996 Ritimana Kohanga Reo opens. (The Maori pre-school)
1986 – Mua I Malae opens. (The immersion Samoan classes – first in NZ)
1987 – Maori Language Act passes. Te Reo is formally recognised as one of NZ’s official languages.
1987 – A’oga Fa’a Samoa (The immersion Samoan pre-school)
1996 – A French bilingual unit is established, French as a Foreign Language introduced. The first in NZ.
2009 – 125th Jubilee (School Production – The History of Richmond Road School)
2013 – Hall Opens
2014 – 3 historic classrooms are burnt down by an arsonist in the January school holidays.
2017 – New open flexible learning spaces are opened for 6 classes.
2006 and 2018 – Auckland University research Richmond Road School in relation to learning and teaching in a bilingual/immersion setting.
ABOUT SOME OF OUR PAST STUDENTS
ANZACS
Lance Corporal George Charles Thompson
Good morning, my name is Benjamin McIntosh. Today, I would like to tell you more about Lance Corporal George Charles Thompson.
Mr. Thompson used to live just across the road from the school, at 4 Cockburn Street, and was a carpenter.
On the 19 January 1917, in Wellington, Mr. Thompson boarded the vessel called Ulimaroa. He was 30 years old. He was part of the Auckland Infantry Regiment.
Upon arrival in Plymouth, England, he was sent to France to fight the Germans.
He was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme in France on March, 27 1918. His name appears on the Grevillers Memorial of the British Cemetery in the Pas-de-Calais, France.
Unfortunately I was not able to find any of Mr. Thompson’s relatives living in the Grey Lynn area.
Lance Corporal Robert John Dowsing
My name is Leilani and I have been researching Robert John Dowsing, because he used to be a student at Richmond Road School.
Before he left for the war, he was an ironmonger. He left Wellington on the 15th of November 1916, for England. He died in Belgium only 6 months later and he was killed in action.
Robert was part of a unit called Auckland Infantry Regiment. He started in the army as a Private and he was a Lance Corporal when he died.
Lest we forget.